Tag: Tote Bags

Fabulous Laptop Bag

I have bags on the mind again. I really am thinking about new bags to sew.I would like to have several in my repertoire. They make great quick projects. As such, I was reading Vicki Welsh’s most recent Field Trips in Fiber episode and found a really great laptop bag by Candy Glendening of Candied Fibers. I got the impression that this was her own design. I was really impressed with the attention to detail and the thoughtfulness of the design. I like the water bottle pocket and the cell phone pocket. The machine embroidery or quilting which Candy used to embellish the bag is very nice, too.
clipped from candiedfabrics.wordpress.com

Laptop Bag for Liz!

Laptop-Backpack18
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Catch Up Saturday Again!

Well, my brain seems to be really full these past few weeks. Once again, I am writing another catch up post for you. I know that catch up isn’t exactly the right term, but Full Brain post sounds a little odd to me.

1. Tote bags: Always on my mind. I haven’t made any new ones, but I did listen to a new podcast called the Quilted Cupcake Podcast. Jean, the producer has a very friendly and professional not ditzy style. She is methodical, but not talking head boring about presenting the information she wants to communicate in the podcast, which was easy to follow. The show notes blog is a must, at least for this episode, because Jean packs the podcast full of information, links and tutorials. The episode to which I have linked is episode 11, which is about tote bags. I downloaded all of the episodes that were available, but listened to this one, the most recent, first. I found it on iTunes and you can find it there, via a link from the show notes blog or also on Libsyn at http://quiltedcupcake.libsyn.com/.

Some of the blogs and sites to which Jean links are sites that I already claim to read.

Jean mentioned Rachel Griffith’s P.S I Quilt blog, which has a great tutorial about gussets. I haven’t tried it yet, but will, especially since I am thinking about expanding my bag making horizons. Jean also does a great book review and mentions several tips and tricks that should have been obvious, but were revelations to me.

She also mentioned a couple of books, Sew Sublime Bags and Sew What by Lexie Barnes. I was able to reserve the former at the library, but not the latter. Will have to think about that. I’d like to see it and not buy it at the moment.

I spent some time listening to her earlier podcasts and she has definitely improved her style. Some of her discussions talk a lot about thrift store shopping and saving money. She mentions a lot about how much she spends on things in the course of the discussion. It is apparent that saving money and getting a deal are important to her. My only criticism would be to leave the price tags out.

Her episode on aprons (#5) was really good and I do like her book reviews; they are very complete.

2. Flickr Creative Prompt Project Group:  I am very pleased to report that  a number of participants in the Creative Prompt Project have joined the group and uploaded their responses. Quilt Rat, SherriD, and Kathy (new member-YAY!) have all joined. Quilt Rat and SherriD have uploaded all of their responses and Kathy has uploaded several photos so 80+ drawings/photos/art are all available to view together. I am really thrilled about this. There is always room for one more, so join in and upload your responses. You don’t have to go back and do them all.

3. Free MOO cards:  Get a free pack of MOO cards. There is no free lunch so there are some restrictions, but free is free and the MOO cards are really cool. Thanks to Deirdre for this tip.

4. C&T Publishing has a list of blogs by their authors and fans. Others were new to me, such as Barbara Brackman’s blog, which includes lots of tidbits about quilt history. I also like the logo C&T created for this particular page. the different artistic letters are fun.

5. I am weeding the links. I find that blogs change over time and don’t suit me anymore. If you are using my blogroll as a fave page, you may want to rethink that. 😉

Leopard Tote

Turquoise Leopard Tote
Turquoise Leopard Tote

This is the Leopard Tote I made for my sister back in February. I am not sure why I never posted it. Here it is now.

It came back with me after my trip down south in June, because she ripped it along the spot on the inside where I turned the whole piece and then sewed it up by hand. This time, I sewed a bit, made a knot, sewed a bit and made a knot. I also warned the fast moving sis to not load it with heavy stuff.

Hopefully those strategies will keep it closed.

Opposite Tote

Striped Tote with Flowers
Striped Tote with Flowers

You might think that this is the same tote I posted last week. It is, however, the opposite of the one I posted last week. I used the stripe for the main part of the fabric as opposed to the flower fabric, which I used for the accents this time.

I think that this may be the best tote that I have ever made. I don’t think that I made any mistakes (knock wood). One thing I did with this tote was sew on the button before I sewed all the pieces together. It was a lot easier!

I guess it is time to move on to another pattern. We’ll see.

Completed Tote

Candy Tote with Flowers
Candy Tote with Flowers

As you may remember, I bought some fabric at Always Quilting on the day I went to longarm.

After finishing the Clear tote, I looked around for my next project. I had tote bags on the mind, so out came the fabric and off I went.

I cut out two totes. This is the one where the main outside part of the bag is made with the flower print from the Ginger Blossom line by Sandi Henderson. I have used the stripe fabric from the same line for the accents and the lining [inside].

One GREAT thing about this project, aside from geting a new tote bag out of the work, was that I learned to use the button hole function on the Jem. It is much easier to use than the button hole function on the 9000. Now I don’t have to go to Seattle in order to make button holes! TFQ’s machine makes GREAT button holes. The Jem button holes will be a suitable facsimile, not as good as going to Seattle, but suitable.

I have enough of the stripe to make another bag. It is already cut out, but I didn’t do very well making two bags at once, so I just cut both out and lined them. Once that was done I limited myself to sewing one at a time. I’ll sew the other one this weekend.

I also have some blue flowery fabric that I bought for a tote. Perhaps I will get that done as well. It feels like a good time to make tote bags. TFQ asked me if I was still using the Favorite Things Eco Market tote pattern. I am, but she made me think that, perhaps, I should dig out those other tote patterns I have purchased over the past year and try one of them out. I really want to try the Liesel tote. I am a really big chicken when it comes to 3D things, so I’ll have to gear up.

My New Best Friend

Janome Roller Foot
Janome Roller Foot

As soon as I got home on Friday, I pulled out the Jem and set it up. I figured that if I didn’t do it right then, I would put it off and all of my sewing projects would languish.

Janome Jem, July 2009
Janome Jem, July 2009

I pulled out the vinyl tablecloth tote bag parts, put on the roller foot and tried it out. I used Valdani quilting thread that I bought at the Chicago Quilt Festival Show a number of years ago. I am now the proud owner of a tablecloth vinyl tote bag.

The roller foot worked really well. REALLY WELL. AMAZINGLY WELL. It really got the job done and I have high hopes that I can make the bathroom “quilt” as well. Perhaps I can even get it done before the 9000 comes back. Perhaps I’ll make one for each bath!

The roller foot worked really well, but wasn’t perfect. I have always had some trouble with the curved corners of the Eco Market tote bag pattern from Favorite Things. Going around the curves with two layers of vinyl was difficult.

Clear tote, July 2009
Clear tote, July 2009

I didn’t line the bag. I didn’t really think it was necessary so the seams all show and it looks a bit unfinished. There are a number of thread blobs that I would have unsewed with normal fabric, but were pretty difficult to deal with the vinyl, so I left them. On the plus side, the bag was very quick to finish.

I get the feeling that I won’t be able to stuff this bag full of heavy stuff either, but I will try it out and we will see.  It sounds dumb, but I felt like a renegade working with the material. In general, I highly recommend the roller foot if you are going to make something with tablecloth vinyl.

One of my CQFA colleagues, as I may have mentioned, borrowed my Jem machine for about 5 months while her Viking was in the shop. She saw some oilcloth type fabric (vinyl or something on one side and flannel-like fabric on the other) pillows and totes and decided to make them. She made them using the Jem and didn’t have any problems. I was amazed that she could do that. I know now that the flannel probably allowed the oilcloth to feed through the machine. I am interested in trying some of that fabric to make a tote bag.

Clear tote, July 2009
Clear tote, July 2009

Various and Sundry Monday

If you didn’t see the Cost Plus ad in the Sunday newspaper yesterday, go take a look. They are getting ready for spring and it is a very cheerful ad. They even have a grouping of Adirondack chairs that looks like my banner. Guess they’ve been trawling the web for ideas. 😉

Journal from Annie Smith
Journal from Annie Smith

Recently, I received an email from Annie Smith, yes, podcasting Annie Smith. In better times, I left a few comments on her website and also gave a donation. She contacted me, because she felt bad for not responding to my comments. I try to respond to comments on my blog, but it isn’t always possible and I certainly don’t expect any other blog authors to respond to my prattling. Still, she contacted me and wanted to send me something, because she hadn’t responded. I told her it wasn’t necessary, but she sent me the journal above anyway. As I have mentioned, I write in a journal nearly every day. While this is not the style of journal I normally use, it might be nice to try something different. Regardless it was very thoughtful.

Failure!
Failure!

I wanted a sturdier tote bag to carry around. I decided to try to make a bag out of the clear tablecloth covering type fabric (is it really fabric??). I thought it would also be cool to have a clear plastic bag even though I would have to be careful what I put in it! I felt justified on this thought during the past week when I was carrying about my soaked flower bag. As you can see from above, I haven’t, yet, been very successful completing the clear plastic tote. The problem is that I cannot sew this tablecloth fabric on my machine 🙁  . I tried it normally, but the feed dogs wouldn’t feed. I tried backing it with some slightly heavy tissue paper, figuring I could rip it off later and he machine still wouldn’t feed. I even asked at the store where I bought the fabric and they said it should be no problem. Above is a picture of me failing at sewing the clear plastic bag. Unless any of you have any brilliant ideas, I am going to buy some colorful staples and staple it together. Not sure how sturdy it will be, though, and I am concerned that the backs of staples  catching on things.

I realized that I hadn’t posted or written about the Flower tote. At least I couldn’t find any reference to it.

Flower Tote
Flower Tote

I finished this tote at the beginning of January. It is the first tote that I have made using one different fabric for the side so the pocket fabric stands out. I am pleased with that way of highlighting the ‘main’ fabric. It is a pretty easy way to do so. Basically, I cut the same numbers of fabrics out of two different fabrics as normal. Then I used one side piece in the flower print for an inside piece and one blue side piece for the outside side piece that gets the pocket attached to it.

Flower Tote detail
Flower Tote detail

From the City Quilter Newsletter: “If you or any friends will be in New York City the weekend of March 21/22, I thought you’d like to know of a wonderful quilt show put on by the major Manhattan guild, Empire Quilters. It is entitled Urban Inspirations, and takes place at the the Fashion Institute of Technology, a major teaching institution, which is just around the corner from us.” If you would like to subscribe to the City Quilter newsletter, email them at: info@cityquilter.com I can’t attend this year, but would love to see photos you take from the show.

Flower Tote Bag

I loved this fabric, which I bought back in November. As I mentioned last week, I finally got to making a tote bag out of it.

I am pretty pleased with how it came out. I love the bright cheerfulness of these splashy flowers. I think it is a good way to use those big prints.



On one of the last bags, I didn’t like the way I couldn’t see the pocket and the straps, so this time I used a blue for one side of the outside of the bag so that the pocket was highlighted. It means that the bag sides were different fabrics, but who cares? I am pleased with the way the flower fabric stands out.

I used a tulip stitch for the top stitching on the edge around the top. It is ok. There were parts where I had to sew over a lot of layers and the spacing got a bit wrecked. I am going to keep this bag for myself, because it is cheerful and I didn’t put any interfacing in it.

Using Fabric

I am really in a philosophical frame of mind right now. Not sure why, but I seem to be thinking more about things rather than just trying to get through the day. All that vacation freed up brain space, I guess!


I started a new tote bag last night (forgoing all computer time for fabric time!). As you can see, the fabric is a large flower print. I needed another fabric to go with it. As I was pawing through my blues (oh no! are they back??), I found myself thinking about using fabric.

I am very grateful for all of the fabric that I have. It makes me feel like I could sew to eternity and not worry. It seems that when I am looking for a specific color or shade, however, that I don’t have enough fabric. What I was doing last night was looking through fabrics to go with this wild flower print. It was a lot easier because I didn’t have a certain value or tone in mind. Does the amount of fabric expand or contract depending on what I am looking for?

More From the Bag Lady

A long time ago there was a discussion on a Yahoogroup about being a bag lady. Not the kind you see on the street begging for money, but someone who loves all kinds of bags.
Tote bags
Handbags
Purses
Laptop bags
Briefcases
Backpacks

You name it. I love them. I am also a bag lady, as you might have noticed. Not that I am not particular about the bags that I buy or make, but havingg the right bag at the right time makes all the difference.

This site has a list of of many free (and some NOT free) patterns for a variety of bags that you can make. Some of them might make great Christmas or holiday gifts.

clipped from tipnut.com

35 Reusable Grocery Bags You Can Make – Free Patterns

clipped from tipnut.com

Sewing Grocery Bags & Totes

  • Fabric Grocery Sacks: Replicas of plastic grocery sacks made from vintage sheets and pillowcases (any fabric will do!). These also make cute lunch bags. Features a tie closure for a neat fit in your purse when not in use.
  • MorsBags.com: Offers a downloadable pattern in pdf or word doc format (also an animated web tutorial). Simple tote style, easy to make.
  • SewUseful San Fransisco Shopper: Roomy fabric tote with shoulder straps, folds down nicely to fit into a pocket or purse.
    • blog it

    Next up in the Tote Bag Department

    As you may recall, I made this lining for the Cupcake Tote, but ended up not using it.

    After finishing the Eggplant/Lemon tote and embellishing the Chocolate Flower Tote, I, once again, turned my attention to this troublesome lining. It wasn’t intentionally troublesome, but the colors turned out to be a problem.

    I looked through my fabric, not really sure what to pick. I pulled out these dots from the Timeless Treasures Basix collection. I love these dots, though I love the ones with the white backgrounds more. I thought I would use them, but when I looked at the three pieces together, I decided that making visually decisions visually was a good idea. The colors in the cake fabric didn’t go with the dots. No purple or pink in the dots and no turquoise or orange in the cake fabric. Too bad, because I have a lot of black dot fabrics that I haven’t used at all. The outside fabrics had to go with the lining, though.

    After looking carefully at the focus fabric and looking through my black and white fabrics, I found this red batik and this violet dot.

    This is the grouping that I picked. I wanted the fabrics to all go together without being too matchy-matchy. I also wanted to use some dots. The violet dot is very thin and I don’t like it forpiecing. I don’t have much of that red batik, but think it will be nice as an accent. I completely ignored the aqua pockets that I already sewed to the inside of the lining. Nobody will see them much except the owner.

    Stay tuned.

    Latest Fashion in Tote Bags

    I worked on some totes this weekend. The Chocolate Flower tote was completed this summer (wrote about it on July 26), but something was missing. In general, I am also not liking the big blobs of fabric that the big outside pockets tend to become. I found a random piece of ribbon with the perfect colors. I used it to embellish the tote’s outside pocket last night. When I auditioned it, I thought the ribbon made the green in the flower print stand out.
    In future totes I want to work on making the outside pocket less of a big blob.

    My newest tote is the eggplant/lemon tote. I started it on my summer vacation, but didn’t work on it again until this weekend, .
    The lemon flower fabric is from a recent Moda collection (Fresh Squeezed by Sandy Gervais??). I love the colors in the vegee/eggplant fabric. It is a very fun fabric that I would, probably, never use in a quilt.

    Here is the inside of the bag. I have started to put large pockets on the insides of all the bags in addition to the small pocket. They are very useful.

    Cupcake Tote


    Here is the finished cupcake tote bag! The cupcake fabric is that which I bought from Clemetine’s Dry Goods a few months ago. I originally thought I would use a black cake fabric for the inside and I went so far as to construct it, but decided that it really didn’t go with the delicate aqua of the outside and changed the lining to this lovely turquoise cake with stands fabric. I bought that fabric at Capital Quilts AND at one of the shops in Connecticut while I was there.

    Since I have not been able to figure out how to use the buttonholer on my machine, the buttons are decorative only. I put them there to break up that large expanse of pink. I have to go and get some more of these buttons as I love them. They have some style! They are vintage buttons from Britex and there are a couple of different styles available made out of the same material.

    Before I put the large white buttons on, I tried these pewter teapot/coffee cup buttons. They were ok, but the bag required some bolder embellishments.
    This is the original lining for the cupcake bag. I decided, eventually, that it just didn’t go with the light aqua and abandoned it for the turquoise gateau fabric lining. I’ll use this for another bag. Not sure which yet.

    Next bag is the eggplant/lemon bag. 😉

    Amy Butler Tote redux

    I found the Amy Butler tote on the K&C Company website. It looks really nice and has gotten rave reviews from some people who have emailed and commented. I’ll have to think about it before I buy. I still want the pattern so I can try and make it from my own fabric.

    clipped from www.kandcompany.com

    Amy Butler Belle Fabric Scrapbooking Tote Bag

    Hold everything! Our exclusive, Amy-Butler-Designed craft bags are great for creativity on the go!

    Made of durable, padded canvas, these versatile creativity bags are divided into: one wide 12×12 pocket, one flat 12×12 pocket, one open compartment with three small, wide pockets on each side, and two exterior side pockets that are perfect for photographs or tech gear like a digital camera, cell phone or mp3 player.

    Use to hold an album, 12×12 papers, embellishments, paper cutter, fabric, yarn skein, tools, photographs, projects and so much more!

    Shell: EVA Foam-Backed 100% Cotton
    Lining: 100% Cotton
    SPOT CLEAN ONLY

    Amy Butler Belle Fabric Scrapbooking Tote Bag
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    More Complex Bags

    I was at Pacific Fabrics yesterday and saw this great bag from K & C Company and Amy Butler. It is called the Creativity Bag and says it was designed for scrapbooking.

    TFQ and I liked it because of the interior dividers. I don’t think I would want to carry it around all the time, but it would make a nice travel bag. Frankly, I would just like to try to make one. Either the design or the fabric is licensed, so, after discussing with TFQ, we are skeptical that they are also selling a pattern. It seems like they would just want to sell the complete bag. I’ll have to look carefully, though, on the Web to be sure.

    TFQ found a pattern she bought several years ago, which is similar. It has the dividers inside, but doesn’t have a really good variety of photos of different angles.