CW took the Butterfly Superbloom out as soon as she got it.
She took it with her to a winery. I hope the bag held at least two bottles!
This is a great picture and I really hope the bag was useful.
Butterfly Superbloom in the Wild
Tag: Superbloom
Butterfly Sent Off
I sent off the Butterfly set to its new home. One of my fabulous readers made a very generous donation to an organization of women helping women. I sent the check straight to them. This happened after I mentioned the organization for whom I originally made the set declined to include it in their auction. Their loss.
I don’t normally make bags to sell. The organization to whom I gave the money is very dear to my heart. They help women with scholarships for academic degrees. I received a scholarship for my undergraduate and graduate degrees from them. The organization made a huge difference in my life. I hope that this small effort on my part makes a difference in another woman’s life.
Finished: Butterfly Superbloom
I finally finished the Butterfly Superbloom, but it is bittersweet. The organization to whom I planned to donate it has decided they have something similar and don’t want it, or the Dogwood Pouches, for their auction. 🙁
I have to figure out to whom to gift it or whether I can do my own raffle and send the money to the scholarship fund. Let me know if you want to buy a bag for a good cause!
I am happy with the way this came out. I like the positioning of the butterfly on the side.
Of course, I love the side pockets. They are so fun!
I think I am done with the Superbloom pattern for awhile. I think the white of the zipper tape stands out a bit, however the rainbow teeth go well with the fabric. The side seams stands out a bit in the photo, but it isn’t as noticeable in real life.
I accidentally put a treat inside one of the side pockets. I hope whoever ends up using this bag will appreciate the various places where the butterflies are located.
The lining and interior is similar to the Hindsight Superbloom.
I think I am done with the Superbloom pattern for awhile. It’s a good pattern!
Finished: Superbloom #3
I finally finished this Superbloom. The Hindsight Superbloom was a high. This one felt like a slog. I don’t know why except that everything that could go wrong did go wrong. This is completely my fault, because I have been somewhat distracted by life. It was still frustrating.
The outside looks fine and I am pleased by that.
My aunt loves irises and I found some iris fabric that I knew I had to use for her. The the fabric looks fine , but the lining is too saggy for my tastes, despite my use of a 5/8 inch seam allowance. I know the Muggles won’t know, but you’d think by now I could manage a non-saggy lining. 🙁
Normally, I would use a white or very light fabric for the interior, but that iris fabric is so perfect for my aunt. I could have used it for the outside, but I really wanted to use the canvas I bought at Bolt for her for the outside.
I had to buy that ochre fabric after the fact for the zipper panel as I thought the iris fabric would look too chaotic. The ochre fabric is a weird color, but goes with the background of the iris print. Also, it was wonderfully soft.
I think it goes very well with the purple zipper. I don’t think it should, but it does.
I did use some dots on white for the inside pockets as I thought they would be too dark if I used the iris fabric. I also think I want to make a pouch or a smaller bag with what’s left of the iris fabric.
I still like the design of this bag. The side pockets are especially cool. I haven’t ever used this bag as I don’t have one of my own, but maybe I need to try it out.
Once I got close to finishing this tote, I stopped working on the SMAP version. I needed to send this one off to my aunt and I wanted to get it done. now that it is finished. I can get back to that bag.
More on the Two Superblooms
I am making good progress on the Superblooms, but not enough. I really want these to be finished today, so I can take my aunt’s to the post office and mail it. I also want to show at least one of them at the meeting on Saturday. I don’t know if either will happen.
As you can see, I have made good progress. The exteriors are finished and the handles on my aunt’s are sewn on.
For my aunt’s Superbloom, I used cotton webbing for the handles that Cyndi made me take from the free table one time. It is wider than called for, but I think looks good with the exterior fabric.
The SMAP version is less far along. I had to rip the handles out twice. Hopefully, third time is a charm.
I’ll be working on the lining next and that is always the last step. I have a couple of interior zipper pockets for each bag to make and then lining assembly.
Almost there!
Two More Superblooms In Process
I am preparing to start a new contract and the company is really a pain. It has been taking me many hours I could be sewing to set everything up. Finally on Friday, I had a nice chunk of time, so I got to work on the two Superblooms I have been wanting to make.
I was able to get all the pieces interfaced and the side pockets made. I had some trouble with some fusible foam. It turned out to be fusible on both sides. Since it was a scrap and, I hadn’t marked it, I didn’t realize it was fusible on both sides. I don’t normally buy fusible interfacing. I especially don’t buy double sided fusible. The piece was just big enough for me to cut the foam for the bag sides. Perfect, right? Yes, until I figured out that both sides were fusible. On one hand it was good, because I could just press it on the fabric. On the other hand, I had to use a press cloth and I am not sure if my press cloth is gluey. Iron-off** is a wonderful thing for cleaning the iron.
I have a couple more pieces to cut from the new fabric I bought at Needles, but otherwise I think the rest will go quickly.
As I have mentioned the prep is the hard part.
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Finished: Hindsight Superbloom!!
After years of whining about the Hindsight Superbloom, it is finally done. Apparently, thinking up someone to whom I could give this bag was the key.
I carefully fussy cut the panels, so those pink flowers were featured. I wasn’t sure how it would look, but it looks good to me.
I also remembered to machine sew on my label! Yay!
I like the way the handles look. That print is fun. The handles aren’t that comfortable, though. They seem to be made from some kind of polyester. I was trying to avoid sewing strips together to make the handles and that worked. I don’t think the recipient will be able to carry a lot of heavy items in the bag comfortably.
I used some dot fabric as the lining and it looks really fun. It also achieves my goal of being light colored, so easy to see the items in the bag.
The last photo (above, right) shows the bag closed. It has a recessed zipper. In that photo, the bag has all the small gifts I got for the family who are caring for my stepdad.
I think I might add a slip pocket or two to the next one I make.
One thing I love about this bag are the sides pockets. They are super cute. I don’t know if they are useful, but I think they would be.
I am really pleased with the way this came out. It went together really well.
Hindsight Superbloom
I finally started the Hindsight Superbloom. This is a project that has been on my list for a long time. I was excited to make this version at the time I made the first Superbloom. Somehow I lost momentum, but recently I was inspired to pull out the fabric and the pattern and get busy.
Yes, I remembered to put my label on the bag before I started to assemble it! I am happy about that.
I had a little trouble with the handles as I was using webbing instead of making them from fabric. I eventually got them on the bag. UGH! I know why the process had to go the way it did, but I found it difficult.
I am always surprised at the size of this bag. It is quite roomy, but I always think it is bigger than it actually is.
So far, I am l loving the process. Those side pockets are awesome.
Superbloom Project Ideas
I want to use some of the fabric I bought on my vacation for Superbloom totes. I was really pleased with how the first one came out. I have had plans for another one using the Anna Maria Honorable Mention fabric, but I haven’t gotten around to making it yet. Now I have at least two more I want to make. Good thing I bought the templates.
The first one I plan to make will use these fabrics. The far left black and purple linen/canvas is from Bolt. I bought the iris print at Stitch in Ferndale. It is a good choice for my aunt who loves irises. I am not a huge fan of the background color of this iris print, but I didn’t see any others. In general, I know that there is a colorway with a black background, but that won’t work for the lining of a bag.
Next, I plan to start another project like the Pink Project, but for a different organization. This time I will use blue fabrics as a base. The fabric shown will provide good scope for fussy cutting.
The Superbloom tote will be the bag in which all of the other pouches are carried. I don’t know which other pouches I will make yet. I have to make this one first since it will be a great donation even if I don’t make anything else.
Finally, I will also use this pattern for the Pink Project v.2, I think. It is possible that I will try a different pattern, but for now I am planning on making yet another Superbloom.
I am waffling, because I could use this fabric to try out the Chickadee Backpack or the Cavalcade Travel Bag or any number of other tote bags that I have purchased. We’ll just have to see how I feel.
Superbloom Finished!
I am really thrilled with the Superbloom finish!
First I am excited with how well the bag came out.
Next I am excited at how well the fussy cutting looks.
Third, I am thrilled with how the Linework print and my strips fit together.
Fourth, I am ridiculously happy about the top zipper placket. I don’t know why this bit of a bag makes me so giddy. I don’t think I have ever done one before, so that may be part of it. I’ll probably come down off my cloud tomorrow.
Finally, I just love those turquoise zippers. Could they be any better? They add such a spark of color.
The lining is a little baggy even though I followed the directions and used different seam allowances. Not sure what that is about, but I will do better next time.
I was surprised at the size of the bag. I thought it was much larger. It isn’t a stupid size or anything. It is a reasonable size, just smaller than I thought. I really like the angled shape, though I don’t know if you can tell that from the top photo. I forgot to put a D-ring in it, though I know where I will put one next time. I plan to make another of these, especially since I bought the templates. So many bag patterns…so little time.
Superbloom Returns
My first attempt at putting the exterior of the Superbloom Tote together was unsuccessful. I was disappointed and distraught. I left the bag for much too long and considered not finishing it.
Briefly, I thought about quitting.
This was a terrible idea, because I have other fabric that I want to use to make another one. AND the fussy cutting I did with the Linework fabric is fantastic. The fussy cutting on those side pockets was fantastic. Finally, after mulling a lot, I realized that I had been working on the bag without the benefit of the video. Many of Sara Lawson’s pattern packs come with the pattern and a video. The video is very helpful. She has improved the videos by tagging them to steps in the pattern. I was able to navigate right to putting the exterior together easily.
Watching the video really helped and I was able to get over the hump of adding the side pockets and the straps to the exterior. There was one step I did a little wrong, so I had some ripping to do, but it came out really well.
I am well on my way!
Next is the lining.
Superbloom Side Pockets
I spent some time on Sunday sewing the Superbloom tote. I am particularly happy with the Side Pockets.
First of all, I always forget how easy those internal zipper pockets are. They really go together smoothly. I always wonder why I don’t just add them to every bag. I should.
Second, I am super happy with fussy cutting. I basically lined up the motifs with the template pieces. My one issue is that the swans heads got cut off when I added the zipper. I plan to add some markers on the template where the zipper is so I know where the zipper for the next time I make one of these.
I started putting the bag together and am excited to see how it will look.
Superbloom Tote Start
My YM’s girlfriend (YMG??) has a birthday at the beginning of January. I thought I might be a week late in getting her a gift, but here it is a month later and I have not made progress on the tote.
I decided to make her a Superbloom tote. I wanted to try this pattern and her birthday seemed like a good opportunity.
I used some of Tula Pink’s Linework fabric for the outside. YMG likes dark green, which is not a color of which I own a lot (shocking, I know), so black and white it is.
This is a Sew Sweetness pattern (one of the new ones) so I have every confidence that it will go well.
As you can see, I haven’t gotten very far. I still need to get beyond the cutting and hope to work on it this weekend.