My week in bags

Those of you who follow me on Instagram may have noticed I've taken a break from my usual quilt making shenanigans this week, and have been making a few bags and a dress instead. My little sister is getting married tomorrow, so I have been finishing up my bridesmaids dress for the wedding - I will try to share some photos from the wedding over the weekend :o)

Other than that, it has been bags all the way. First up is a little commissioned library bag, made using Children at Play fabric by Sarah Jane. I made it using Jeni's fabulous drawstring bag pattern, and appliqued the name on by machine. I really love the border print for the main part of the bag, and I'm a bit sad to have used my last piece.

Next is another version of the Necessary Clutch Wallet by Emmaline Bags. This one is the class sample for the class I'll be teaching in May. I've used an Amy Butler print for the exterior, a citrus solid for the lining and border, and an Anna Maria Horner print for the pockets and card slots. When I made my first version of this wallet last year, I used a cotton/linen blend for the exterior, whereas I used a lighter weight quilting cotton this time around. It was definitely much easier to sew through all the layers and attach the twist lock in this second version.

My final bag from this week is another knitting bag, made using Amanda's Knitting Bag pattern by The Sometimes Crafter, for a friend's birthday present. This is such a quick project, and considering most of my crafty friends knit or crochet rather than sew, I think there will be a few more made for birthday presents and so forth this year. For this one, I used a woven woollen fabric I had in my stash and lined it with a Timeless Treasures print - the recipient will definitely appreciate the 'go green' message on the fabric :o) It was a little tricky to interface the wool fabric, but it seems to have adhered pretty well, and it has given the bag a really nice structure.

My to-do list is looking much, much better as a result of this week's efforts - I just need to get back on top of my bee blocks and then I will be starting something new. I'm excited :o)

I hope everyone has a great end to the week!

xx Jess

Melody Miller Messenger Bag

Since finishing mum's knitting bag over the weekend, I've been on a bag-making high. Who knew I would love making bags as much as quilty things? Admittedly this one has been a looong time coming - I cut most of the pieces last summer and was feeling really nervous about making it (which is probably why I've left it this long). But last week, the bag I had been using finally died, so I decided to put my big girl pants on and make this one. Lots of photos to come :o)

I used Amy Butler's High Street Messenger Bag pattern (yes, the same one as I gave away last week - I accidentally bought two copies.) It's designed to be a laptop bag, but it's incredibly roomy so I'll be using it as an everyday bag (because as a mum I'm always carrying a LOT of stuff.)

I've pretty much used Melody Miller fabrics for all of it (apart from a few bits of natural Essex linen for some of the hidden bits). I've used bits of most of her collections I think. The entire bag is interfaced with cotton duck. I'd never heard of this stuff - it's a heavy cotton canvas, and gives the bag a really nice weight to it. I used my walking foot for pretty much all the sewing (apart from the zips). There were a few tricky bits with lots of layers, but all in all it wasn't as bad as I'd feared.

The bag closes with a flap with a magnetic clasp at the bottom (first time installing one - and it worked pretty well.)

Under the front flap is a pleated pocket. 

I fussy cut some bees and moths for the side panels.

The back has a zip pocket and features one of my all time favorite Melody Miller prints :o)

 The inside of the flap has another pocket.

And the inside has a hanging zippered pocket panel, with lots of little pockets under it for pens and things.

I am completely in love with it! Now I've overcome my bag making fears, I think I'm almost ready to tackle a Weekender :o) Caitlin is now stocking the patterns in her shop if you're interested in jumping on the Weekender bandwagon too!

This is my third finish this quarter in Leanne's FAL! 

xx Jess

A Mother's Day Knitting Bag

Over the last week, I've been watching the series of Quiltcon lectures on Craftsy. The one that has really resonated with me is the lecture by Jacquie Gehring of Tall Grass Prarie studio - I literally had goosebumps while watching her amazing presentation. I think the thing that resonated with me the most was being from a family of makers. My dad did Fine Arts at uni, majoring in ceramics and is now an art teacher. My mum has always done some sort of crafty stuff - she dabbled in patchwork for a short time when I was very little, and she made a lot of our clothes as kids. Most of all though she has always been a knitter. So although I don't come from a quilting background, I definitely come from a family of makers.

So when it came to thinking of a good Mother's Day present to make for her, I decided to go for Amanda's Knitting Bag designed by The Sometimes Crafter. The external fabric is the most beautiful fabric ever created (IMO) - Parenthetical linen from Anna Maria Horner's Field Study linens. The lining is a red Kona (not sure exactly which sorry!)

I have only made a couple of bags before, but I found this pattern really easy to understand and put together. It makes a really roomy bag with lots of useful pockets for knitting needles and other bits and pieces knitters like to have handy.

The only modification I made was to put the small zip pocket on the back rather than the front - simply for aesthetic reasons. I'm really pleased with how this pocket finished - it was way easier than I thought! Not perfect, but it turned out much better than I'd anticipated :o)

Mum goes to a Spinners and Weavers Guild meeting once a week, so how she has a very pretty bag to carry all her supplies in. Happily, she loves it!

Happy Mother's Day!

xx Jess

Some bag making advice, please?

I have a few questions for you bag making experts out there. 

I'm planning on making this bag:

I have the pattern (obviously) and the cotton duck it requires for the interfacing.

The thing I'm not sure about is that it calls for mid-weight home dec fabric for both the lining and exterior. I'm not completely sure what I want to use to make it at this stage anyway, but I'd really like to use some of my Melody Miller cotton/linen blend fabric for both the exterior and interior. Would this work as is, do you think? It is a bit heavier than regular quilting cotton, but I'm not sure if it's heavy enough to work in this bag. The other option I'm considering is making the pieces QAYG using a combination of quilting cotton and linen/cotton blend - would this be a viable option?

Any and all advice would be really appreciated :o)

xx Jess  

PS - did you really think I'd stick to my FAL list without any distractions? I lasted a couple of days at least ;o)