First of all, I’m sorry for disappearing the last couple of weeks, there was just too much stuff going on and still is, so I probably won’t be posting a lot in the next couple of weeks either. I even haven’t gotten around reading all of your blogs lately and haven’t checked my Bloglines in ages but I promise I will! 

So I guess this is just a quick post to let you all know that I’m still around and sewing, even though not as much as I would like to :( 

As I mentioned in my last post, I made bag for my friend Ela and I used the awesome owl fat quarter I got from Staci. It was the perfect match, because Ela just loves everything baby blue and cute. I’m still in love with the Lots of Pockets Tote pattern and eventually I just have to make one for myself.

Now let me introduce you to Luan, he’s the cutest little guy ever and I just had to make some pants to fit his cuteness. Luan is the son of my friend Claudine, you isn’t only probably the most funniest, loving, big hearted but also the most stressed resistant person I know. If you scroll down you’ll know why. 

I used the Huck Finn pattern from Weekend Sewing and they’re really easy to whip up. I think the sizing is kind of off because I used the size for a 12 month old and Luan is 7 month and the pants fit perfectly. I still have some awesome Alexander Henry print laying around that I’m planing to use on another pair but next time I’ll definitely make them in a larger size.

Luan, who is also called Mausen, not only got some new pants but 10 new little friends to play with, because Uma gave birth to her 10 puppies on the weekend. So in addition to Luan, Uma and the two cats, Claudine now has to handle ten, soon very active, puppies. But aren’t they cute?! 

Ok, that was my little update and I really hope I’ll get around posting some Sunday Stash this weekend too. But even if I don’t, I got my Saturday morning blocked for catching up with all of your posts!

Enough with the garment sewing, I’m back with a bag! It felt really good to make something I actually know how to make and with this tote, I don’t even have to feel guilty about having too many bags because it’s actually a present for one of my best friends who is turning 30 tomorrow. I really had a hard time picking the fabric for the bag, because her style is a lot more girly than mine, so I let her choose the main fabric from Etsy and went with her request for some lace.

I used Keyka Lou’s Lots of Pockets Tote and mixed the Kokka print with some brown corduroy, a pink cotton for the lining and some lace. I think the flap could use a pretty button, but I hadn’t a pretty one lying around so I’ll just buy one next week and sew it on in the office, lucky for me we’re working together :) I’m still not 100 % sure if she’ll like it but it was as girly as I could get.

As far as the pattern goes: I absolutely love it!! I enlarged it by 120%, because her pattern tend to run small, and made the handles a bit wider and longer. It’s a great, great bag with an awesome shape and I really like the front pockets. I may even go so far and say it’s my favorite bag pattern so far. Which leads me to the conclusion: I have to make one for myself to. But you knew that already, didn’t you :)

Just a quick post to let you know I’m still alive and crafting. I finished another bag from my list, the Highbrow Hobo from U-Handbag to be exact. This bag was pretty easy to make, even though it took me around 4 hours to finish it.  I love the shape and how big it is! I used some Ikea fabric (new collection is out!) and I found some cotton for the lining in the exact shade of green like in the Ikea print. 

On second thought, white might not be a good color for a bag, because while I was cutting the fabric on the floor, my cat came back from a stroll and walked right over it with his muddy paws. So the bag has already a lovely cat paw shaped stain. But hey, maybe this will gonna be my trademark, who knows :)

In other crafting news: I made the first version of the Summer Blouse and I’m glad I used a bed sheet, because I messed up the binding and plancket. And it’s way to short for me. So back to the drawing board and sewing machine.

I just want to show you the MacBook sleeve I made a couple of months ago before I start on the new one. If I remember correctly this was the 4th project I made after buying my sewing machine and the first time I tried some applique.

It fits it’s purpose, but I really wanna make one with the bear fabric and a different shape. For this one I used some wool blend suit fabric and the orange bird fabric from Ikea for the lining. And I had to use the Sandi Henderson Apple Dot print for my fake Apple logo. So please Apple, don’t sue me :)

I have a lot of addictions, crafting books and bags being two of them. So of course I was more than thrilled when I found Sew What! Bags. 18 pattern free Projects you can customize to fit your needs and had to pre-order it right away. 

The book starts with the basics: sewing tools, needles and pins, fabric terminology, basic sewing techniques and all the other basics you get in most sewing books. After that, there are 5 project chapters: Warm-up Projects, Totes, Drawstring Sacks, Messenger Bags and Organizers. Warm-up Projects are really simple projects like eyeglass cases and zippered pouches, nothing special or fancy here, which is ok for an warm up.

Totes, Drawstring Sacks and Messenger Bags are just that: the standard version with not much variation. If you never made one of these before, this book is quite helpful, but if you’ve already sewn one of those there’s nothing new here. 

There a some interesting projects in the Organizer section, like the tool apron, the artist’s roll or door organizer but you can easily find pattern for these on the web.

Even though I’m quite new to sewing, I’ve made a few bags in the last 5 month and I really was hoping for some new techniques, like drawing your own pattern using pleats and such. But all bags in this book use a rectangular shape so you don’t even learn how to use darts on a curved bottom (which is a basic IMO). The other thing that really annoyed me was the part about interfacing. Or should I say the non existing part? It was only 4 sentences saying: you don’t need interfacing for the projects in this book, if you choose to use some just follow the manufactures instruction. 

I my opinion, interfacing is one of the most important parts in bag making and I truly think it could make or break your project. I’m still struggling sometimes to find the right type or the right combination of interfacing and fabric.

To sum things up: If you are new to bag sewing or sewing in general, this book could be great for you, because you learn all the basic techniques and how to change the projects to suit your style. If you already made a bag or two you can save our money and buy some pretty fabric instead :)

If you are still interessted in the book, you can check out some sample projects here. I really wish the site would have been online before I ordered it. 

In either case, be sure to check out this great post about interfacing over at U-Handbag Blog.

I managed to finished the Amy Butler Weekender Travel Bag and let me tell you,  this is no fun project. As much as I enjoy making bags, this one was just no fun at all. Don’t get me wrong, I really love the bag and all but the process of making it was just plain annoying. But let’s start with the good stuff. (Click on the pictures for a bigger version)

The Good:
The pattern is well written and Amy explains you nearly everything at least once and for us metric people there is a conversion chart which is very helpful. The Bag has an awesome size and shape and I can see myself use it a lot! It’s definitely big enough for a weekend trip or your sewing machine plus fabric and notions. But why bag doesn’t have some pockets on the inside is beyond me. 

The Bad:
The cutting. It took me 3,5 hours to cut everything. I had to cut 22 pieces for the outer shell, including the facing, plus 11 for the lining because I added some pockets. And then I had to cut some more for the cording. Did I mention I hate cutting? I’m not crazy about the lining, and that you have to sew it on by hand and  I really think it could use some interfacing and should be a tad smaller to fit more tightly. I also would have been thankful for a suggestion what to do with a all the bulk from the seam allowance, because it really gets in your way. 

The Ugly:
The sewing. Because of the interfacing it was incredibly difficult to sew the layers together, and I didn’t even use Timtex, I can’t imaging using an even stiffer facing than I did which was Freudenberg T290. And it doesn’t help that 90% of this project is sewn with a zipper foot.  The hardest part was sewing around the corners and I really wish there would have been a more useful tip than “go slowly” in the pattern. Try forcing your fabric with 6 layers + interfacing + another 2 layers of seam allowance into a nice curve. Good luck with that. Another thing that really annoyed me was that the bottom panel is too long, so I had to rip the whole thing off, shortened the bottom panel 1 cm and sew it on again.

Final Notes: 
The bag is HUGE so I added a zipper pocket and another two pockets on the inside, I highly recommend this to keep your things organized. I also made the handles longer and wider and padded them with some fleece, instead of interfacing,  so the bag is more comfortable to wear on the shoulder. For reference: the pattern tells you to cut the handles 3″x48″ and I cut them 4,75″x57″. 

There is no such thing like a 30″ non seperating zipper, so don’t bother looking for it and just buy a longer one and sew a zipper stop. 

Binder clips are your friends unless you want to bent all of your pins. It’s impossible to pin all the layers together and I was really thankful for the binder clip tip in the pattern, so go and get some.

I added 6 bag feet on the bottom, just because I never used them before and I think they’re cute :)

I used fusible tape to close up my bias strips like suggested here, it worked like a charm and I had one less seam to worry about. For more tips on the Weekender check here, here, here and here.

I know this read like a long rant, but in the end it was worth it because the bag is really great. I just wish it would be more fun to make it, because I really want another one but the thought of going through it all over again makes me cringe. But hey, give me a couple of months and I’m probably crazy enough to make another one :)