Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
I had to go to the office twice last week. That sound so weird to say after years of going 4-5 days per week. Anyway, I always sit near a friend so we can chat if either of us can get a break.
She had her Enigma with her and was using if for all the computer bits and bobs we have to haul around.
I am so glad she is finding it useful.
Am I on fire? I don’t know. I just keep cutting out bags and sewing them together.
I am doing a series of pink bags and pouches for a project that I will tell you about later.
This one is the Piebald pouch. I made one for my friend before and have been wanting to make another. As I was combing through my I Spy pouches full of templates, I came across the Piebald templates and thought it was a sign.
I cut out most of the pieces at lunch one day this week, including some Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy in pink. DH was out on Wednesday night so I started sewing. The more Sew Sweetness bags I make, the easier the new ones are.
I finished the first Bluestem. It is a small (pens would fit well), firm pouch with the opportunity to use fun zippers and zipper pulls.
I have the idea to make a group of pink bags for a fundraiser or raffle gift and this is the first of the possibilities.
This pouch doesn’t take very long to make. The main pattern piece is an odd shape and I couldn’t imagine how the bag would be put together. I had to watch the video and that helped a lot.
I have to say that, unlike other Sew Sweetness Squad members, I don’t watch the whole video before I make a bag. I just get started, then watch the parts that I need to watch when I am confused by the directions. Sometimes I feel bad about that, but it works for me.
The construction made me worry about raw edges at first, but Sara uses some doublefold (foldover) elastic** to cover the inside raw edges. I am not great at that part of the process, but I am getting better!
You can see the foldover elastic peeking out at the top of the photo, left.
I am pleased with that pale pink solid. It’s from Art Gallery and just looks perfect.
I am also pleased with how the zipper and the foldover elastic came out together. I admit that I hand stitched one side of the elastic. I just wasn’t confident to stitch both sides at once on the machine. I plan to make more of these, so I’ll get there.
I also remembered to add a label!
**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I got some new templates this week, which means I needed a new I Spy pouch in which to store them.
I cut this pouch out after work on Monday and sewed it up during Craft Night. I only had to whip stitch the bottom closed and I could fill up the bag with my templates.
I made an effort to make the window (lining) fabric look good and used some fabric I received for Christmas. Normally, the fabric isn’t seen, but I wanted to make this super pretty.
I am planning to make another pouch for the other set of templates. I could have made two at a time, but I thought I would have to adjust the size and I didn’t want to worry about that on Monday. I just wanted to sew.
I finished the Enigma #4 and also gave it to my friend. She was so touched; it made me want to cry. I don’t think of giving bags to people as anything special. In my small quiltmaking/bagmaking world, everyone gives bags like they are napkins or something equally as mundane. I am always brought up short when I give a bag to someone outside of that world and see how amazed they are.
This one came out really well. I am still impressed by the matching stripe I was able to find. I cannot remember when I bought it or where, but it has been hanging around for awhile. It just goes so perfectly with the pink and green outer fabric. I used up all of the fabrics I used. All had chunks taken out of them when I started and were really just scraps when I finished.
Of course, I am still swooning over the diagonal zipper. Of course, I didn’t take a photo of the side where you can see in this version. You can see the diagonal zipper and how it works in the picture of Mom’s Enigma.
I am really pleased, also, with how well the handbag zipper color goes with the exterior fabric of the bag.
I am Miss Self Admiration Society today, aren’t I?
This one also lays flat. I still really like the way this design opens flat for accessing everything inside.
This piece really came together well in terms of fabric. I am already thinking about the next one I want to make.
I briefly talked about Mom’s Enigma bag in the post I did about all the gifts I have made for her. It was so brief that you probably didn’t notice.
This is the third Enigma Bag I have made and I am especially pleased with how good the zipper looks with this fabric. You can see the other Enigmas I have made by looking at the Minikins page.
As you know, the Enigma is part of Minikins Season 4 from Sara Lawson at Sew Sweetness*. It came out in November or December – I can’t remember – late last year in any case. I am pleased that I have made 6 projects from this group. Yes, four of them are the same pattern, but still a good showing.
This is the bag that is great for handwork, especially in the car or on a plane, because of the open flat, completely enclosed design. There is a small pocket in the middle. It is a floating pocket, so your items fit underneath it. I want to try making it in vinyl.
As I mentioned, I am happy with the zipper. I used zipper tape either from Sew Sweetness or Sew Hungry Hippie. The rainbow look is a favorite, but I also like how the zipper tape blends with the fabric color.
I am not that fond of these giant zipper pulls. They are easy to grip, so Mom won’t have a problem opening and closing the bag, but they do clunk together in an unattractive way. I have some other options coming.
You can also see that the construction of this bag using a similar accordion construction technique to the Sew Together Bag. If you have made an STB, then you can make this bag, no problem.
One of the reasons I have made 4 of these is because of the diagonal zipper. I really like that look.
Mom seemed to like, though she is making noises about having too many bags. I still have a lot of fabric for gifts for her, so I’ll have to think about that.
*No affiliation. Just a happy customer.
I started a new pouch for the Sew Sweetness contest. It is the Bluestem pouch and is also part of Minikins Season 4.
I used one of the fun rainbow zippers I bought from Sew Hungry Hippie. I am not a huge fan of the pulls as they are so large, but we will see. At least they are pretty!
I worked hard on the Enigma Bag over the weekend, but, frankly, projects get easier the more often I make them. This project went very smoothly until the end, when I didn’t quite catch the lining bottom with the sides and had to do a lot of ripping. I think this goes back to the quilting when the fabric shrunk up and left some foam showing.
I wrote myself a note to quilt then cut the piece the correct size. Sara gives specific instructions about that, but my quilting isn’t up to par, so this is my new strategy as I expect I will make another one.
I wrote a similar post back in April. I took a look at it and it seems quite paltry compared to the actual number of Hackneys I know I have made. I decided to write another roundup post so I could see all the Hackneys I have made in one place. I have to say, though, that I thought I had made more.
I really like this pouch, as I have said. Those for whom I have made one seem to like it as well.
I keep thinking about making one for myself.
I am still trying to figure out what my goal for bags will be this year. Or maybe what my plan for bags will be this year. Will I make more bags as gifts? Will I work on UFOs (that EPPic bag is hanging out there ready to sew)? Or what? Not sure yet.
One thing I do know is that if I feel like making a bag, I am just going to make it. I have a friend at work who is having a tough time. She wants to get back to crafting, but her life is too complicated at the moment. I was showing her photos of one of the Enigma bags I have made and it occurred to me that she might like one. I asked her and she said she would be ‘honored’!!! That makes me laugh.
Anyway, I finally got started on this Enigma. It came about when I was hunting through some bins of dots for Pantone blocks fabrics. I found the perfect dots based on her color request and decided it was time to start.
I didn’t have much left of the pink main fabric, so I found the stripes, which go great with that fabric. I will use it, as you can see for the sides.
I don’t think people realize that there are people who have kids who need care at the same time their parents need care. I know that is the term ‘sandwich generation’, but I don’t think people really think about it. If you know someone in this situation quietly help them out or do something nice for them.
This is the bag that I made for Friend Julie for Christmas.
I finished this quickly back in October, which was fortunate, because I didn’t have much sewing time in October and November and December quickly became busy. When I was ready to sew, I surprisingly, found all the pieces already cut out. I don’t remember cutting them all out, but I must have at some point. 😉 It was like magic and reminded me that the prep for bags takes the longest time in terms of making the bag.
This bag matches the Mini-Maker Case I made for Friend Julie back when the mini Oliso came out. That was during the pandemic as I remember opening our gifts for each other in a parking lot! LOL!
This is one of the best Hackneys that I have made. It stands up very well. I filled it with almost all of the Christmas gifts I bought for her. It is amazing how much it holds.
I am not sure this is exactly the right color zipper, but it goes pretty well with the bag, overall. I don’t think the regular purple zipper available would match any better.
The interior is a completely different purple, actually more of a lavender.
In this version of the Hackney, I put a glitter vinyl pocket. It will be good for flat items, but does not stretch at all, like the mesh pocket and, thus, I think items might slip out. I hope not, but I thought of that later.
I am still working on making sure I put a label in each bag that I make. I was able to add two to this one.
My goal is to always put one of my AQ labels inside. I am also, every now and again, adding one of the labels that Julie gave me as part of the 2022 Advent calendar. I really like those labels. That was a great gift.
As I said, I am pleased with how this bag came out and the more I look at it, the more I want to make a Hackney for myself.
I made this book cover for my mom for Christmas. I wanted to enter the Sew Sweetness challenge for the month, which used this pattern. I didn’t think I would ever make it as I don’t normally carry books around. Then I talked to my Mom about her book club and all the pieces came together in my mind. It seemed like a good opportunity to make sure she can take her Bible to book club (Bible study??) in a chic and personalized manner.
The Goldenrod Book Cover is one of the patterns that make up Minikins Season 4.
The idea is that you slip the cover of the book into each of the slip pockets and then zip the cover up. The handle is on the top (see above), which allows the owner to carry it. I thought it would be good to put a shoulder strap on it, but didn’t have the time to work out that change, so left it for another day.
Some of the construction is similar to the Hackney pattern– the gusset and the piece under the handle that connects the ends of the gusset. I am sure it makes sense in terms of pattern writing, but I appreciate it as I feel like I am gathering a bunch of skills that can be interchanged between patterns.
I used a piece of cork (?) I bought from Sew Hungry Hippie. They don’t have the exact color any more, so I am not linking to the product. It is called cork microfiber backing. I had some trouble with skipped stitches while sewing it. I tried different needles and rethreading. Nothing worked so I have reached out to the team at Sew Hungry Hippie to see if they have any suggestions. Writing to them made me think that I had not tried different thread. As you know, I mostly use Aurifil and have a lot of colors. Of course, I have other thread, but not in the array of colors.
It is important that I figure out how to use this material since I want to use it for the Rockstar bag. I’ll need more of it for that pattern and don’t want to fight with it the entire time.
Mom seemed to like it and I hope she will be able to use it. She really liked the rainbow zipper.
I went over to Cyndi’s house the other day to sew. We had decided a few months ago to make the Enigma pouch together. We both prepped our pieces at home, then worked on sewing them all together.
With bags the prep is the hardest and most tedious part. It doesn’t matter how many times I have made a bag. The prep is a drag.
One of the things I had to do was make the inner zipper pocket. This is such a tiny little pocket. I have found it useful on my Peony Enigma. Still, I marvel at the small size of this pocket.
I ripped out the main zipper and sewed it in a second time. The second time I actually used my zipper foot and the zipper installation went perfectly. Now I have a big note on the pattern to install the *&^% zipper foot!
I finished the Disco Double Zip Pouch, so I have another gift, not wrapped but, otherwise, ready for the holidays. It’s a nice firm pouch so my fix for the Frankenfoam worked well.
The pouch itself is quite large and with the extra Decor Bond, it is not very squishable. It would fit well into a Chubby Charmer to organize all the things someone needs to take somewhere.
If I were to make this pouch again, I might add some interior zipper pockets. I am not sure how useful they would be, but there is enough space and I think you can never have too many pockets. It would also be good to add some pen holders. As the pattern is written, you just toss things into the pouch. It would fit my Leuchtturm notebook, but then what? I just don’t know how I would use this pouch.
The handle is very useful, I think. One of the reasons I added a handle to the Hackney was that it made the bag more usable. I am glad the pattern included a handle for this pouch. The weird thing is that the zippers are behind the handle. I might add some zipper pulls.
This pouch is great if you want to fussy cut some special fabric, or use an embroidery design. The large size has a great space for a specific motif. Frankly, I am not sure how I would use this pouch, but I am glad I made it.
The Disco Double Zip Pouch is from Minikins Season 2. Yes, hooray, I am working on it. Last time we talked, I had everything cut out. Then I went on vacation for a week and didn’t work on it. When I returned, I started sewing this project.
I think I decided to make the large size, because what I have is rather large. I have no idea what I chose. It is, at least larger than I expected. This pattern seems very similar to the Bello Pouch, though with double zips
It is kind of amazing. It went together very quickly. I thought it would be complicated, but the parts of the zipper that create the double zippers went together really easily. The center piece looks strange, kind of like a handle.
There were some similarities to the Hackney. Specifically, making the gusset was similar to the Hackney. I am learning that making a dozen (??) Hackneys really upped my skills. I am not sure why that one pattern helped me so much.
On to the lining!