Maccabags!

Easy Peasy Pouches (How-to)

Want a really fast project which uses up smallish bits of left-over fabric or your FQ's? These pouches are lined, can be left plain or embellished a little.

 

For the basic pouch, you will need the following bits of fabric - the measurements include a 1 cm (.5 inch)seam allowance. The finished pouch is 12 cm wide, 16 cm high and 5 cm deep (5 x 6.5 x 2 inches), but these could be easily adapted to different sizes - just add or subtract the same amount to the width and/or length of exterior and lining, and make the casings & drawstrings longer or shorter (but not wider).

• For the pouch exterior: 1 piece, 17 x 45 cm (7 x 18 inches)
• For the lining: 1 piece, 17 x 34 cm (7 x 13.5 inches)
• For the drawstring casings: 2 pieces, 3.5 x 15 cm (1.5 x 6 inches)
• For the drawstrings: 2 pieces, 2.5 x 20 cm (1 x 8 inches)

To embellish the pouch, you could use all sorts of things - here are some ideas but there must be a zillion more:

• a patch (purchased, or made from a piece of fabric, mine was about 5 x 4 cm (3 x 2.5 inches)
• a button
• a yo-yo
• a little embroidered something-or-other
• a little appliqued something-or-other
• a ribbon bow or flower

What to do:

Step 1 - I have used purchased cord in my pouch below, but follow this step if you want to make the drawstrings as you see in the photo above. Fold one of the drawstrings in half, lengthwise. Press. Open out and fold the edges into the centre, so that they meet at the crease you just pressed in. The fold again along the first crease, encasing the edges. Stitch  down the middle of the drawstring. Repeat to make a second.

Step 2 - Finish the edges of the casings. Turn under .5 cm (1/4 inch) on all edges and press.

Step 3 - Position the casings. Centre one of the casings on the pouch exterior, parallel to and 5.5 cm (2 and 1/4 inches)from one of the short edges of the pouch exterior. Pin in place. Stitch along both long edges - do not stitch across the short edges, this is where the drawstring will be inserted into the casing. Repeat with the 2nd casing along the other short edge of the pouch. If you are using some embellishment, add it now, and position it no more than about  5 cm (2 inches) from the bottom of one of the casings.

This shows the positioning of the casings and the patch. Sew the casings and the patch as marked, hopefully straighter than my wiggling lines!

Step 4 - Pin the lining to the exterior, right sides facing - short edge of lining to short edge of pouch. Stitch. Repeat with other short end and press seams open.

Here's my pouch/lining seams pressed open.

Step 5 - Make pleats at bottom of pouch and bottom of lining. Place the pouch/lining on a flat surface and carefully line up the seams you have just pressed open, and pin together - just pin at those seams for now. Turn the pouch end towards you and draw a line 2.5 cm (1 inch) up from the bottom fold. Flip the pouch over and do the same on the other side. Turn the pouch around and repeat these markings on the lining end. Open out the pouch and fold, right sides together along one of the markings. Press. Fold and press open along the other 3 lines you drew. Then line up the folded edges at the pouch end, right sides together, and pin. You should have a pleat of the pouch exterior sandwiched in between the folds. Do the same at the lining end.

 

The pouch/lining seams matched and pinned, the folds made. I have left one edge of the bag with the seam line unmarked so that you can see how the folds have "sandwiched" a pleat of fabric.

See Step 6 below - don't forget to leave that gap for turning - on one side only!

Step 6 - Sew one long edge of the pouch/lining. Sew the other side as well, but this time leave an 8 cm (3 inch) gap in the seam, at the lining end, backstitching securely where you stop the stitching at each end of the gap. Reach through the gap and turn the pouch/lining right side out. Push the lining into the bag. Since the lining was not as long as the pouch, about  2.5 cm (an inch) of the exterior will turn into the interior of the bag. Now poke out the bottoms so that they look like this - that's me pressing everything neatly!

Step 7: Insert the drawstrings as in the photos below - then tie small knots at each of the drawstring ends, like I have here, or tie two ends together and knot as in the beige-and-gingham pouch in the photo at the beginning of this posting.

Feed one of the drawstrings  through the casing on one side and continue on through the casing on the other side. The drawstrings should then look like these photos. Do the same thing with the other drawstring, but start from the opposite side of the pouch.

All done.  OH NO - not yet! Go back and sew that little gap in the lining shut! 

And now there are four!

I thought three of these, maybe in graduating sizes and mix n' match fabric combos, would make a nice gift.

Another thought: insert a same-size-ish plastic bag containing sand or rice, for a cute doorstop.

And, made out of bridal fabrics, embellished with seed pearls/embroidery and with longer drawstrings for over-the-wrist carrying, this pouch would make a lovely bag for a bride or a bridesmaid to carry.

Make it out of silk dupion and add some sequins or feathers and you have a little evening bag.

5 Cushions, 1 Bag, 1 BBQ

 

A Gaggle of Cushions

 

Phew! Busy weekend:

• Sewing - 5 cushion covers
• Sewing - 1 bag
• BBQ - 1 birthday style cookout - Excellent company, good eats, co-operative weather for a pah-tay on the deck ... I hope you enjoyed your birthday, my darling Meggie! And to everyone else, thanks for all your help and calorific donations .... 

Aside from the cushions I did make a bag - this one from Lisa - again! Everyone seems to love this bag and so I have just finished making my 4th one. This one is from white ticking with a black stripe - and the lining is made out of black linen.

The Bag

The Hardware

I like the way the side came out. 

 

So - I am going to take a break from making this style of bag (probably only for awhile because I am going to try to teach myself how to crochet with this book and then I will need a nice craft bag).  For the moment, though - next up will be some bags with rivets - where would I be without Lisa? Here's her tutorial on using rivets in bags.

Handbags? Yes. But please! Don't put anything in them.

I got very adventurous and ordered some books from Amazon.co.jp. (It didn't feel quite so adventurous after I discovered that there is a link on the Home Page which switches everything to English; it seemed rather more intriguing to be ordering in Japanese, which I do not speak nor read). The prices were good, the postage very reasonable, and books that I ordered on Sunday arrived on Wednesday.

The books in question were Happy Sunday (ISBN 4-579-10914-7, which I used to search, leaving off the "ISBN") and Journey (ISBN 4-579-10969-4). These handbags are made by UI Nakabayashi. Photos from the two books follow - the question is - are these mere handbags? No - I make handbags - Ms. Nakabayashi does ART!

I just can't imagine putting anything in them and wrecking the lines!

From Happy Sunday

 

And - from Journey

  

See what I mean? Even a tube o'lippy would make too big a bulge!

Quick & Easy Tie-Backs Tutorial

Yes! Two weeks without a blog; too long. Lots going on at the day job, and also last weekend I had most of the flooring replaced in the downstairs of my house -  much chaos!

The new floor has prompted decorating activity. A new cushion cover and tie backs for the drapes behind. These were so easy that I thought I would share:

 

You can just see the edge of the covered cushion. The tie-backs are very easy and fast to make, and could easily have variations in length and width. I made 4 in about an hour, including cutting out. Each is a band of fabric with a loop sewn into one end and works by placing the band around the drapes or curtain, and then pulling one end through the loop.

This type of tie-back is not suitable for a slippery fabric (although it could be done; it would have to be pinned or tacked in place).

 

 

 

 

 

 

What you'll need for 4 tie-backs:

75 cm length of fabric

thread

scissors

iron

ruler

 

Cutting the fabric:

1. Cut 8 strips which measure 6 cm x 72 cm; these will become the 4 tie-back bands.

2. Cut another strip which measures 6 cm x 30 cm; this will become the 4 tie-back loops.

 

What to do:

Step 1. Make the loops.

• Choose the 6 x 30 strip and fold it lengthwise, wrong sides facing,  so that the outer edges line up.
•  Press the folded edge so that you have a sharp crease.
• Open out the folded strip and fold each outer edge, wrong sides facing, into the crease in the centre.
• Re-fold along the centre crease so that the long edges are encased.
• Edge stitch along the open edge.
• Cut the long loop into 4 smaller loops, each 6 cm long. (You will have some of the long loop left over).
• The next 3 photos show this step.

Fold and press the "loop" strip.

 

 

 

 

Edge stitch the loop.

 

 

 

 

Cut the long loop into 4 x 6 cm long loops. 

 

.

 

Step 2: Make the tie-backs.

• Choose 1 of the remaining 8 strips.
• Place right side up on a flat surface.
• Choose 1 of the 4 loops
• Place 5 cm from one of the short ends, parallel to the end.
• Choose another of the remaining strips and place right sides together, sandwiching the loop at one end. Pin in place.
• Using a 1 cm seam allowance, stitch around the outside edges of the "sandwich", leaving 10-12 cm gap along one long edge unsewn . Not sewn? Unstitched? You know what I mean!
• Clip diagonally across each corner, coming as close as you can to the stitching, but being careful not to clip through it. This will reduce bulk in the corners so that they will be nice and sharp when you turn the tie-back right-side-out.
• Turn the tie-back right side out by pulling the ends down and out through the gap you left in the stitching.
• Use a turning tool to poke the corners out so that they are nice and square looking.
• Press the tie-back so that the edges are nice and crisp, turning under the seam allowance where you left the gap in the stitching.
• Finish the tie-back by stitching close to the edge all the way around (this will catch in the seam allowances of the famous gap) OR slip stitch the gap closed if you don't want to top-stitch.
• Repeat for 3 more tie-backs and wait - you're done already. Here's photos of my tie-backs-in-progress:

I wanted to do some nice captions for these photos, but the new Typepad editor has given me such problems that I have had to give up. The first photo below shows the stitching lines and the gaps. This photo also makes me feel a little sea-sick, so please be careful while you look. Next you'll see the placement for the loops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some notes and more photos:

You can change the look of the tie-backs by adding some interfacing - anywhere from light to quite heavy. For a little more body without stiffness, some low loft fleece would do, or even just a another layer of fabric.  (Leave the loops, though, interfacing or fleece would just make them too bulky where you sew them into the side seams).

These could also be quite a bit wider and still work, but I would definitely add interfacing then - the wider the tie-back, the heavier the interfacing.

You could also add piping all around.

Or a contrasting or matching ribbon sewn up the middle before you stitch the outer seams.

Or all sorts of things that I have not thought of.

Also - you can pull the end through the loop leaving the loop facing out (photo at beginning of post) but if you flip the tie-back over so that the loop is at the back, then pull the end through so that the loop is hidden (photo below).

 

 

 

 

 

This is my poking-out-tie-back-corners tool.

What good is a chop stick which can't multi-task?

Zippety-doo-dah

I do understand that sometimes the smallest of things can unduly excite me. Things that would leave others with raised eyebrows and bemused expressions on their faces. But here is today's Big Buzz.

I made these cushion covers - I hope this photo is good enough to show the zippered closings that I put in them, using a method which I found in a tutorial from House on Hill Road (under Tutorials: Put a Zipper in Your Pillow). It is so easy, and the results look so good. It is also a method which I never, in a zillion years, would have figured out for myself.

Here's a photo of the zip opened out - you can see what a neat and clean result this method produces.

Hmmmm ... mental images of a shoulder bag with a large zippety-doo-dah pocket on the back....

 

The Girl-y, Summer-y Bag (or How to Sew in Round Handles)

 

 

Requirements for making this bag:

• the ability to draw a straight line (good relationship with ruler a necessity)
• the ability to sew in a straight line
• the ability to iron in a straight line
• the ability to summon the patience to go s-l-o-o-w(need plenty of this for sewing in round handles neatly).

 

 

 

 

 

Materials

• bag exterior: 1 rectangular piece of light to medium weight fabric 70 cm x 70 cm
• bag lining: 1 rectangular piece of light to medium weight fabric 60 cm x 60 cm
• interfacing: lightweight, sew-in or fusible (this is optional depending on how floppy you want the bag to look)  60 cm x 60 cm
• interfacing scraps (fusible) : enough to make 4 squares which are 2 cm x 2 cm
• ribbon: 1.5 cm wide  and 2.5m long  (grosgrain or velvet are probably best; they have some body and crease less easily than satin)
• 1 pair 18 cm round handles (I used pretend bamboo)
• fabric marking pencil
• ruler for marking fabric

Ready? (This bag involves far more getting ready to stitch than actual stitching).

Step 1 - mark the fabric, position the interfacing squares & cut a little bit more

• Place the fabric for the exterior right side up on a flat surface.
• Draw a line on the fabric parallel to one side of the fabric square and 3 cm in from the edge. Draw a second line 5 cm in from the edge. Repeat for the opposite side.
• Measure 5 cm from one of the remaining (unmarked) sides and draw a line. Repeat for the opposite side.
• At each corner of the fabric, mark and cut out a 5 cm x 3 cm rectangle. Figure 1 below.
• Draw a mark 2 cm in from each of the sides of the cut-out  rectangles, extending these lines past the end of the rectangle to that they intersect. Stitch along these lines (stay-stitch), pivoting at the intersection. See Figure 2 below.
• Fuse the 2 cm x 2 cm interfacing squares. See Figure 1 and Figure 2 below to see how to position the squares because this simple little step is really hard to describe!
• Make a diagonal clip from the corner of the rectangle through the interfacing to the stay-stitching - just to the stitching - being careful not to cut through the stitches. 

 

Figure 1.

I couldn't get the detail I wanted on the exterior piece fully opened out, so I folded it into quarters to show how each corner should look with the markings and the corner rectangles cut out. The square green blob is where the interfacing should be fused in place.

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2 - Press and stitch - fininshing of rectangle edges

• See Figure 3 below for directions on how to fold, press and finish the edges of the cut-out rectangles.
• Prepare all 4 corners of the exterior the same way.

 

Figure 3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3: Fold some more, press some more, fold and press, press and fold!

• Find one of the edges where you have drawn a line at 3 cm and one at 5. This edge will form one of the casings for the ribbon. Turn under a 1 cm hem and press again so the fold has a sharp crease.
• Do the same on the opposite edge.
• Place the exterior of the bag wrong side up on your table.
• Place the lining right side up so that the outer edges of the lining are aligned with the 5 cm marks you made on the exterior fabric. At each corner, fold the lining under as in Figure 4 below. Pin with enough pins to ensure that the lining doesn't slip. (You could baste the lining in place with large running stitches which you remove later. This would actually be the proper way to do it. I am going to use a plethora of pins instead!
• Turn under the edges (same edges where you just made the 1 cm hem) again so that there is a 2 cm hem.

 

Figure 4.

Lining in position, 1 cm hem turned under, and you can see  where  I have also pressed the second fold, but have turned it back out again for in the photo.

Figure 5.

Edge stitching the ribbon casing. This also partially covers up the corner where the lining bit was turned under. When the casing for the handle is made, the remainder will be covered.

 

 

Step 4 - Insert the handles.

The remaining unfinished sides will need to be prepared to form the casing into which you will sew the handles:

• On each of the remaining edges, fold under a .5 cm hem and press it in place. This is where I almost always burn myself with the steam from the iron - such a narrow hem requires folding and holding into place very close to the iron and I always seem to steam my fingers along with the fabric. So please be careful!
• Fold one more time so that the hem is 2.5 cm deep. At this point, draw a line where the folded over hem sits on top of the lining. This is most important - this will be the guide to sewing down the edge of the handle casing neatly and evenly.

Inserting the handle involves positioning it inside the casing and then edge stitching the casing in place. The trouble is this: the line of stitching has to be straight i.e. parallel to the edge of the fabric. The handle is round. Oh-oh.

Thus, now begins the Patience-Required bit:

• You'll need to place one of the circular handles inside the fold that you just pressed into place. But you also have to position the handle where it won't "bump into" the machine side. My machine is not wide enough for a handle of this diameter to lie entirely to the right of the needle. There simply isn't room. So I have to put the handle under the pressure foot so that I am sewing on the inside of the circle. But, the handle is too "fat" to fit under the raised presser foot. So I had to remove the needle, remove the presser foot, slide the handle under, then replace everything and re-thread the machine. But finally I was ready to go - Figure 6 shows the state of affairs after I had sewn about 3 inches of the casing:

Figure 6.

Sewing on the inside of the circular handle. I have used my zipper foot because it is the narrowest one I have and won't bump into the handle quite so often as I sew. You can barely see the marked line that I am lining the casing edge up against. You will be able to see this better in the next photo.

(Observe: the next thing that is going to happen is that the black screw which holds the needle in place is going to hit the handle and I will not be able to sew further).

 

• You will only be able to sew about 5 - 10 cms at a time. When you begin to sew, back-stitch well so that the stitches will be well-anchored. Sew until it does not feel comfortable any more - until you are experiencing drag from the handle, or until you bump into the handle. When you stop sewing, make sure your machine needle is in the down position. It is important to sew slowly and line up those stitches neatly with the edge of the fold.
• Lift the feed on your machine. Adjust fabric and handle so that you are clearing another bit which you can flatten out and sew down. Use the marking on the fabric to make sure that the folded bit is staying where it should be. Again - once you again get to a point where you are not going to be able to sew well, make sure that needle is in the down position, and reposition everything as you did before.

Figure 7.

The guideline for positioning the casing is more easily seen here. The needle is down and I have stopped sewing so that I can push the handle (just visible under the fabric) slightly up and slightly to the right - then I can continue to sew without the black screw hitting the handle and stopping me abruptly!

Keep sewing, stopping, repositioning - repeating as often as you need to. The secret is to go slow, and to ensure that the the needle is in the down position whenever you need to stop sewing. It is also helpful if you keep the casing that you have already sewn from wandering to the other side of the handle as it seems to want to do. Each time you stop and reposition, move the sewn casing back towards the needle.

About the time that you feel like you would like to be playing tennis rather than bag making, you will come to the end of the casing, and the first handle will be inserted. Then, all you have to do is get this one off your machine, and do this all over again for the second (last!)handle.... ;o)

Step 5 - Finish line! Insert and tie the ribbons -  easy-peasy.

• Thread the ribbons through the ribbon casings. You can do this more easily if you have one of those little gadgets - bodkins - meant for the job. if not, then pin a safety pin onto the ribbon and use this to guide the ribbon through.
• Hold both ends of the ribbon and gather the bag along the ribbon until it looks like the photo. Unless you want to be constantly tying these ribbons, tie a reef knot - left over right and under, right over left and under. Once this is firmly knotted, make a pretty bow on top of the reef knot.
• Repeat for the other side.

 

 

Figure 8.

And - you're done!

 

 

Handbag Event

I was going to write a tutorial as I made this bag. However, I tried a different method to prepare the top of the bag for insertion into the straight purse frame. AND - it turns out that this way was much harder than the way I usually do it: see Lisa Lam's tutorial at U-Handblog. SO, really, not much point in composing a tutorial to show how to do something in a finnicky and difficult way.
 

Never mind - I'll think up something else and do one soon.

 

Here's the interior - I do like the colours and fabric combo, so I am pleased with this, even if I did take much longer than necessary and use some interesting words along the way when "The Better Way" turned in to "I'll Never Do THAT Again".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second bag of the weekend - I am seriously liking this design. I like the way the hex purse frame opens, and the bag makes up so nicely - I have used Lisa's design twice now, the first one was Pen's bag, and both bags look very crisp and neat:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How the Union Jack Got It's Stripes, Part Deux

The finished Union Jack Bag now that it's got all of it's stripes on. For the story, see this post.

 

How the Union Jack Got Its Stripes

 I saw a photo of a skirt the other day, and it had a British flag appliqued onto it - only it wasn't in red, white 'n blue. And I thought:

• that's cool
• I could do that with a bag
• heh heh

And so, on Saturday it was rainy and cold, and I sat down and tried to draw the flag as it would look on a bag - it took me way too much time to figure out how long the diagonal stripes would have to be, and what the angles should be, and then to get the proportions looking good. Eventually, I was satisfied. I cut everything out and laid all the stripes on top of the bag front - so far so good. Then I sewed them all on and frayed the edges. Then I debated for another long time about types and lengths of straps. I was getting tired just thinking. FINALLY decided on regular straps and set to work finishing the bag.

And then I sat and looked at it - something was wrong - it just didn't seem to pop the way I had expected it to. Were the colours too dull?  What was it!!??!!

The next morning I came downstairs and started looking again. What? What? I was in the process of deciding that maybe the widest stripes were too wide - and - doh! See what the trouble is? The bag was 2 stripes short of a load! I've drawn them on below - I'm still awed by my stupidity. Especially after all that thinking.

The final two stripes are now cut out and I've frayed them all up and laid them on top, and sure enough - now the Union Jack Wannabee zings. But here's the trouble - this bag is lined, so you have to sew those babies on BEFORE you put the bag together. I am going to have to hand sew them on - which will take me hours longer than if I'd been up to sussing this out in the beginning. (yeah, yeah, fail to plan --> plan to fail).

Will I succeed? Stay tuned. I'll post the finished bag if the hand-sewing thing works. (Have also had the idea for the promised tutorial, so I will do that at the same time).

But there is an interesting thought here - you know how we're told that the Union Jack is made up of the crosses of St. Andrew, St. George and St. David (or is it Patrick?).  I figure that's a load - it's obvious to me now that they just  played around and added stripes till they got the zing factor going ...