I need your help...

I'm working on my pattern review for Sara's Purse Palooza, and decided to go ahead & make another Mabel Bag for myself.  I've been thinking about making one for a while now (since last summer, actually), so now seems like a perfect time to do it!

I've got my fabrics picked out, but can't decide which to use for the outside & which to use for the lining.

I'm leaning towards the darker one for the outside & the dots for the lining with a patchwork strap using both.  What do you think?

Until next time...

My new bag

I promised I'd share more about the new bag I finished up for myself last week, so here it is!

First of all, I can't tell you how nice it is to make something just for me.  It feels like forever since I've done that!  Maybe not really, but I've been in such a crafting/sewing slump lately, that this may have been just the kick in the pants that I needed.

Like I mentioned before, I used the 241 Tote pattern from Noodlehead for this, but made some changes.  The biggest was that I added six inches to the width of the bag.  I really like the size as the pattern is written, but I knew I needed more space for myself.

Here's the size as the pattern is written (I made this one for my mom for Christmas):

And my wider bag:

The other change I made was to add a ton of pockets.  Again, as written the pattern is fine.  It includes the fun contrasting pockets on the sides or zippered pockets on the center panel, but I'm kind of a pocket snob. I need lots of pockets, and I need certain types of pockets.  I like everything to have its own place, and I knew what I needed to carry in this bag, so I was able to tailor it to me needs.  I think that's what I love most about making something like this for yourself - you can make it exactly how you need it!

So for my pockets, I included the side pockets, but added piping for a little extra fun.  I also added a key clip to one side.  It's funny about the key clip, I had one on the old (store-bought) diaper bag, so I knew I wanted one on this bag since it was so handy.  This weekend, as I was getting out of the car & trying to juggle a million things, hubby mentioned that I should have somehow moved the key clip from the old diaper bag to the new one I had just finished.  I just laughed as I clipped the keys into the bag & showed him. 

I also added a pocket to each side of the exterior.  They are the full width of the bag, just a few inches shorter from the top.  One side has an exposed zipper (because I liked the contrasting color):

The other side just has contrasting piping at the top of the pocket.  I split this side in half so I have two narrower pockets.

I also rotated the direction of the plaid when I cut out the pocket pieces for a little more variation.  It's not a big detail, but I love it!

On the inside, I added the same pockets to both side pieces, but made them a bit taller than the outside pockets.  I think when I make this bag again, I'll use the taller pockets on the outside as well.  They don't show as much of the side panel fabric, but are a bit more practical.  The shorter pockets on the outside aren't super deep, so things can fall out if you're not careful.  I also added the same zipper & non-zipper pockets as the outside, but skipped the piping.

It's harder to see this pocket since I didn't use the piping, but I split it into two pockets just like on the outside.

On the inside, the side pockets pretty much stay open, but it makes it easy for bulkier items.

One other small change I made was just increasing the size of the darts on the bottom of the bag.  Once again, the pattern is great as written, but I knew I wanted a bit more space.  I marked the darts as shown in the pattern, but instead of sewing right on the line, I sewed about 1/4" from the line, making a bigger dart.  I'm glad I did, and will do the same when I make this bag again. 

My old diaper bag had a long adjustable strap, which was perfect, so I chose to add the same to my new bag.  I added two layers of quilt batting (not sure what kind exactly, I just cut some of the excess off the sides of Coop's quilt since it hasn't been trimmed yet!) to help pad the strap & make it thicker so it won't slip through the strap hardware.  So far it's working perfectly.  Sorry, but these are the worst pictures ever showing the strap length, but you get the idea!

Short

Long

All in all, I think I will definitely make this bag again, and probably keep all the changes I made.  I'm not sure I'll bother with the piping again though, I love the look but it was a pain to do!

Until next time...

My new bag

I finally finish up my new bag last night!  Technically, I suppose it's a diaper bag, since that's how I'm using it, but you wouldn't guess it just by looking at it.  I've got a quick peek for you now, but I'll share the whole thing next week.

I used the 241 Tote from Noodlehead, but made some modifications & additions.  I'll give a complete run-down next week after I get a chance to take more pictures.

Until next time...

Playing with piping

I've never used piping on anything before, but decided to add a little to the bag I'm working on.  I think I mentioned before that my diaper bag is ripping, and I haven't been able to find a new one that I really love, so I decided to just make something.  We've kind of grown out of needing a full-blown, well-stocked diaper bag at all times, so I could definitely get away with something smaller, but the bag I'm making is still pretty big.

Anyways, I decided to add some piping to the top edge of a few of the pockets.  I'm using these tutorials, from Noodlehead and Make It & Love It, but it's still harder than I expected.  There's definitely a bit of a learning curve involved.

Here's the outside of the pocket, the bit of fabric at the top of the picture will be the interior of the bag & part of the exterior.

Here's the interior side of the pocket.  Obviously my stitching can use some work, but thankfully this won't be visible since it's inside the pocket.

The basic bag pattern is the 241 Tote from Noodlehead, but I've made some changes & am adding a ton of pockets.  I'm excited to see how it all comes together.  I was trying to get it finished up before we went out of town for my sister-in-law's wedding last weekend, but that didn't happen, so I'm just taking my time on it now.

More than anything else, it's just nice to have something to work on again.

Until next time...

The "fun" never ends...

I'm glad so many of you got a good laugh out of my last little mishap.  You'd think after how many times I said in my zipper tutorial to make sure your zip pull is at the correct end before cutting that I would have actually listened to my own advice.  Honestly, I'm sure I would have laughed along with the rest of you, except that right after cutting the zipper, then just sitting there & staring at it, wondering how I could have actually just done that, I saw this:

A big ol' tear in the plastic pocket.  AARRRGGGHHH!  I was trying to recycle one of those clear plastic bags that comforters come in, but I guess this one was a bit too old & brittle.  Plus, even though I carefully ironed it with a pressing cloth, I was still never quite able to get all the old ripples out.

And then I remembered that I had ordered my zippers online & only got two of each color, so I didn't have another to match the one for the zipper pocket.  It was not a good sewing day!

The next day I headed to JoAnn to pick up a new zipper since it would it would be quicker & cheaper than paying shipping on one zipper online, but of course I forgot the cut zipper at home so I couldn't even compare colors.  Things were just not going my way!  I ended up picking up 2 new red zippers since what they had weren't the same brand, and not quite the same red.  I know this bag is just for a young boy who isn't going to notice if his two zippers don't match, but I'll know!

While I was at JoAnn, I decided to check out their clear plastic since it would probably look nicer & hold up better than the plastic I was trying to use.  While looking for the plastic, I decided to take a quick detour through the quilting cottons to see if they had any of the DS Quilts fabrics in stock.  I should have known better, I really should, but I just couldn't help myself!  And of course the colors in the new line are just so gorgeous, and I do need a new diaper bag.....so I just couldn't resist picking up a few.  Plus it was on sale, and I had a 25% off coupon, so how could I pass this up?!

It's hard to tell, but the three skinny lines in the plaid on the right are aqua that perfectly matches the aqua in the one right next to it.  Actually, none of the colors are showing up quite right, but I just absolutely love them all.  I've still got a couple prints from the DS Quilts line last summer that I originally planned on using to make a bag for me, so now I've got a decision to make.

I think I'm going to use the new ones to make a modified version of Anna at Noodlehead's 241 Tote, but we'll see.  

I think the new fabrics make up for all my other sewing issues this weekend!  Now I just have to get to work on it all.

Until next time...

What's wrong with this picture?

Arrrrgggghhhh! This is what I get for not sewing for so long.

Sneak peak

Here's a quick look at one of my projects right now.  My sister-in-law is getting married next month & she asked me to make some totes to use as activity bags for her flower girl & two ring bearers.

I started adding some hand-stitching around the letters to help them stand out a bit, but now I'm not sure I if I want to do them all or not.  The stitching isn't making a huge impact, and I'm pretty sure the kids aren't going to care about that at all!  It's not taking long, but I can't decide if it's really worth it or not.  What do you think?

Until next time...