I can’t decide if this is a bag or a pouch. Sara said that Minikins Season 4 had only one true pouch and this one wasn’t it. Despite that I still tend to call this a pouch.
New Enigma – cut out
Despite the 5 million other projects on my list, I started another Enigma. I have to admit, in case you haven’t noticed, that I like to make bags more than once.
I know Sara used the Kabloom fabric for her model. I am truly not copying her; I just love those giant flowers. I have to admit that it was tough to get two pieces large enough out of the Kabloom fabric I have left. From making the pentagon pieces for La Pass Month 18, my yardage of Kabloom looks like Swiss cheese. I would have fussy cut more peonies if I had had a large enough piece.
One reason I started this one is I kept looking at that pink snowflake fabric and just had to use it. I have to say that the lining takes most of a half yard of fabric. After cutting out the pieces and cutting up the scraps into usable pieces, I don’t have any of it left beyond what is in my scrap bin.
Hooray! I finished and I had plenty of time to post it on the blog post to win a prize. I may not win, but hope springs eternal.
I like this pouch. It’s interesting, yet normal, so surprising. It packs a punch and isn’t difficult to sew. There are some tricky bits, but it would be a boring sew, if the whole thing was easy.
We’ll have to see. I have some scissors and a pincushion I was gifted that I could put inside as a start.
The bag opens flat, which makes for a nice tray that keeps items confined in the car. You can see the bottom piece in the picture I took after I cut all the pieces. This will give you and idea of why it is flat.
Finished: Enigma Bag – end view
The zipper, though, zips at a diagonal, which I think is part of the interesting bit of this bag. It also allows the bag to zip up small, be completely contained and then open out flat. Clever, isn’t it?
I was concerned that there would be a hole where the zipper meets the bottom of the bag, but there isn’t. WHEW!
I always wonder how Sara thinks up some of these bags. I am always curious about the designs, but then I wonder how she figures out the construction. I know enough to modify some bags, but I am not sure how I would figure out how to make a bag like this.
Finished: Enigma Bag – accordion pocket
As mentioned, there is one accordion pocket. It is fully contained like the Sew Together Bag and the Ultimate Carry All Bag. This type of pocket allows the user to put something under the pocket like a ruler or quilt block (hand piecing?).
This pocket went together really well and even though the zipper contrasts with the pocket, I think it looks nice. Yes, I added one of the charms I bought when we went shopping for the Retreat. I bought a tool afterwards that makes it really easy to open the jump rings and connect the charms to the lobster clips. The tool is called Split Ring Tweezers**. Total game changer!
Finished: Enigma Bag: zipper end
I love the directions for the zipper tabs in this pattern. I really think my zipper tabs came out better than they ever have. In turn, this made my zipper look really good.
As mentioned, this bag is part of Minikins Season 4. Minikins patterns are only sold in bundles. This bundle has 12. There are at least two other projects I plan to make really soon.
Now I am worried that I won’t want to finish the Hackney pouches from Minikins Season 3 I have cut out. 😉
You can see the other finished Enigma Bags on the blog post.
**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.
Well, I couldn’t just make one. I cut out a second Enigma on Saturday. It’s a second one with fabrics I like even though I don’t know what I will do with either.
Part of the reason is that I kept looking at that pink snowflake/spiderweb fabric all week and knew it would be a perfect lining.
I also chose the Tula Pink Kabloom fabric, because I love those flowers. I forgot that Sara also used that fabric for one of her Enigma bags. I feel a bit like a copycat, but I didn’t choose it consciously because she did.
This time I am going to remember to put in a label. I hope to find the perfect spot.
I cut out and made another one of these pouches on Saturday. The acrylic templates for the Enigma bag were laying around and it seemed like the right thing to do. Also, I got a finish after almost no finishes during May.
The Enigma templates almost don’t fit in this large sized I Spy. Soon, I’ll have to pluck up the courage to try making one of these slightly larger. Saturday was not the day as this was a quick win.
The teacups look a little weird, because I used vinyl with stars on it (also from Sew Hungry Hippie). I think I prefer the glitter vinyl, but the stars are fun, too. I have a small roll of it, which is what I grabbed and cut before I realized what I was doing.
I am sticking with the Coneflowers theme. I can’t seem to get away from it.
So, I know this Enigma process must seem interminable. It seems like it is taking me forever to finish it and I have to keep reminding myself that working all week prevents me from sewing much during the week. Today I have time off and I will use it for sewing.
As an aside, I enjoyed my trip, but I am frothing with excitement thinking about actual sewing. AND, then, being able to actually sew.
Enigma inside binding – detail
The photo above shows the inside of the pouch. The intersection of the bottom and the side panels has a binding. This is a challenging method of finishing a bag. Sara doesn’t use it very often. When she does, I know there was no other way. The video shows Sara easily sewing the binding by machine. I took the coward’s way out and sewed it by hand. The part by the zipper was really hard. Zipper tape is no joke to sew through.
Enigma inside pocket – detail
I have only a step or two left to do and I hope to finish today so I can still post it on the sew-a-long and possibly win a prize.
Next, I will sew the inside pocket.
I used the video more for this bag than other bags. I didn’t try to understand directions that were confusing. I just went straight to the video. I kind of feel like I cheated, but I also don’t care that much.
I was only able to sew a little during the week, but I made some progress. A few minutes here and there do add up. The Enigma bag is almost done. I have a few more steps before I can use it.
It might be good for some of my bagmaking tools like the KamSnap. We’ll see.
At the moment it is still inside out and I have not yet installed the pocket in the center. I am eager to finish it and start another! I know I have a million projects on the go and another million on my to do list, but I’d like to get this right.
I worked hard on the Enigma in an effort to add my week 4 sew-a-long effort to the other efforts.
Enigma Zipper Pouch
One of the features of this bag is the interior zipper pocket. It is one of the first sewing steps and I am pleased with how it came out. I am not sure how this will come out, but based on what I know about this type of construction, I am happy with how it came out. I think the pocket is well prepared to be inserted into the accordion pieces.
I started to put the whole pouch together and found the construction to be really interesting.
Side panel with zipper
I like the way the bag, at this point, is hanging off the zipper. I still have to install the bottom at this point.
The Enigma Bag is part of the Minikins Season 4 group of patterns. Sara is having a Sew-a-Long for this bag. I missed most of the opportunities to post my steps as part of the sew-a-long, but I still wanted to make the bag. I started it yesterday.
I used some of the fabric I had Colleen quilt onto foam. It was a little hard to cut, but much easier to work with than having to quilt something on the spot.
This is an interesting bag. It reminds me of the Sew Together Bag in terms of the way it opens.
Here is the last Cork I Spy pouch I made at Retreat. The lining fabric is one of my favorites and I just had a bit of it left. I had just enough for the large lining piece.
In general for the three pouches, I found the cork to be easy to sew, but not easy to turn. If (when?) I use cork again on an I Spy pouch, I will definitely round the corners. I think it will make the project much easier to turn.
All that being said, I thought the corners looked fine when I finally did get the pouch turned. I gave these to some work colleagues and they loved them.
In all of these cork I Spy projects, I used 12 inch zippers even though the pattern calls for shorter zippers. It is much easier to cut down a longer zipper after the zipper is installed.
I really like highlighting some good fabrics in the window of the pouch.
I bought some cork from Sew Hungry Hippie to make the YM a pouch. A lot of cork arrived, though I didn’t think I bought that much.
Cork I Spy – large #1
I had to make some gifts so I decided to use the cork. I cut the lining before I left on Retreat, but did everything else at the Retreat. I could have made more complicated pouches, but I needed to get these done. This one has a super cheerful lining.
The other day when I wrote about this project, I was concerned that I wouldn’t have time to finish it before the Retreat. Despite some unsewing, I had no problem finishing it.
I realized while making this bag that one reason I enjoy making bags is that I still have a lot to learn. This bag is pretty good work and I am not ashamed to give it to someone at the Retreat, but the work could be better. It isn’t that my workmanship wasn’t good; it was that I wrestled with the 3D-ness of the bag while top stitching. I just need more practice.
Amethyst Project Bag: inside pockets
I think the bag is more useful with the vinyl inside pockets. I talked about using the directions from the A Place for Everything v.2 bag as guidelines in a recent post.
You can see that I added a D-ring, as usual. I wanted to make an I Spy pouch to clip on to it, but didn’t have time. I also am not sure I have any more of the two fabrics. Maybe later.
Amethyst Project Bag: bottom inside
The bottom section is where I installed the elastic. The dimensions of this bag are 14.5 x 13.5 inches, which is large enough for most quilt blocks. The elastic and parachute clip keep them inside. I think this could be used for rulers as well.
Amethyst Project Bag: inside
In general, and overall, the inside is very useful, I think. The lady bug fabric (from the Tula Pink Tiny Beasts line) looks really fun. There is a bit of movement in the fabric as well.
All of the Tula Pink fabrics are designed to coordinate, so I think the outside (Ka-Bloom) and the ladybugs go together. I suppose ladybugs crawl on flowers sometimes….
Amethyst Project Bag labelled
Finally, I used another one of the Advent labels. If I make one of these again, I’ll put it on the side. I am still trying to find the best place to attach labels.
This is not a Sew Sweetness Minikins pattern, but it is one that I have had for awhile. I am glad to finally be trying it out.
Yes! Another Hackney. I still think I will get sick of this pattern, but I am not sick of it yet and I still want to try to make the finished product better.
This is another version of the large size. I still haven’t tried the small or medium yet, though now that I have cut out a small bag, it is time.
Amanda’s Hackney – top
She loves animals, but I didn’t have any animal fabric that I thought would suit, so I used the coneflowers. I wasn’t sure about the yellow zipper, but it makes the bag look really cheerful. The zipper is more of a sunshine, or orangey-yellow than a neon yellow and that helps a lot.
Amanda’s Hackney -handle
The zipper came out a little better this time. I used the washaway doublestick tape** for putting in the zipper on this one. I think I just have to use that tape each time.
On a note about tape, Sew Sweetness has the new ByAnnie washaway double stick tape. I bought some to try out, so stay tuned for a comment (maybe a review??) about that brand.
I had to add a handle. I think that is de rigeur now. It makes the bag more useful.
Amanda’s Hackney – lining
Amanda’s Hackney – lining
I made the inside cover a little different this time and I think I will like that option best. I used doublefold elastic to make tool or pen holders. I talked a little about how I sewed the tool holders to maximize the space available for storage in a previous post.
All in all, I am pleased with this one and hope Amanda likes it, too.
**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 tend to make Carrie and Sue the same pouches with slight differences. They are good friends and I think that they were great students.
Color Wheel Hackney – Sue – interior
So, as I made a Hackney for Carrie, so I made a Hackney for Sue. In this case, the exterior fabric is the same, but cut a little different and the interior fabric, zippers and other detail parts are different. I made the interiors different, but still relating to being creative. I am excited about the interior. I also fussy cut it and am pleased with the fussy cutting. It is super fun.
Color Wheel Hackney – end (Sue)
This one also has a handle. As I said before, they are useful.
I wasn’t sure if I liked the way the handle and front panel interacted – the way the fabric motifs overlapped and interfered with each other, but I think fussy cutting the top draws the viewer’s attention to that space and you don’t see the mashup of motifs where the handle is attached.
The front of the front panel (which is a gusset) looks really good, I think. That little piece of color wheel is appealing.
Color Wheel Hackney – Sue
As I said with Carrie’s Hackney, Sue’s also goes with her Boxy Clear Pouch. You know I love to make sets of bags.
