Recently I bought some Cotton + Steel Sparkle Canvas, and it
was just begging to be turned into a bag. I loosely followed the instructions
for the Button-Down Shirt Bag out of Ruby Star Wrapping by Melody Miller and
Allison Tannery. Instead of using a button-down shirt for the exterior, I
whipped up a couple of simple patchwork panels out of a few Cotton + Steel fat
quarters from my stash. The Sparkle Canvas was used as the lining and handles. I
was really pleased with it. It was easy to sew with, and gave the bag some heft
without having to fiddle with interfacing. While I used this as a gift bag, the recipient
could easily use it as a tote bag. Needless to say, I would definitely make a
bag like this again.
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| Photo by Debbie Jeske |
As previously mentioned, the other day I whipped up a couple of
Little Fancy Purses from the book Handmade Bags In Natural Fabrics by Emiko
Takahashi. Even though the patterns in this book are meant to be hand sewn, I
found it easy enough to machine sew these little bags instead. I used a Cotton
+ Steel fat quarter for the exterior, and scraps from my Spark Double Gauze
Belcarra Blouse for the interior. In retrospect, the double gauze wasn’t the
best choice for the lining.
The lining piece is longer than the interior, and is
cleverly folded and sewn to make the drawstring casing. I had a bit of a hard
time making the casings, because I cut out the pattern pieces without reading
the directions closely. The templates in this book do not include seam
allowances! I was supposed to add 3/8” inch seam allowances to the templates,
but didn’t realize it until after the pieces were cut. I wasn’t about to waste
precious double gauze scraps, so I forged ahead. When it came time to fold and sew the casing, the double gauze did not want to cooperate. Luckily, I was able to use Wonder Tape to get it to behave. I think they turned out rather
well, all things considered. They are super cute, but in the future, I’ll make
my own bigger version. Incidentally, while scrolling through my Bags Pinterest board the other day, I realized that the technique this book uses is very similar
to the Pretty Drawstring Pouch from A Spoonful of Sugar that I pinned last year.
Small world. I’m looking forward to making more bags from this book, especially
the Eco Bag.
Speaking of books, be sure to check out this month's Sew the Library link-up at Weekend Doings.
