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.
A long time ago, I promised Alison a bag to give away as a prize at the retreat. I thought I would finish the Brocade Peony Ultimate Carry All Bag and give that to her, but I ended up not doing that.
Amethyst Case – process – top
Finally, I decided to make an Amethyst Project Bag. This is a bag you can put pieces of a project into and keep them all together. It isn’t huge, so you can’t put yards and yards of fabric in there, but templates, most rulers and cut pieces would fit very well.
It is not a Minikins project, but it is a Sew Sweetness pattern.
Cutting bags at Sew Day
This is one of the projects I talked about cutting out at Sew Day. It is pretty amazing, to me, at least, that a project can move from a pile of cut pieces to something that is starting to look like a bag in a few hours.
Amethyst Case – in process – bottom
I haven’t finished. In fact, I have only made a start. I hope that I will have enough time to finish it before the retreat. Yes, I waited until the last minute, but I have had deadline after deadline I have been trying to meet. I know they are self imposed deadlines, but they are still deadlines for bags I wanted to give as gifts.
The bag is not exactly square. It is 14.5 x 13.5 x 3.5 (depth). I could only orient those giant peonies in two ways. I chose the other main panel for the top because one of the peonies was close to the center.
Amethyst Case – in process – inside pocket
I wanted to make a bag that would be appealing to the guild members. I hope this Tula Pink fabric appeals to many of them. I had planned to put some piping around the edge, but decided I needed to make one first before I started really messing around with the design.
Speaking of messing around with the design, I did make this inside front pocket instead of the short mesh pocket and the two pouches called for in the pattern. I like to see what is in my pockets. I am not sure this came out 100% perfectly, but I think it will work. I used the directions for the pages from the A Place for Everything v.2 bag as guidelines for this pocket.
I normally like to make the bag at least once first, but I don’t have the time.
I finished my most recent class with my fabulous students, Sue and Carrie. I had planned to make them each a Hackney for Christmas with this great Carrie Bloomston fabric, but moved the gifts up to be ready for our end of class lunch last Sunday.
Color Wheel Hackney – Carrie
One of the reasons I chose this fabric is that it matches another pouch, the Boxy Clear Pouch, I made for them. the fabric is fun and cheerful despite the dark background. Because I can’t stop teaching, I also wanted a reminder to them to use their color wheel. 😉 Finally, this is great fabric. Doesn’t it look like an explosion of color?
Color Wheel Hackney – end (Carrie)
This Hackney is like all the others. I have added a handle to this one and think that is a standard addition I will make to all the others I make. Having a handle is useful. I am not sure why Sara didn’t include one in the original directions. Perhaps the pattern is intended to go into a suitcase or something? Regardless, I think a handle is useful.
Color Wheel Hackney – interior (Carrie)
I am particularly pleased with the fussy cutting I did on the inside bottom. Don’t those pencils look great? I measured very carefully to get the whole pencil on the bottom and am thrilled with how successful I was.
I am still not 100% happy with the mesh pocket. I think it is useful, that is not in dispute, but the construction doesn’t appeal. The zipper tabs end up being too thick. I made a vinyl pocket on the Sugar Skull Hackney. I think it came out ok, but I wasn’t concerned about the final topstitching. My next test will be making pencil loops on the top. I’ll see how those come out.
Color Wheel Hackney – filled interior (Carrie)
I have put a few things in the bag including some Adagio tea.
As soon as I finished the two Color Wheel Hackneys, I started another. I have decided to make a number of these as gifts. I have to say that this one went a lot quicker than the others. It is a clear indication that practice does make perfect.
I am pretty pleased with how the coneflowers look. I picked the zipper color to go with the yellow coneflower, but also because I wasn’t sure when I would use a yellow handbag zipper otherwise. I think it looks good so far.
Coneflower Hackney interior- in process
I talked about the Hackney lining hack a bit ago. It is for this one. The lining is a little saggy so far, which I have to figure out. Otherwise, I think the piece is looking good.
