A few more…
Black and Grey dots lined with “lipstick pink” floral… And for the shoe addict, an Alexander Henry print, “mary jane” lined in a pale orchid Polka Dot:
A little more sewing tonight…
It’s in the Bag
Tag Archives: handbags
Bird Brained
Picked my mail up on the way off to retreat this weekend, and there was Carla’s One Block Over package (GREAT timing!) so the first thing I did once I got set up at retreat was make these two cute blocks… love the quilt idea, adore the birdie print!!!
The rest of retreat was spent creating bags…
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| Note the red sequins on the Ruby Slipper bags! |
…and more bags…
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| I really like the way this MOMO fabric from Moda quilted up! |
…and a few more bags…
Love the Joel Dewberry fabric I used for lining on the birdie wristlet (sadly, it’s one of my last scraps of it!):
I’ve sewn three more of these wristlets since this weekend (more pics to come), to get ready to vend at a craft boutique this weekend. Feeling bird-brained (pun intended) from doing the same thing over and over… I’m not much for mass-producing, or assembly-lining items, so, to me this seems like an unpleasant way to make a living, but I’m committed to two craft boutiques, so…
The best thing about all of these bags–and Carla’s blocks? Almost everyone was made from fabric in my scrap bins! I really didn’t cut into too much new fabric.
Have a favorite of my bags?
Ever done any vending yourself? Or made many of something to sell?
Visa Versa
My first finished project of 2011! Actually finished just before New Year’s Day (but I’m counting it in 2011!)… the Vice Versa bag by Black Cat Creations:
This bag is misleading; the cover photo on the pattern would lead one to believe it would be an average size, hobo style shoulder bag…
Not so, it is actually much larger, each of those outside quadrants (the grey dot, the large floral, the black floral, and the turquoise geometric) are full 18″ squares. It’s called Vice Versa, because it is made with 10 fat quarters to be fully reversible. here’s a pic of the interior (or other side):
Most of the fabrics are from Riley Blake. Here’s a shot to give you a better idea of the scale…that’s a 13 pound cat inside the bag (actually struggling desperately to get out…He puts up with more from me than he should have to!):
If you are a big bag person, or know someone who is, they would love this bag. I’m going to downsize the pattern next time I make it, because I’m really not a big bag person.
I made few blocks for a group quilt a local quilter is putting together, made with Atkinson Designs Four Square Farmhouse pattern:
This is a fabulous pattern. These two blocks (15″ square) are made out of two fat quarters (there is very little waste), and the pattern includes size requirements for many different quilt sizes. Anyone that has used one of Terry Atkinson’s patterns knows they are well-written and no-nonsense. I could see me making scrap quilts, baby quilts, and gifts from this pattern…
I’ll be back soon with updates on other sewing I’ve been up to, as well as wedding planning updates. My month long blog break was un-intentional, but as it turned out, necessary and useful. It’s always good to regroup at the start of a new year, anyway, don’t you think?
Hip, Hip, Hooray!
A new bag! I made this bag over the weekend…
It’s a sample for the shop. It went together very quickly, even making coordinating piping…
It’s a great size, not too small, but small enough to be an easy carry all for a day of shop-hopping, walking around a quilt show, etc.
The fabric is all from the Whimsy line by Pillow & Maxfield for Michael MIller, the blues are stunning shades, and the coordinate prints are a lot of fun. Here’s the inside of the bag:
This one will be at the shop for several months on display (and kits are available!) so I may have to make another to use in the meantime!
I love the sense of accomplishment with these smaller projects. My quilts tend to be large and involved, so it takes a while to get to completion. How about you, have you made any bags? Any other smaller projects you like to do to get that sense of a “finish”, more often?
Happy Creating!
Doris
Bagged another gift
My little sister had a birthday on October 8th, she asked me a few weeks before that to make one of my bags as her gift. I delivered, albeit a little late, this handbag on Saturday:
She actually gave me four of these pieces of fabric back in July for my birthday, so I used a little bit of them as inspiration for her bag. It’s based on the 10-strip Wonder Bag pattern, available from here… But of course, I changed it up a bit, ’cause…that’s what I do!
The photos don’t really show it (it’s November in Iowa, folks, no more true color pics until April or so…) but the fabrics are a deep eggplant, pumpkin orange, goldenrod yellow, and moss green–LOVELY Autumn shades!
I have fabric to make a few more of these, but I have some holiday projects ahead of them, so it may be a month or two before I show you more bags!
Do you have a favorite bag pattern? I really do enjoy making them, and I love the utilitarian factor…
Miranda Squared
When I listed my UFOs last year, two of them included handbags made from Lazy Girl’s Miranda Day Bag pattern. I inished them both, and showed them to the world here. And here. This is the one I made for myself. 
It gets a lot of attention, and I’ve been asked by many people to make a bag for them after seeing this one. I made one as a store sample for the shop I worked at part-time:
It turned out really cute and is made from In the Beginning fabrics. I even had the chance to practice my stipple quilting on it…
And my Mom picked out fabric for a bag of her own…
The Moda fabric that makes up the main part of this bag was her inspiration, it is not my style, but I had fun quilting the design (sorry, no good photos of the quilting but it follows the clamshell shape and the paisley pattern).
This is a great bag pattern, it also comes in a Mini-Miranda size. I make mine “mini” by just reducing the pattern as I go. So of the four that I’ve made, each is slightly different in size and shape ’cause I make it up as I go. I could probably make these blindfolded by now. But I suppose using the rotary cutter blindfolded might be a little dangerous…
made by a brunnette 