Tag: Gifts

I started another Day Trip Cell Phone Wallet almost immediately.

This one, as you can clearly see, is for my mom. I want her to be able to carry her cell phone while leaving her one free hand. Now that she is moving around more and using her cane more, she might need a free hand to hold a banister.  I tried something new with the strap, which I’ll talk about later and am in the process of working through the first steps.

The one thing I am trying on this one is to cut the foam a little smaller in order to reduce the bulk in the seams.

I am pleased to say that the Day Trip is progressing much better than I expected.

As mentioned, I was anxious about the difficulty of this project. I am carefully following all the directions and watching the video accompaniment when I have even a sliver of doubt. I am not having any problems! I am so excited.

In some ways, this is a meditative process for me. There are a reasonable number of pieces and I was able to cut them out relatively quickly. I decided that I wasn’t going to skip steps to get to the sewing faster. That attitude made the sewing, once I finished all the prep, go much faster.

It has been awhile since I installed magnet closure. I added some Decovil Heavy scraps behind both pieces to reinforce the snaps. I hope they will hold.

Sara has a really good tip in this pattern about using the round template/reinforcement thingy that comes with the magnet closure for placement. It is so obvious yet I never thought of it.

The cell phone pocket (above) is complete. I am working on installing the zipper that closes the whole bag. I had to cut the zipper to the right size. I really need to make some of those Center Street Quilts heart pouches in order to use up some of my leftover zipper pieces. This is a difficult part as the zipper really doesn’t like going around corners, but I went slowly and persevered. It’s the same challenge all the time. Am I getting better? Maybe. I should be after all those Hackney pouches.

I am really jealous of that skinny quarter inch foot Sara uses. I think it would make going around those corners easier.

At Bag Club on Saturday we talked about installing an interior zipper pocket. I did sort of a theoretical tutorial using the Sotak Handmade Purse Organizer as an example. Since it was already made, there was a lot of imagination required.

Funnily enough, I had to make two of these types of pockets on Sunday! They are a little fiddly, but really easy. I use Sara’s zipper pocket ruler for the measuring and drawing the box. She is not restocking her acrylic templates, so get them while they are still available. I checked other places and can’t find one like Sara’s. I found one from Arc Expressions (no affiliation) that I think would work, though you would have to use another ruler to measure pockets on larger bags.

Anyway, talking through the pocket installation on Saturday was really helpful on Sunday when I went to make the pockets. I had an idea in my mind about what I was doing. I made one (or more??) on the most recent Superbloom, so I was in good shape. I like having the process firmly in my mind.

One of the best things about these pockets is you can pull the bag right side out through this pocket. I love it when designers use that technique. You can add these pockets to almost any bag with a lining.

I am well on my way. Get this pattern and make one!

I bought Minikins Season 2 specifically for this pattern in March of 2020. At that time, I was a little scared of this pattern. Recently, I realized I wanted to make one as a gift.  Since I had the recipient in mind, I dove in to make it. This will match the Superbloom tote I finished a few weeks ago.

I was still anxious that I wasn’t up to the task, so I carefully worked my way through the cutting and interfacing. I only forgot one piece! I am about to start working on the pockets, straps and tabs.

I am pretty excited that I am getting going on this project after almost 5 years!