Project-Bag – Page 8 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Sunset Project Bag Progress

I spent some time over the weekend working on the Sunset Project Bag. As you saw, I was ready for assembly, after getting everything cut and quilted. In my mind, at least, I was ready for assembly. As I found out, I had more prep (prep plus?) to do.

First, I had to add the mesh pocket. Generally, this is no problem, but I immediately found a problem: my beautiful quilting would be ruined. Ok, ruined is a little bit dramatic, but one of the lines of stitching needed to keep the mesh pocket in place would go through and show on the front. That line would not fit in with my previous diagonal lines. 🙁

There was no way out. I had already quilted what I had quilted, so I just had to move on. I know that the Muggles won’t know.

The line of stitching across the top of the mesh pocket is the area that shows through

Note to self: if I make this again, use horizontal lines. I do think the diagonal lines look nice.

I will say that the mesh I chose goes really well with the pink and turquoise True Colors fabric I used on the inside.

You can see how the top line of stitching now shows through on the front. Sigh.

Fortunately, it is only one line not the top stitching for the other parts of the zipper assembly.

I did think about what I could do to hide the line, but I couldn’t think of anything that didn’t require remaking the front panel or unpicking a lot of stitching.

Sunset Project Bag: main zipper end detail

In order to assemble the bag, I had to make the gusset into a loop. I have done that before. It isn’t difficult, though the detail of the zipper end was something I hadn’t done before.

Sunset Project Bag: gusset and handles detail

I should have used the True Colors fabric, but I think it looks fine. Also, the way the raw edges are enclosed within the zipper are very clever. I had to watch the video to completely understand it. I don’t always watch all the steps in the video, but I usually go through a few of the steps and the videos are always helpful.

The handles are attached to the gusset, which I thought was a good idea. I had the opportunity to sew over them several times as I completed the bag.

I also added a piece of vinyl to the bottom, now incorporated into the gusset, to keep the bottom clean when I use the bag. I wanted to try that technique after seeing it in a Tula Pink Tuesday video. I only used the vinyl for the bottom, not for the whole bag. It was sticky on the bed of the machine, as is usual for vinyl. I am out of practice with vinyl and needed to reorient myself to sewing with vinyl.

I struggled with final assembly. The bottom corners had a bit too much fabric in them for me. I wonder if I could round the corners to make the assembly easier. I found that to be a real help with the Andalusian pouch, the Andalusian does not have a gusset.

Sunset Project Bag

Last Autumn (sheesh! Has it been that long???), at the urging (temptress-ness) of Angela I joined the Crafty Gemini 8th Bag club. I liked the bags and some of the techniques I would learn, so it was a good idea. I tried to keep up, but cutting (which you know I dislike) really kept me from keeping up. I made the Flagler backpack and that was it.

The Sunset Project Bag has been on my mind and I finally started it. Cutting, of course, takes me so long. I tried get into a Zen frame of mind about, but almost lost it when I realized I had to quilt a bunch of pieces, too. I started and then after four lines of stitching, I decided to vary the design to leave a 1.5 inch space between four lines of stitching. I really like the way that design turned out. I think it looks like I actually know how to design quilting designs rather than just wanting to get it over faster.

I just did straight line quilting horizontally along the gussets. I didn’t want to stop and start after 20 stitches over a 35 inch wide piece.

Sunset Project Bag - fussy cutting? — Sunset Project Bag – fussy cutting?

I lined up the pieces and noticed that it looks like I fussy cut some pieces to fit together well.

Those pieces don’t go together and I didn’t plan it, but it would be nice if they did.

I am in the process of sealing the edges of the quilted pieces and will be ready to start assembly soon. There aren’t very many pieces so I should be able to finish quickly. Fingers crossed anyway.

Sheffield in the Wild

I made a Sheffield Tote for Gerre as a gift in 2020. I make gifts because I want people to know I am thinking about them. I do know that what I think is great may not be great for someone else, but I don’t have hard feelings when someone doesn’t use a gift I made for them.

Alternatively, I am super thrilled when I see a gift being used. This ‘t the first time I have seen Gerre bring it. She says she uses it all the time. Whenever we sit near each other I see it packed with supplies. It makes me so happy that it is a useful tote.

Mother’s Day Gift

The Take a Stand** bag (which for some reason I keep wanting to call the “Without a Trace” bag) bag is done and I am on my way to give it to my Mom for Mother’s Day.

This is the first time I have made this bag and it has the usual things that annoy me about a ByAnnie pattern: quilting all the pieces and lots of binding. It is also a great size and shape. It might be a good replacement for my Travel / Go-to-Sew-Day Bag. Or at least a partial replacement.

Yes, I used the Tula Pink webbing for the shoulder strap. It isn’t the perfect color, but works ok and Mom can unhook it and use it for other things. Using webbing means that I don’t have to make straps. I seem to remember making straps with webbing as the inside a la ByAnnie, but I can’t remember (or find) what project they were used on. It wasn’t a completely smooth process, but the strap went together pretty quickly and I am happy with them.

I adore the rainbow hardware!

I am pretty proud of the inside/lining. It is hard to see in the photo, but easier if you make the photo larger. I used a text print with color wheel type paint blobs on it. It is perfect for my mom and came out really well in terms of placement in the bag.

I have two more in the works, meaning that I have two more cut and quilted (such a chore), so you’ll see at least one of those soon. I decided that I want to make the larger size as well, but will have to cut and quilt that one before I can decide if it will be a good replacement for my Travel / Go-to-Sew-Day Bag.

I hope Mom likes this bag. She is getting quite the collection.

**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops. However, I use 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.

Take a Stand Start

Finally, I started the three Take a Stand totes. Yes, I decided to make three. I had all the supplies and, of course, plenty of fabric, but just couldn’t start cutting. I went on Saturday to sew with a friend and that was the impetus I needed to do the cutting.

One bag is due next month so I focused on making sure I had all the pieces for that. I am just waiting for one piece of webbing for that one, but it is already on its way, so I am not worried.

I am not making straps out of fabric. I am using Tula Pink’s webbing. I wish ByAnnie’s patterns would say “if you are using webbing, start here –>”. Of course, I have only used webbing twice (this time and for the APfE v.2. Still, I am a convert. I really like it. Tula has fun colors, but they are not for every instance. I’ll have to explore some of the other colors available.

I am resigned to all the prep ByAnnie bags take. I am trying to teach myself not to want to get to the end as ASAP as I seem to demand of myself. It is that old problem for my brain of process vs. product. I can’t seem to get over it, though I do try.

I ran out of Soft & Stable so there are a few pieces of that I need to cut. Since I have that deadline, I quilted as many pieces as I could. I have now started sewing. I want to do the three at once, but have to get the one done.

Door Prize Bags

I haven’t gotten my act together for the BAM door prizes yet. I have a tote bag full of stuff ready to be sorted and nothing sorted. Part of the problem is that I only have canvas bags from a shop. I don’t have any handmade bags. I have several of the canvas bags and they are nice – thick and sturdy and great for something like the Farmer’s Market. I prefer not to give the same bag every month.

At the guild meeting the other week, Maria tempted me to take some canvas. The motif is a kind of Paris theme. I got out my Jane Market Tote pattern and this fabric and made some totes.

I didn’t use the exact pattern; mostly I just used the dimensions from the pattern. I didn’t want to line the tote, because the canvas was thick enough without a lining. That meant that I needed to sew French seams to make sure all of the raw edges were enclosed.

With the first one, I enclosed all the seams on the inside of the bag. Enclosing the seams on the inside when very smoothly and the bag went together really fast.The bag came out a little smaller than the already small Jane Market Tote, but I think it is a cute size and different from many bags.

After making the first one, I thought I would enclose the seams on the outside for the second one. I thought it would be an interesting design feature. This version also went together pretty well, but I had more trouble with the seams on the outside. I am not sure why. In this version, there is also a big lumpy seam on the outside of the bottom, which is not ideal.

So far I have made two and I think I have enough fabric to make at least one more. My sister might like one. The motif is up her alley. I think the size will work well for the door prizes.

APfE v.2 Finished

I finally finished the A Place for Everything Bag. This bag is not for the faint of heart. If I had known what it would be like, I might not have made it, but I am glad I did.

I have a love-dislike relationship with ByAnnie patterns. There are a lot of them. Many of the bag shapes are interesting and useful. I can’t, however, wrap my mind around some of the directions. This is not a surprise to those of you who have been reading for a long time. My brain doesn’t work like others. Videos have been helpful. In this case, I found that Annie skips some steps that are considered very basic. After looking through the basics videos, I emailed them and they gave me some suggestions, but also said they don’t have enough resources to do full length videos for every project. Sigh. I blundered through.

Suddenly, the bag was put together and just needed finishing touches, as mentioned the other day.

I spent a couple of evenings hand sewing the binding down. I know that takes time, but I couldn’t stand the thought of cramming the bag through the machine. I had the time so I hand sewed the binding. I looks great.

The strap that keeps the ‘pages‘ in place was WAY too long. Instead of trying to figure out what was going on, I just cut it off, resewed the velcro and moved on with my life.

Despite the problems, I am pleased with the way this came out. I spent a lot of time on the details and it shows. The bag isn’t perfect, but it will be great for when I take the project to Sew Day next week.

APfE v.2 Nearing the Finish Line

After not working on this bag much on Saturday, I decided to do as much as I could on Sunday. I was quick to remind myself that there were too many steps and I couldn’t possibly finish.

A Place for Everything Bag almost finished

I was right, mostly.

I was not able to finish the bag, but I made really good progress and the bag is almost done. I have to finish the binding.

The product came out pretty well. ByAnnie patterns do come out pretty well, though I wouldn’t suggest this bag for someone who hasn’t made a lot of bags. There are videos, but Annie skips over some of the parts she considers to be basic or easy. Of course, those were the ones I had the most trouble navigating.

A Place for Everything Bag - detail — A Place for Everything Bag – detail

I know the picture above looks weird because of the binding, but I am really pleased with how the bag looks, e.g. the fabrics that I chose. I am also pretty happy with the webbing, though I did have to make up some parts of using it as I went along.

I love this hardware, especially, as I said, the triangle piece. I don’t think I really need the carry strap, but I wanted to make it. I can always use it for a different bag.

I am tempted to make a Take a Stand Bag that matches this one. I have to make one as gift, so I might as well make two, right? I need to finish some other projects before I do that.

APfE v.2 Progress: Handles and Straps

I spent Sunday working on the A Place for Everything bag. I despaired at making any progress, because the handle instructions didn’t seem to make any sense.I know part of this was that I had lost momentum. It makes me think I need to make the Take A Stand bag that has been on my list while I am in tune with ByAnnie bags.

Fortunately, ByAnnie has a series of Handles and Straps videos, which were very helpful. I’d like to see a list of the projects that use the techniques included under the various videos. There may be a list, but I haven’t found it yet. It took me some time to sort through them to find the one I needed. I used:

#5-Making an Adjustable Strap Using a Widemouth Slider : Watch step-by-step as Annie shows how to attach a widemouth slider to make a strap adjustable for carrying over the shoulder or for carrying cross-body.
#6-Making a Detachable Strap : Learn to attach the necessary hardware to make an attachable/detachable strap.

I finally got the adjustable strap made and am pretty pleased with it.

I am also super pleased with the triangle hardware. I have known about them, but don’t think I have used them before. This won’t be the last time! They are great, because they don’t roll around after installation like D-rings. I am in the process of installing them on the bag pockets. Once the bag is finished I will be able to clip the adjustable strap to them.

I didn’t follow the handle and strap making directions, because I decided to use the new Tula Pink webbing. I ran into a few problems. First, I ended up making handles from fabric and Soft & Stable, because I didn’t have enough of the webbing. Second, there were no instructions on finishing the ends of the webbing. The webbing frays/shreds like crazy, so some kind of sealing process needs to take place. I couldn’t find any tutorials or even any pictures of what others have done. I ended up using Aleene’s Tacky Glue** on the edges of some of the pieces and L’Oreal Miracle Base Coat** on others. I wanted to see the difference. I considered burning the edges, but was reluctant because of the smell and, also, I didn’t want the edges blackened at all. The webbing edges will show, regardless, and I wanted them to be as neat as possible.

Both worked well. The glue took longer to dry, but I worked on other things while it dried. I would recommend cutting the end and sealing it immediately. The cut end seems to spontaneously fray. I covered my work surface with wax paper**. I like the wax paper because one side is slippery-ish. It is covered in wax and while the glue sticks it doesn’t bond to the wax paper. I haven’t tried it, but parchment paper** would probably work as well.

In general, I found the webbing easy to work with. I was able to sew through two layers plus fabric and Soft & Stable pretty easily. I did put in a new needle and sewed slowly.

This bag takes a long time. Stay tuned for more progress!

Resources:

ByAnnie A Place for Everything v.2 pattern**
Tula Pink video on how she deviates from the pattern to make more design decisions
Tula Pink video on applying ribbon to cover ‘connections’
#5-Making an Adjustable Strap Using a Widemouth Slider : Watch step-by-step as Annie shows how to attach a widemouth slider to make a strap adjustable for carrying over the shoulder or for carrying cross-body
#6-Making a Detachable Strap : Learn to attach the necessary hardware to make an attachable/detachable strap

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item 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.

APfE v2 Bag Progress

I felt confused and exhausted the other day when I finally got the pieces I needed quilted and cut. The prep on these ByAnnie bags are not trivial.

I spent time on and off prepping pockets, then all day Sunday making the ‘pages’, which are a big feature of this bag.

I chose to make all vinyl pockets, but with either type of pocket (mesh or vinyl), you have to add zipper heads to the zipper tape and then sew the zippers to the vinyl. There are a lot of pockets so it took forever. It took even longer, because, again, I used Tula Pink’s suggestion of covering the edges of the zippers with ribbon. I really like the effect, but it did take time.

Finished Pages - front — Finished Pages – front

I added a few more pockets than the pattern suggested. Fortunately, I was working on the project in little bits of time. This gave me time to think about the sewing before I actually did it. I realized that I would be sewing pockets to the back of a page that had pockets on the other side and that I had to be really careful. I only ran into problems one time and I was able to cover the part I didn’t like with ribbon. I am pleased, though, because I ended up with more pockets.

Finished Pages - back — Finished Pages – back

There are two sets of page. Each full page has two facing half pages. The pattern suggests you can play around with the pages and put they type of pages you want, but the choices are limited by the sewing.

You have to put one of the full page pockets (see pink back, bottom left) behind the two or three pocket pages, for the most part. If I make this bag again (or additional pages to swap out), I will make sure there is a full page behind a page of pockets with 2 or 3 pockets.

The pages are done and I am really pleased. This bag is taking much longer than I thought. Forget about the months I just thought about working on it. These four pages took me about 8 hours just to sew, not including prep. People will make these bags for you on Etsy for about $200 and the money is totally worth it!

A Place for Everything Bag Progress

I thought I would be able to finish this bag over my break from work. HA! I spent a lot of time on it, though not as much as I anticipated. I made progress, but didn’t finish.

There is a lot of prep to this bag. I took a different route by following Tula Pink’s sketchy directions on cutting out the fabrics in such a way to highlight the designs. I finally finished all the quilting and such and felt exhausted and confused. I hope have done the right thing and it won’t all go off the rails..

Resources:

ByAnnie A Place for Everything v.2 pattern
Tula Pink video on how she deviates from the pattern to make more design decisions
Tula Pink video on applying ribbon to cover ‘connections’

Travel Bag

I mentioned some time ago that I needed a travel bag change. In making the UCAB for myself, the goal was that it would work as the new bag. After the fiasco at Sew Day, I knew I needed to get my travel supplies in order. I removed everything I had put in my sewing machine travel bag and replaced it in the UCAB.

Sadly, this isn’t a great bag for what I need. It is a good bag for a lot of stuff, but not for my travel needs. Sigh.

What I need: the bag to be taller so my scissors and HST rulers can stand up. I should have paid more attention to the slots in the elastic in the front, because my rotary cutters don’t fit in them. Also, I am afraid that if I lay my rotary cutters in the bag, they will cut the fabric of the bag. I think more mesh pockets would have been better, because I can see what I have in them. Also, my pink Tupperware supply box, which I have decided I can’t get rid of, doesn’t fit in this bag.

I can make bags for the scissors and rotary cutters, then clip them to the d-rings, but I don’t think that will solve all of my travel problems. I saw a video Tula posted the other day about what she uses for her travel/ sewing elsewhere bags. She uses some ByAnnie patterns. I am sure I have some Sew Sweetness patterns that would work the same way. I do have the Running with Scissors pattern and could make it again.

I don’t know what to think, but I am disappointed. Not that I made the UCAB, but that it isn’t a 1:1 replacement.

Percheron Pouch in Process

I started this project some months ago when Sara Lawson had the Percheron Pouch as a project of the month. I cut it out, did some interfacing and then put it away. After making the bowl cozies over the weekend, and moving the pieces of the project around my workroom 834 times, I decided to work on it.

The Percheron Pouch is part of Minikins Season 3. As mentioned previously, the Minikins are series of small pouches and bags that Sara releases periodically. Each series has 12 or 13 patterns and they are mostly great shapes.

The Percheron doesn’t seem like a pouch to me. It reminds me of a ‘train case’. My mother had one. They were intended for cosmetics and small items and the bag was often included as an option with suitcase sets. The one I am thinking of was Samsonite.

I also took the opportunity to use Decovil. I never used this interfacing before and am not 100% clear on 525 vs.526, but so far I like how stiff it makes the top and bottom of the bag. Stay tuned for how it actually works in the finished bag.

Finished: Flagler

I finished the Flagler right at the end of the weekend. I am pleased with the way it came out. I really like the spots against the stripes.

I put a piece of Peltex in the bottom to make it stand up better, but the sides are still kind of floopy.

I think the type of pocket on the front requires a careful selection of fabric.

The back and straps are all stripes. I kind of like the limited palette. I realized that this palette is very similar to the Peacock Bag.

At some point I bought some large rainbow finish lobster clips. I used one of them on this inside of this bag. It pulls a little on the lining, but you know that I feel lobster clips are useful.

I didn’t think of it before but I might try spraying it with some stain prevention spray.

Starting the Flagler

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.

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.

I was able to get some of the sewing in, too.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31