Lovely Little Linen n' Lace

Claiming her Meringue clutch.

Things have been happening here. And they don't have anything to do with sewing; which makes me a crumpy person. There have been Debate tournaments, music recitals, road trips to do college things, car repairs, work (necessary, I suppose) and general life event things that require attendance (this one is ok). NOT MUCH SEWING.

But, finally, this past week I had 6 days off in a row. Whoohoo!!! Let's sew!!!

I thought anyway, but amazingly very little has been accomplished. Almost an entire day was spent trying to figure out how to make a mini sawtooth star quilt pattern when what I should have done first thing was google it. Because, guess what?? Someone has ALREADY come up with that pattern. Of coarse they have. Quilting is a mature industry for sure and there aren't too many surprises out there. Yes, new variations on patterns, yes, the trend of "modern quilting", yes, occasionally new techniques, and yes, lots and lots of new fabrics always.

The beautiful Sawtooth Star Pattern.

But you can be assured when it comes to something like the sawtooth which is an OLD quilt pattern, well, pretty much every aspect of that pattern has been thought about and given the once over by someone! No need to reinvent the wheel. So, memo to self...don't waste time and fabric trying to come up with a pattern for a certain size block because someone already has (or come close anyways).

Another day was spent on the Gabriola skirt SAL from Sewaholic. Because the pattern requires 5 yards (yes, it's true, 5) of fabric, I made a muslin from a .49 resale fabric. Thank goodness, I did. My muslin had/has some issues. What should have been a quick sew of a great maxi is now lingering in my sewing room. Meanwhile...tick, tick, March is coming to a close and my Big City Bag for March was not done!

It is a good thing this month's bag was an easy one! The Meringue Clutch.

From: Mommy's Naptime as featured in Sara's book.

Yes, even in my sewing slump, I was able to finish the Meringue Clutch! I have learned quite a bit about bag making in the last couple of months. Between Sewing with Squeak's Big City Bag SAL and Deby's Carry All Bag, the opportunity to work with various interfacings, bag hardware, and bag making techniques has been ample.

This Clutch design just speaks summer to me so I wanted something soft and summery. Linen and Lace! I used pure white linen and a vintage piece of cotton lace I've had since my 20's. Trust me, it's vintage. :) I opted to use a medium weight interfacing and skipped the interfacing all together for the strap. Also, after seeing a few comments about the gathered panel that was used I decided to only cut my to 20" instead of 24". I did not want the lace pattern to be lost in the gathers. I also didn't topstitch near the zipper. Call me a rebel.

Really like the shape and size of this clutch.

Cotton lace which my Mom gave me eons ago.

So pure and white, it is my opinion that linen is one of the most beautiful fabrics available.

 Anyway, I am quite pleased with how the bag turned out. One of the great things about Sara's bag patterns is they finish to very generous sizes, even this clutch. My daughter promptly claimed the clutch. Happier now.

Big City Bags SAL, Fireside Bowling Bag Complete!

The Big City Bags Sew-a-long.  A bag a month for 12 months.

It is not too late to join us!

Hmmmm….after Bag #1 it seems possible!

Albeit, not many bags have been sewn around here; I just don’t “feel” like a person that sews bags. What does that mean? I’m not even sure myself.

I can easily list the bags sewn in the last couple of years. It is a short list. A few easy totes, a bucket type bag a while back and recently, a test bag pattern for Deby at SSE and the Colette Cooper Bag. I wasn’t really sure how this bag making endeavor would go. However, motivated by the design of the first bag which I have adored since last January, I plunged in. My goals were to get some general experience making bags, learn how to sew bag details, the use of different weights of interfacing, work with purse hardware and to end up with some nice gifts for some sweet people in my life. After the first bag of 12, it seems pretty likely it can be done! All 12 I mean.

Very pleased with the end result!

A list of the good:

This bag sewed up easily and quickly once all the prep work was done.

I made a mistake and ended up with two layers of stiff stuff.
A layer of soft and stable AND a layer of fusible fleece.

The bag design had some sweet details that were simple but really added to the finished product such as the accent trim and the bit of piping between the main and accent panels.

Love the shape of the bag and sweet touches
such as the accent panels and clippy dodads!

I really LOVE it when metal clippy things and D rings and the such are added to a bag. Instant glam.

The interior of this bag is large. Love that. As soon as my daughter saw the finished product she listed all the reasons why she needed the bag for herself. J

A list of the bad:

I make copies of the supply list and check them as I get them done. 

There is a LOT of prep work. It takes a loooooooong time to cut all the pieces.

At least it takes me a long time. Confession: I find the cutting part of bag making to be very tedious. Is it just me? I really have to break out the “get ‘er done” attitude to get it finished.

I think I may have done something wrong because the lining part did not compute. Mine just sorta hangs there. I actually plan on tacking it in the corners after this post. It is too floppy.  The next time I make this bag I will be adding ½ inch seams to the pieces and using French seams to finish. I also am going to layer and cut my lining and main fabric pieces all at the same time.

I ended up with extra bag and interfaced pieces. Wonder where they went? Haven’t a clue.

Some of the directions seemed to be lacking in details and I think I found a couple of omissions or mistakes but, again, this is probably just me. I found myself ignoring the directions a few times in order to get something done.

All in all, the bag was a success and I am quite happy with the end results! Thanks Angela for hosting this SAL! I am looking forward to the February bag.