Sew Fun!

I'd forgotten how long it has been since I sat at my sewing machine. After an inspiring visit with my creative mentors and former neighbors, I found myself with some lovely upholstery fabric samples:

Each one is ~25" square! It is not enough for many patterns but since there are groups of coordinating samples, they are begging to be a patchwork... something.

I found many patterns on the web but this bag intrigued me most: (http://www.heirloomcreations.net/archives/free-schlep-bag-pattern/)

Here's my finished bag made from 3 samples:

This was a very difficult fabric to work with. I think if I had bound all of the edges of each piece first it might have helped. This was a particularly loose weave. I knew it would be difficult but wanted to use it as my test bag because I REALLY liked the other set of 3 samples I have and wanted the more refined bag to be made from them.

It was also difficult to line up the patchwork squares when sewing them together. They seemed to shift so the top piece always ended up longer. I'm not sure how to deal with that. Maybe more pinning although that didn't seem to help much. I wonder if there is a special foot I should use on the machine?
 I found myself reluctant to rip any more seams than I had to because the fabric ravelled so badly, so I left them as is.
Another issue is that the fabric snags very easily. I can't imagine using it on furniture.


Regardless of the difficulties, I love the results! It has a very cozy feel to it.

I'm planning to try to use the scraps to make some accessories:
Cup Sleeve: http://craftystaci.com/2011/01/10/reversible-coffee-cup-sleeves/
Business Card Holder: http://craftycupboard.net/how-to-business-card-holder/
     and/or:
  http://tamdoll.blogspot.com/2008/03/business-card-holder-tutorial.html

I even found this cute rooster pattern:
http://www.redtedart.com/2012/02/10/pyramid-juggling-bag-chickens/
I saw these made as door stops and juggling bags, as well as pin cushions. In fact the first time I saw this is was from the same folks who gave me the fabric samples!

When I get any of these done I'll either add them to this post or include them in a future post.

Some technical details of constructing the bag:
- There is a paper edging glued all around each sample.

Removing this took a careful iron. These samples were 70% rayon and 30% polyester so they weren't too sensitive to the heat. I also used a towel on top. Perhaps I was too cautious but the remaining samples I have are 100% polyester so I'll have to be as careful there as I was the first time. Sometimes it seemed to come off more easily in one direction rather than the other.

- The pattern called for 'fat quarters'. I had 3 swatches 25" square. Here's my calculations to determine how many samples it would take out of particular sizes of squares:

I figured out that 3 samples would make a bag with 6" squares. The original bag had 7" squares.

- Another challenge was that the original pattern used 8 fat quarters, potentially 8 different fabrics, and I only had 3. I decided to make the triangle pieces(body and lining) and the handles out of one sample(nice as the handles attach to these triangle pieces) and then use the other two samples to make the 24 squares I needed(12 for the body and 12 for the lining). I could get as many as 36 of the 6" squares but I only need 24 for the bag, so I'll have a spare 6"x25" strip from each sample to use for accessories,  as well as a small piece of the third sample which I used for a pocket inside.
I also figured out that if I used 4 squares of the same fabric for the bottom of the body and 4 squares of the other fabric for the lining bottom, it was the only way to get the patchwork of the rest of the body to work 'correctly' (none of the same fabric next to itself), and this makes the lining not quite match the body, but since the triangles inside and out are the same it isn't noticeable.

- In retrospect, I think it makes sense to make the bottom 4 squares be all one piece. I think I'll try that next time.

- The pattern called for a lining made of 'batting'. I had old quilt batting scraps but I think something like an iron-on interfacing might have been a better choice. It would have helped with the ravelling and made for a 'crisper' feel. I think I want this for the next version. I think the accessories will benefit from this as well so before I make them I'm going to get some.

- A final detail, I think I should have top stitched all of the seams as they do not want to iron flat. If the next fabrics are like that (they are very different than the first ones, tightly woven and thinner, although of a similar color) I'll try it.

At this rate I'll be headed back to my friends for more samples! I feel a little silly for being so instantly attracted to this and distracted from what I've been doing(polymer clay), but I'm thinking of making a decorative button out of clay for the bag so it is all part of the creative process.... I know one thing, the longer I work in this room the more I want to be here! :)