Drawstring Gear Bag: A Tutorial

This year Ms Moo started both dancing and netball. Both of these activities are after school and she needed a bag she could take her "gear" to school in as well as put her uniform in once she'd changed. The poor love was using a plastic shopping bag, so I wanted to make her something a little more permanent.

Moo modelling her bag. Just the right size 

I made this bag using an orphan block that I had planned to turn into a cushion cover which I had lying around in my garage sewing room plus some of the fabric left over from my #100days100blocks quilt. It has a drawstring top to keep everything in nice and tight and the drawstrings are attached to the bottom of her bag so she can carry it over her shoulders.

It was a big success and of course I also have an order in from Ms Bird for one of her own.

Strips added to the top and bottom of an orphan block for the front

Pieced back from matching scraps

It was such a fun and fast little make, I thought I'd share how I made it. If you make one, I'd love to see yours too!


Materials

Outer Fabric:

• Cut two 16.5" x 20.5" outer fabric (I pieced mine, but you can use your favourite print - whatever floats your boat)

Interfacing: 

• Cut two pieces of interfacing the same size as your outer fabric. I used SF101. Note that mine was precut and slightly smaller than the outer, so I just aligned it down the middle.

Lining:

• Cut two 16.5" x 20.5" lining fabric

Contrast fabric to run drawstrings through and to attach handles:

• Cut two  3" x 15" contrast fabric
• Cut one 4" x 6.5" contrast fabric

Other:

• 4m thick cord cut into two 2m pieces

Assemble:

1. Fuse interfacing to the outer fabric per manufacturers instructions
2. Prepare the channels for the drawstrings
• Take the two pieces 3" x 15" contrast fabric and fold over 1/4" towards the wrong side on each of the short ends. Top stitch in place. 
• Fold each piece in half , wrong sides together and press
• Align raw edges of prepared contrast fabric with the top centre of each outer piece and stitch in place with a 1/4" seam allowance
3. Prepare the loop for the straps
• Take the 4" x 6" contrast fabric and fold in half lengthwise, wrong sides together; press. 
• Open and fold edges in to centre; press. Fold back in half lengthwise and top stitch down edges. 
• Fold in half to form a loop
• Align raw edges of loop with the bottom centre of the back piece of outer fabric and stitch in place with a 1/4" seam allowance
4. Assemble the bag
• Lie the fabric lining down face up and place the outer on top, right sides together. Take care at this point to ensure that the fabric is the right way if you are using a directional print. Sew together along the top with a 3/8" seam allowance. Press seams open
• Lie the assembled outer/ lining pieces wrong sides together and stitch together with a 3/8" seam allowance leaving a 4" gap at the bottom of the lining for turning. When pinning together make sure that the seams between lining and outer match on each piece to get a nice finish.
• Turn right way out through the gap you have left, pushing out the corners and sew the gap together. Press the bag
• Push the lining  into the bag and press around the top to get a nice sharp edge.
• Topstitch around the top to keep the lining in the bag
5. Attach handles
• Using a pin thread the cord through the channels and tie through the loop at the bottom
• Repeat in the opposite direction with the second piece of cord. 
6. Use and enjoy. If you make a version, tag it with #moobirdgearbag so I can check it out!!

Ready to use

A finish: Noodle-head Rainbow Clutch

I have been a long time fan of just about everything that Anna @Noodlehead makes (see here and here). So when I heard that she had a book coming out I was like "aargh" (that is crazy excited screaming). But I have quite a few patterns / quilt books sitting at home that I haven't used so I resisted. I had will power. And then it was unavailable and I thought "you fool" so of course I snapped it up when I finally got the chance.

I had been drooling over all the makes from it that people were posting on Instagram (see the #handmadestyle hashtag for some eye candy) and plotting what I would make first. It was close but I chose the rainbow clutch. 

I really wanted to use some aqua denim I had salvaged from a pair of Ms Bird's jeans but her skinny little legs didn't yield enough fabric so I went with Essex Yarn Dyed in black paired with some of Alison Glass' Handcrafted in Indigo. As an aside if you don't have any you should get some. The colours are so vibrant in real life and now I want to make an all blue quilt. I was clever and bought a half yard bundle (more likely I was lacking attention to detail when I ordered as I never by half yard bundles. But whatever, I say yay!). 

The pattern itself is pretty straightforward and only took me a few hours to make. I struggled a bit with having to refer back to earlier pages in the book but really that  was only a minor niggle. Other than that the pattern was very clear and concise. Obviously, I mean look how it turned out!!

A very slick finished product

Look at that fabric, just dreamy

Sadly this little clutch isn't living with me. I sent it off as a belated birthday gift for my oldest (as in most tenured vs years alive) friend. Clearly I love her since I wouldn't give this to just anyone. 

Anyway, back to Handmade Style. I think I am going to make everything in the book perhaps with the exception of the quilts because heaven knows I have enough quilts on my list already. Then I'll have a big party when I am done. 

Sewing for others

There is something so lovely about being able to make something for someone else. I guess that's why I still don't have a quilt of my own, right?

Still it is very satisfying to be able to do something I love for someone I love.

Last weekend I was invited to a kitchen tea for a friend and colleague. I had a gift but at the last minute I decided to whip up an apron to go with it. Since I was making it the night before I had to go with what I had on hand (most of my fabric is in FQ or smaller pieces), but I managed to dig out two prints that I think worked quite well. It only took an hour to whip up, so all in all very satisfying.

Ta da! Makes you just want to bake, doesn't it?

And the other side

The other thing I whipped up recently was a Curvy Clutch. My Mum's best friend's Mum is turning 90 and Mum asked if I could make one for her. This lady is so amazing. When I had my girls she knitted up a lovely little cardigan for them, so of course I said yes. (I would have said yes anyway even if she was a dragon because my Mum asked me and you do stuff when your Mum asks you).

I love, love, love this print! And I love the piping as well. Sigh. Tula is just so clever

I have made two of these before, but when I made them first time round I used Vilene 640 as the interfacing. Since I made them I have discovered that you can get Shapeflex at Spotlight and so this time I used that. Talk about a difference. When patterns have called for Shapeflex in the past, having never seen it I never really knew what I was comparing against. I found that it did give a lot more structure than the Vilene and was also a lot less bulky. That said, with the double layer of interfacing on the exterior, plus the double layer of the accent piece, plus piping there were some pretty chunky parts to sew through. Even though I switched to a 100/16 needle I still ended up breaking it. First it just bent and then jammed and I couldn't get the presser foot up (queue panic) and then it snapped. I pulled the whole of my machine apart looking for the tip of that bloody needle. I even cleaned it while I was at it. Only to find it jammed in the actual bag. Needle(ss) to say I was a bit nervous to finish it off. I found this useful little thing in my sewing machine accessories though and that helped the chunky parts through the machine.

Know your accessories! 

The clutch is a finish off my Q4 FAL list. A productive quarter so far! I plan on finishing the year on a high.

A finish: Noodlehead Envelope Clutch 2.0

Okie...here we go again. This was my second crack at this pattern and fabric line (see previous attempt here).

Having made the pattern before, I thought it qualified as reading the pattern, but I read it again nonetheless. I learnt my lesson! 

Also, having made the pattern before it was a quick sew. I would have had it done in one night but I sewed my finger and decided to call it quits for the night right at the end. 

Anyway, this one turned out much better. Peacocks remained intact (although I still managed to butcher my FQ in the process). 

This is for my handmade birthday club. The recipient is the very talented Ms Midge - it's her faux birthday. I hope she likes it! And can overlook the imperfections (perfectly imperfect??). 

And that's another one off my Q1 FAL list. I'm finding having the list quite a good motivator. 

Next month is my month for the birthday club. I am VERY, VERY excited. It is a pool of very clever ladies that I'll be receiving gifts from. I must say I feel slight sorry for the ladies at the start of the club since my sewing has improved a lot since then! Sorry girls! I've done my best and managed to make a few things off my Pinterest list. I'll keep you posted on the goodies I receive this month. 

Read the Pattern!

A.K.A the Purse of Epic F*** Ups

This purse was meant to be a gift for my handmade birthday club.

The fabric is Petal & Plume by Art Gallery Fabrics. I won a FQ bundle of it in a giveaway (yay! thanks Art Gallery!). The prints are stunning and the collection has some great blenders. I don't think the photos do this line justice. Especially striking is this peacock print. Remember this for later...

The pattern is the Noodlehead Envelope Clutch Pattern. I am in love with Anna's patterns. Have a look here for other Noodlehead makes. I have also made a few of her patterns in my pre-blog life. I am a bit of a fan. I am telling you this because I want to make it clear that what happened here was not the fault of the pattern.

So, I will admit here that I am a bit of a "wing it" kind of girl when it comes to following patterns. I don't always read patterns the whole way through. I did not even read this pattern before I started. And that is where it all went wrong....

First of all, I misread the seam allowance and sewed everything with a 5/8th seam allowance, which I didn't realise was not right til I went to attach the lining - yes that's right assembly was quite advanced by then. Of course, the lining was too big to fit into the purse, cue some creative trimming.

Then I didn't realise that I had to cut the back exterior panel for assembly. So remember that peacock I was talking about before...decapitated.

Of course, had I read the pattern I would have known that...

Oh and see that thing there, that is the back of the magnetic snap. Next to my finished purse. Not sure what sort of longevity this baby will have...

At the end of the day, the finished product is cute. Testimonial to the pattern, I think. I will keep it for myself - too many stuff ups to gift on. It will definitely get some use. But the moral of the story when it comes to sewing is to READ THE PATTERN!

Gratuitous lining shot. 

What I'm Making: Embroidery to Go Bag

Last week I finished an Embroidery to Go bag - a tutorial by Sara from Sew Sweetness.

With a cute pocket for an embroidery hoop

This is a gift for Leonie (@aussieleo on Instagram) as part of the Aussie Handmade Birthday Club. 

I know that Leonie likes to do embroidery and I have had this bag on my to do list for the longest time, so I was glad to have a reason to actually make it. I used a mix Mustang prints on the outside and Foxfield on the inside - they went together very nicely!

I didn't do the cute little hand stitched panel that is included with the tutorial. I haven't done a lot of hand stitching apart from cross stitch and a bit of ladder stitch to close seams, and I didn't think it was polite to practise on a gift. I also used a shorter zipper. This was for no other reason other than it was what I had. When I bought the materials to make this (aaaaaaaaaaaaaages ago) I couldn't find a 28 inch zip that the pattern calls for. Nor have I been able to find one since. Does anyone know where I can buy longer zippers? 

I'll be honest, I had some problems making this bag. If I were to make another one I would definitely do a few things differently.

Firstly, I would use a longer zip. Like the pattern says. Der. I guess you can't always just wing it and make do with what you have on hand. Lesson learnt. 

I also would interface the panels differently. The bag has a zip that goes the whole way round and the pattern calls for each of the interior and exterior pieces that the zip is inserted into to be interfaced with Pellon Thermolam. Interfacing and translating interfacing requirements from patterns into what is available in Australia is such a thorn in my side! I used Vilene H640 and it just made the corners and seams on the inside so bulky. The interior didn't sit in as nicely as it probably would have with a less bulky interfacing, especially with the larger seam allowances on the inside.

The pattern also includes dividers so that you can sit your embroidery floss in there nice and neatly. I don't know if I was just tired so I didn't measure correctly, or was too engrossed in the Modern Sewciety podcast I was listening to (I am so hooked), but my dividers were just too big for the bag. I sewed them together and I thought "Hmmm", but I will be the first to admit that I am not very good at estimating how big things are (although surprisingly excellent at packing the dishwasher). But no. Just too big. So now I have some nifty dividers, I guess I will have to make a little bag to put them in after all ;) 

And finally, you have to sew the whole lining in by hand. By hand. BY HAND!! I have actively avoided patterns that require sewing the zipper in by hand. Remember, this bag has a long zipper...

Hand stitching forever

At the end of the day though, the bag is sweet and it looks quite neat. It is a quick make - even with all the hand sewing I made it in one night. I just had sore fingers by the end.

The other side with my little label

I also whipped up an infinity scarf to go with the bag.

 

I am glad to have these done. February is creeping closer and I don't want to get behind on my birthday committments!

What I'm making: Noodlehead Trail Tote

My latest make has been the noodlehead trail tote. I LOVE Anna's patterns, they are easy enough for a complete novice such as myself to follow. I have made a few of her other patterns in the past with great success, so when I saw this one, I wanted to have a go. The fact that I am in a handmade birthday club gives me loads of opportunities to try new things (check some of the awesomness on Instagram at #ahbcparty3).

The thing I find the most difficult about bag patterns is deciphering the interfacing requirements. I have no idea about interfacing and trying to convert US brands and types to what I can readily find in Australia is confusing to say the least.  Googling Pellon replacements whilst towing two small kids around Spotlight is not cool. So I winged it. On the exterior and strap I used some Vilene H640 as that's what I had and I wanted the bag to withstand wear and tear. Perhaps that made the seams a bit bulky, but hopefully it will stop the bag from going all floppy.

Then there was the hardware - seriously, why is this stuff so hard to find? I ordered mine from Voodoo Rabbit and it came really quickly, but they didn't have the size of O rings I wanted to I just made do with the next size up. I think it turned out ok, but would have been better with the right size.

This pattern is clear and easy to follow. I did my first inset zipper (I didn't even know that was the right term til I saw it on Instagram) and magnetic snaps and piping without too much hand wringing or brow wiping. Here is a work in progress shot (also note the nifty labels):

I actually think it turned out pretty well. I used some Brambleberry Ridge for the accents and one of the exterior sides and Essex Yard Dyed for the other exterior side. I lined it in Cotton + Steel netorious. The recipient said they like minty green and yellow so hopefully this fits the bill. I don't have a lot of yellow or large pieces of fabric in my stash, so made do with what I have. Here are some photos of the finished product:

Ta da!! Thanks for reading