The Flagler bag is the first bag in Crafty Gemini’s 8th Bag Club. I took some time to cut it out over the weekend.
The bag really doesn’t have a lot of pieces, unlike the A Place for Everything bag, so it didn’t take me very long to cut it out.
I wasn’t going to make this bag, because I didn’t think I would use it, but then I thought it would be great for my nephew. He has a new baby and may need to carry around a small amount of her stuff for quick trips.
Flagler in process
I had seen that spot fabric recently and looked for it for a long time. I almost gave up finding it, but am glad I kept looking because I think it will look good with the stripe.
While this is the first Large Retreat Bag I have made, it is the third Retreat bag I have constructed (total). This is a free pattern from Emmaline Bags that requires a frame. The frame is not free, but also not very expensive. The frame allows it to open all the way (widemouth), providing easy access to all of the contents.
I like this bag, but the Large size is LARGE. I am not sure what I would use this size for so I don’t know that I will make a large one again, though I have another frame, so I might.
Sugar Skull Interior
The pattern doesn’t call for it, but I put in an interior zipper pocket. Tim thought up the idea of an interior pocket to use to turn the bag. This means I (we) can turn the bag without leaving the bottom seam open. Yes, the bottom of the interior zipper pocket is left open, but it is much more hidden than the bottom.
It has been awhile since I made an interior zipper pocket (also called a flush pocket), so I screwed up a few times on the first one. I definitely didn’t remember how to do it at all and had to get Tim to remind me which resources he used. I did find a couple of tutorials, but they were lacking.
The most helpful tutorial was Sara Lawson’s video (of Sew Sweetness), which is the one Tim uses. I started out using the directions in the book, the Bag Making Bible** by Lisa Lam. The part after the zipper installation are a little skimpy, so the video filled in the gap.
I made two of these bags over the weekend and the second zipper went much more smoothly. Now I have a couple of gifts ready for the holidays. As a result, check back to see the whole bags.
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I bought the supplies for the ByAnnie A Place for Everything Bag when I was waiting for the La Pass BOM to start. A lot of people in the group decided to make the bag to keep their project in. I thought it was a good idea and bought the supplies.
I thought I would make it over Labor Day weekend, but didn’t get around to it. I have been strategizing and finally decided that cutting all the pieces that needed to be quilted and quilting them first would really help with making the bag once I had time to sit down and do it.
I spent a good portion of time on Saturday picking out fabric. At first I was sure I would use Brocade Peony fabric, but I just wasn’t feeling the love. I searched through a lot of fabric and, finally, I chose a Philip Jacobs Chrysanthemum print because it was different. It is darker than I usually like, but had some pink and turquoise in it, so I can those colors as accents.
APfE v.2 quilted pieces
Sunday, I quilted almost all day. Well, I cut out pieces for the bag and quilted. I know it doesn’t look like a lot of work, but the quilting really took forever. I got more done than I thought I would, but I still have a lot to do.
I plan on making as many of the smaller pieces as I can, and, of course, cutting out the regular,non-quilted pieces so when I do have time to put the bag together, I won’t have to stop to make handles or zipper tabs or whatever.
I am really pleased with what I got done on Sunday.
My UCAB is finally finished. This will replace part of my travel bag and it will fit nicely on the handle of my sewing machine travel bag.
I am happy with how it turned out and I am glad I feel comfortable putting the project together as I think it will make a great gift if and when I decide I have time to make more of them.
UCAB: inside pockets from top
I am not 100% happy with the project, but I think that is true for all of my projects. I get to like them better after I have lived with them for awhile. 🙂
One thing I think I forgot to do was put Shapeflex** on the inside of the pockets. Some of them are a little floopy. They will be fine once I get some stuff inside them.
I still haven’t decided how to marry the use of this bag with the use of my Pink Tupperware box. I am not sure I am ready to give it up, though it is clearly not big enough for the stuff I need at Sew Day or when I travel.
UCAB: front, open
As I may have mentioned, I didn’t install the front zipper. I wanted the front to be the front. In the pattern, the designers put the ironing pad in the back because she, rightly, doesn’t want you sewing over a zipper. I just omitted the zipper and made an open pocket. I think it will be much more useful and I think having the front (with the ironing pad) open to the front is much better. I didn’t want the front of the inside opening from the back. Also, I will be able to slip things, like my phone, into that front pocket easily without unzipping.
I haven’t made any pouches to use with this bag, like I talked about back in March of last year. I put some square ‘rings’ in the seam of the pockets, so if I have one to attach to the inside of the bag, I will be ready. I wasn’t careful about the way I placed the pockets and both ‘rings’ ended up on the same side of the bag. I don’t think it will make much difference, but we will see.
UCAB: Back
The back is a tight fit over the handle of my sewing machine rolly bag, but it does fit. There is another open pocket, for which I am sure I will find a use.
One thing I did was use Renaissance Ribbon as a trim on the handles, over the pink, and on the front pocket. I want to do more of that type of trim. I think it looks nice.
Stay tuned for some ‘in use’ pictures.
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While this is Mom’s UCAB, I tested it on my travel sewing machine bag to see if it would work for me. The key is to adjust the back sleeve to fit over your rolly bag handle. I have no idea if there are standard sizes for those, so make sure you check before you sew everything to the exterior.
I plan to put my smaller items in the UCAB. I am not sure how I am going to reconcile this bag with the Tupperware box.
The picture below shows the bag empty, but trust me when I say I filled it up. It isn’t completely filled.
Sewing machine cart – front pocket
I need mine to contain all my to go items – notions and rulers, etc. I put them in the various pockets of the sewing machine bag, which has a lot of pockets, but it makes some of the zippers hard to open.
I had a day off the other day and really wanted to finish my UCAB.
UCAB Lining
In order to finish the exterior I had to sew the lining. I decided to put in an ironing pad even though I don’t think I will use it much. I have my new Mini Maker Case, so I may actually use it. I will try it out regardless.
I had to cut all of the pieces for the lining before assembling the interior. Construction of the lining went pretty smoothly.
UCAB Exterior
Another task was to finish the exterior. I sewed the three parts together (back, front and bottom), which was pretty easy. I did have some trouble with the pleather bottom sticking to my machine’s bed. I held up both edges and kept as much of it off the machine bed as I could. Then I sort of shoved it through, but will need to rethink that strategy in the future. It doesn’t make for nice stitching.
Laid out like the photo left doesn’t do anything for the overall look of the bag, but you know how it is. It always looks worse before it looks better.
UCAB Exterior – standing up
I wanted the bottom to be flat, so I sewed two layers of Peltex to the pleather – kind of like quilting it. I was careful to keep the Peltex away from the edges so that the edges wouldn’t be too thick. I don’t know if that strategy will work, but it seems to be flatter than I could have hoped.
To encourage the bottom get into (and stay into) the right shape I thought of sewing a seam along the edges where the front and back fold up. The ironing pad extends into the bottom of the bag, so sewing a seam would create a bump. If I want to do that, I’ll probably need to omit the ironing pad.
I also cut out the sides (from a template) and put those together. They are an odd shape, so I used scissors. I also pressed the folds into the places where the pockets will be inserted.
I got a fair amount done, but didn’t finish. Progress! Not finished, but progress.
Remember the Ring Toss block that I agonized over? I am pretty sure I told you I wasn’t going to make the quilt. The block, which I like has been hanging on my design wall since December of 2018. It occurred to me that it would make a great exterior for a Sew Together Bag. I thought this was an especially good idea since I had no idea what colors the recipient likes.
While I am sad I won’t have this block to look at, I am pretty pleased with how it came out as a Sew Together Bag.
Ring Toss Sew Together Bag closed
Ring Toss Sew Together Bag
I wish I had thought of how the bag would look from the top. I added grey around the block to make it large enough for the exterior. The viewer can’t see the Ring Toss block from the top. Mostly you see the grey. I think it is fine, since I mostly look at mine from the side or end.
Ring Toss STB open
This bag has similar insides to the Leaf STB, the Puffin STB and the Brocade Peony STB. I chose different colors for the zippers, needle holder and pincushion so they are different from the other bags.
I meant to hand this off to my DH to deliver at a Native Sons event, but I forgot until he was already gone, so I’ll have to mail it.
I made some progress last weekend on the Ultimate Carry All Bag. Shocking, I know. I was spurred on by finishing the STBs, not having my design walls available and by talking with Lynette at Sew Day. Mostly, I am also determined to get this *&^% project off my to do list.
As you might remember, I am making one as a gift. That one is farther along, because all the pieces are cut. I have been cutting the pieces as I go along for this one and I didn’t cut the pieces for the zipper yet.
Sometime ago, I decided to use some fake leather I bought for the bottom, so I want able to use that piece to put the exterior together.
I am still trying to decide whether I will put an ironing pad in this one. I am not sure I will use it, but it seems like a good thing to have anyway.
I made this Sew Together Bag as a gift. I want to send it off now, but am trying to wait until Christmas.
The outside is a Charlie Harper print made from Barkcloth. I have never used Barkcloth before and it was fine. I interfaced it with SF101 and didn’t have any problem with the looseness of the weave. I am not sure how it will be if I cut squares and try to use them in a Fabric of the Year quilt. I only bought it to make this bag because my friend loved it. Ordinarily I wouldn’t have bought it.
I really struggled with what to put with it for the binding. I don’t think the turquoise is perfect, but I think it looks pretty good. Black was my other choice, but I think with the grey background and the black on the puffins the whole project could have easily gone towards depressing. I chose the turquoise binding to make it super cheerful.
Puffin STB interior
I fussy cut some more puffins for the mini pincushion. I think they look really cute.
You can see similar interior fabrics to my Brocade Peony / La Pass Sew Together Bag. Same fabrics- different order.
I haven’t talked much about zippers as I have spoken about these projects. Each bag requires 4 zippers. I chose, mostly, different colors for each zipper to make the bags more visually interesting. I also think that zippers are another visual cue to where the maker put a tool or supply. I kind of wish I has used another orange zipper on this bag, but I think it looks good as is.
It might seem ridiculous to make another Sew Together bag for my latest project. I have plenty of fabric and I know how to make these bags, so that is not the issue. The issue is that have been using the area under my computer stand to store various supplies and tools. This does not make the project very portable. It does make it convenient to grab some pieces and sew when I have a work meeting.
Brocade Peony (La Pass) Sew Together Bag
I have been using my embroidery Sew Together Bag for this project, but I want to be able to take the pieces around and I need my embroidery STB to stay with my embroidery. I was also making some gift STBs so I thought I might as well make one for myself.
This might be a stopgap until I can make the A Place for Everything Bag that will be really useful for this project. I talked about it briefly in a Various & Sundry post. I have been collecting supplies and I think I would rather just toss the Sew Together Bag in the A Place for Everything Bag when I go somewhere. I am used to using Sew Together Bags for handwork and don’t want to try to learn new habits. At the moment. I just want to sew.
Brocade Peony (La Pass) Sew Together Bag – exterior
As you can see, this bag uses one Philip Jacobs recent prints. He recolored the Brocade Peony print and I thought it would be good to showcase a couple of the blooms on this bag.
I also used the striped binding, which is a favorite trick for adding interest to a bag. If I were making this bag again, I might use pink on the side bindings and reserve the stripe for the top zipper only. I don’t think the stripes as I have used them are too much, but they are verging on too much. I keep thinking of the striped stockings the witch wore in the Wizard of Oz movie. In general, I am happy with the exterior of this bag.
Brocade Peony / La Pass STB – interior 1
As you saw in another post, the white insides are mostly the same for the four most recent bags. It was easy to cut the whites all at once. I did put the whites in different places on the different bags, but I used, mostly, the same prints. I did run out of a few, so there are a few differences.
As I have said before, I like light interiors so I can see my tools and supplies.
Brocade Peony / La Pass STB – interior 2
I did vary the fabric in some of the pockets according to tastes of the recipient.
For mine I used a lot of pink and that great Anna Maria Horner print with the emerald green that I got in the Modern Quilter’s Box from Modern Handmade last year. I am not a huge fan of green, but something about that fabric is perfect. I also used it for a Retreat Pouch.
Brocade Peony / La Pass STB zipper tab detail
And look at this fantastic zipper tab. I carefully cut the fabric to match and used the directions I posted the other day for securing the zipper tab. I am really pleased with how it came out.
Now I just have to fill it with my supplies and tools for my La Pass project.
I worked on the leaf Sew Together Bag over the weekend and was able to finish it. Yay!
As shown the other, this used a Jane Sassaman leaf fabric for the outside. I used black for the binding, though green might have worked as well. I don’t have a lot of dark green. I think the black is a good choice.
Leaf Sew Together Bag – open
As you saw on another day, I made all the insides light colored so items stored inside are easy to find.
The recipient works for a public health department and I have been assured she will like the ribs.
I did the pincushion a little differently from my red-violet Sew Together Bag. I made it much smaller and I machine sewed it to the interior. I don’t know if that is better, but we will see.
The flap on the right of the pincushion is for WonderClips. I think Sew Tites could be stored there as well.
I spent last weekend finishing the Sew Together Bags. Mostly what I had to do was put the bindings on.
In the last batch of Sew Together Bags, I did something a little different. I tucked the zipper tab into the side binding to make it look really finished. Look for a mini-tutorial about how to do this later. I did that again, so it took me most of two days to get them completely finished. Now they are and I am really pleased with how they came out.
These were much easier to make. I felt like I was playing a bit and not fighting the pattern. I guess that is what comes after you have made 14 of them!
I spent a lot of time over the weekend working on these bags. I have to say that it was a joy. I do want to get them done, but I really enjoyed the process.
I talked, a long time ago, about trying to be process oriented. It is hard and I have to focus on it. This sewing didn’t feel hard. I just moved through the process steadily, listened to an audiobook and felt very happy.
I also added a little flap to hold WonderClips. It isn’t a great solution and I’ll have to think of something better for next time, but it will hold WonderClips, which will keep them from falling out of the STB if it gets turned on its side.
The arrows point to the flap. I want to hide end somehow for future models as it is hard to get the end straight with the seam allowance pushed down into such a small space.
I am not sure if this is actually called a pocket panel. I might have heard that somewhere else or in another bag pattern. It fits the description, however.
I tried to match up the different zippers with the exteriors of the bags. Stayed to see what you think about my matching.
In the photo, you can see that I have already added the needle holder and pincushion. I haven’t found a good pincushion size. I did something different this time, which was to sew the pincushion to the lining piece by machine. I have sewn them by hand before. The pincushions are also much smaller. Not sure that is good, but we will see. I am sure I will make more in the future.
It occurred to me that I should add a WonderClip holder. I wish I had thought of it sooner, but I can still add something.
I mentioned the other day that I had gotten my sewing machine back in gear. Some of my supplies, etc are still packed, so I am kind of doing ‘camping sewing’ – making do with what I have.
What I worked on was the exterior and sides of the Sew Together Bag pattern. I am making 4 of them this time. One is for me and the others will be gifts.
Leaf STB exterior
Leaf STB exterior
The first thing I did was quilt all of them. The two pieces above are from the leaf print. There are two pieces because I wanted the leaves facing up, so I had to use the ‘directional print’ directions for the exterior. Viewers cannot really see the quilting from the outside, but it looks great from the inside. I used a straight stitch and my quarter inch foot*
I did a little quilting on the others, mostly because I wanted to get to assembly.
*part of the ‘camping’ since I don’t know where my box of other feet are at the moment.
