Summer Purse, Part 6, Finally Finished

Attach the lining and call it done.

Which bag are you making?

Note: All seam allowances are 1/2" unless otherwise instructed. 

There are two more pieces of lining to cut.

1. Cut two strips of lining, 3" x 16' each.

 2 Locate the center of the 16" sides and mark with a pin or a notch. Also mark the centers of the encased zipper units.

 3. Sew the 3" x 16" strips to the encased zipper. Make sure the right sides of the strips are facing the right side of the zipper (the side with the zipper pull on top).

4. Cut a 1 1/2" square from each bottom corner of the pocket sections of lining. These cuts will be used to make the boxed corners on the bottom sides of the bag.

5. Sandwich the encased zipper between the 3" x 16" strips and the larger, pocketed sections of the lining. The large sections of lining will face the wrong side of the zipper. Sew right on the stitching line that attaches the 3" x 16" strip to the zipper casing.

The zipper is sandwiched between a narrow strip of lining and a pocket section on both sides. 

 Note: Place the zipper pocket on whichever side will allow it and the encased zipper to open in the same direction. My zippers open from left to right.

6. Tuck the zipper ends out of the way and sew the two side seams of the linings right sides together.

View from the top of the bag.

 Note: Open the zipper to finish sewing the bag.

 7. Tuck the body of the purse and the handles inside the lining. Right sides should be together.

 

8. Place the side seams of the lining in the exact center of the 3" wide sides on the outside of the bag. Pin the lining to the bag all the way around. 

9. Sew the bag and the lining together at the top.

 10. Turn the lining to the inside of the bag. Do not fold the batting down.  Fold the lining over the batting and to the inside of the bag.  The 1/2" strip of lining that remains on the top looks like binding and matches the trim on the main front pocket.

11. Pin the lining in place. Stitch in the ditch right along the seam. Press.


Note: Double check to make sure the bag zipper is open. 

12. Turn the bag inside out. Pull the lining away from inside the bag to finish sewing the bottom.

13. Stitch either side of the bottom edges of the lining together for 1 1/2" - 2" from the side edge inward. This will leave an 8" or 9" opening at the bottom of the lining.  Backstitch so the the short seams don't rip out when you pull the bag through the opening later. 

14. Pinch the square opening at the corners together. Align the side seam with the bottom seam. Pin together.

15. Stitch across. This will create the box corner at the bottom of the lining.

 

16. Remember that 11" x 2 1/2" piece of plastic canvas you cut and put away back in Part 2 of this tutorial? You need it now. Slide the plastic canvas under the insert at the bottom of the bag and center it. I hope you don't have to cut another piece like I did. I put the one I made earlier away in a place that was evidently too safe.


17. Pull the bag through the opening you left in the lining. Stitch the opening closed, and push the lining to the inside. 

18. Give the whole bag a good pressing and it is done!!

Optional last step.

If you want your bag to remain clean over time and with lots of use, I recommend taking it outside and spraying it with Scotch Guard. Spray it lightly, allow to dry, and spray one more time.

One final note. 
 I would truly appreciate hearing from you about the usefulness and quality of this tutorial. As I said in the beginning, I've made many bags, but this is my first attempt at writing a pattern for one. I welcome any suggestions you might have. If I ever get it figured out, I may design more bag patterns. 
  

Summer Purse: Part 5, Lining with Pockets

I had planned to finish the summer purse tutorial with this post, but it was simply getting to be too long. There will have to be a sixth and final post. This post covers making the lining with the pockets that are found inside the purse. The last post will cover assembly and finishing the bag.

Pockets galore!

I want lots of pockets inside my bags, and I used my favorite combination in this purse. One side of the lining has four open pockets lined up in a row. They keep my odds and ends of little things neat and easy to grab. The other side of the lining contains a generous zippered pocket which is partially unzipped in the photo. This pocket is for my wallet, receipts, and any other items that I want to keep secure. I keep a notebook in the center of the bag, and I can toss my keys in there as well. There is still plenty of space to add a book, a snack bag, or whatever small something I may want to carry on a given day. Since the pockets have done away with clutter, I don't have to go digging and searching for the things I want.

Getting ready to cut.

I definitely recommend that a lightweight fusible interfacing be ironed onto the wrong side of each piece of fabric in the lining. The interfacing should be just a hair small than the lining fabric to protect your iron. The fusible substance can be nasty if it's melted to the iron, itself.

The little bit of extra thickness and firmness added by the interfacing assures that linings hold together over the long run. Pockets don't rip out so easily, and the linings will look and feel more substantial. This step is optional, of course, but interfacing is cheap, the extra work is minimal, and it makes a world of difference.

Note: All seams allowances are 1/2" unless instructed otherwise. 

The open pocket section

Cut one of each of these pieces from the lining fabric.

A. Make the open pocket unit

When finished, the pockets in the unit will be the sizes shown in the diagram below. Pleats between the pockets give them depth.

 

Note: I gave this piece of fabric a good spray of heavy starch before beginning. It helps with pressing the pocket pleats for sewing. 

1. Fuse a 4 1/2" x 15" piece of interfacing to one end of the wrong side of the 15 1/2" x 9" lining fabric.

2. Fold the lining with right sides together.

3. Using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew around the three open sides. Leave a space of about 2" open on the long side.


4. Trim the corners and pull through the open part of the seam to turn right side out. Press.
Stitch the opening closed by hand. The long edge with the seam will be the bottom of the pocket.

The piece now measures 4" x 15".

5. Measure and mark the pleats using the diagram below. The spaces for pleating between pockets are each 1 1/4". The edges of the pockets are folded to the center of the pleated areas as shown by the red arrows. Dotted lines show the inside center of each pleat.

I marked the pocket edges with pins and pressed a line from top to bottom along each edge.

I pulled the pocket edges together and pinned them to the center of the 1 1/4" space between pockets to form the pleats.

After a good pressing with steam, the pocket pleats hold their shape nicely.

B. Sew the pocket unit to the lining section.

1. Lay the 11" x 16" piece of lining with a long edge at the top. Center the pocket unit 2" down from the top of this piece. Pull the pocket edges snugly against each other and pin in place.

Place the pins back a bit from the edges of the creases. 

2. Sew the inside centers of the pleats to the lining.

Fit a narrow foot to your sewing machine. I used my quarter inch foot.


You will be sewing in the center of the spaces between pockets. The seam will be at the bottom of the ditch between pleats. Start at the bottom of the pocket and stitch up to the top. Pivot at the top, sew one stitch over to the side, pivot again and sew back to the bottom. Do this for all three of the pleats.

3. Topstitch close to the edge all around the sides and bottom edges of the pocket.

Begin 1/4" in from the side edge and 3/4" down from the top of the pocket unit.  Stitch a "u" at the beginning and end of the stitching.  The diagram shows it much better than the photographs do. The "u" shaped stitching on pockets protects them from ripping out easily.

The finished lining section will be 16" wide and 11" tall.

The Zippered Pocket Section

Cut these pieces from the lining fabric. 

A. Make the zippered pocket.

 

Put the two 4" x 11" pieces aside for now, and get out your 9" zipper. If your zipper is too long, you can trim it off after the pocket is finished. I already had the perfect color in an 18" zipper, so I used it.
 
1. The zipper will be sewn onto the 10" edge of the lining fabric. Start with the zipper pull side facing down against the right side of the 10" x 9" lining. 

(I like my zipper to open from the left, so I make sure that the zipper pull is on the left side of the top of the fabric.)

 Line the zipper up at the edge of the fabric and sew with a zipper foot.

2. Flip the zipper over so the zipper pull faces up. Pull the larger section of the lining out of the way to the left. With right sides together, sew the 3" x 10" strip of fabric to the other side of the zipper.

3. Lay the piece you've just sewn on top of the pocket fabric. The wrong side of the section with the zipper will face the right side of the pocket. Sew along right on the stitch line from step 3 to sandwich the zipper between the pocket and the lining.

 5.  Take the opposite side of the pocket fabric and fold it up and over the zipper.

Align the edge of the fabric up against the edge of the zipper and sew it in place.

The zipper is sandwiched between the the pocket and the lining on both sides. 

Wrong side of pocket unit.

Right side of pocket unit.

6. Press the pocket down toward the larger piece of lining.This zipper unit should measure 10" wide and 11" long. If needed, trim the bottom of the lining fabric to get the right measurement.

7. Before finishing this piece of lining, unzip the zipper part way.

8. Sew a 4" x 11" piece of lining fabric to either side of the pocket unit. If your zipper was longer than 9", trim the ends off.

The zipper opened to show the pocket.

The finished lining section should be 16" wide and 11" tall as shown below. Trim if necessary.

 The last post for the summer purse will be out in a few days. I promise not to keep you waiting too long this time.

The Finish.

Coming Soon!

Happy Stitching!!

 

The Splendid Sampler Gallery, Excuses, and a Rescue

Another week has gone by and two new blocks have been added to Splendid Sampler quilt along. I thought I'd have to go it alone today, but at the last minute Dixie came to the rescue.

Twenty blocks have been posted, and I'm now 3 1/2 blocks behind. I may not get to next week's blocks for awhile either. I've started work on # 20, though. That's something, isn't it?

Block 20, "Nature's Walk". My embroidery is far from perfect, but the handwork is a relaxing break from other things.

My Excuses

So what have I been doing that I'm not making progress? I wish I could say I'd been buying plants and mulch and working in my garden. That isn't the case, though. I've mainly been sewing, writing, and reading 10 new books for the last of this year's fifth grade book talks. 

Only 2 1/2 books to go by Thursday.

I've designed a basket pattern and made two baskets. I've finished a purse, worked up accurate (I hope) measurements,  and taken hundreds of photos for the last of the summer purse tutorials. Oh, and I shortened two pair of jeans for myself.

The Splendid Sampler Gallery

Dixie's Blocks

Dixie's blocks 17, 18, & 19. "Family" Stars, "Lina's Gift", and "Measure Twice, Cut Once".

As always, Dixie's blocks are perfect, and once again, her own words say it best.

"Whew, it has been a busy week! I finished the Kaffe youth-sized "Unwind," and I got the borders on my two-fabric Bargello. We are having a beautiful garden installed in our backyard, and having people here with questions and needs has added excitement and taken away sewing time.  It will be wonderful, though, when it is done.
Just yesterday I sewed the bindings on all my mug rugs, while enjoying the company of my fellow quilters at our twice monthly meeting. The "rugs" have been waiting, patiently, to be completed. Now it's time to start some new ones!
I enjoyed the construction process of all three blocks shown. The top two were seamless from beginning to end. The five stars was a joy to build, but stitching the rows up did not yield the perfection I was seeking. My tape measure needs embroidering. I just cut it out and created the block a short while ago. I like it better than I thought I would.
I'm not sure what I expected when I began this splendid journey, but I know it has become an integral part of my week. I hope the year of blocks doesn't rush by too fast. Like a great book, when the last stitch is in, it will be sorely missed."

If I find an hour or two to get away this coming week, you'll find me outdoors or at the garden center. There is yard work to do!! Splendid Sampler blocks will just have to wait.  

 

Have a beautiful week!!

The Splendid Sampler Gallery - Short Version

This week there is only one Splendid Sampler block to show. Life gets busy, but I think that my friends will likely have blocks to share next week.

I pretty much knocked myself out with the last Kitty Craft applique block this week, so I didn't get around to Splendid Sampler until today. Block 17 was the scarier of the two blocks waiting to be sewn, so I tackled it first. It's a sweet block called "Family Ties", and the stars are meant to symbolize family members.

I really considered fabrics for a long time. We have a very tight little family, and I wanted to show that. The middle star represents my husband and me. I think of us as a unit bound by love and loyalty. The red center of that star represents love and the blue is for loyalty. The other four blocks are for our son, our daughter, my granddaughter, and our grandson. We are tied together by love, and that's why red diamonds connect us all.

Choosing fabrics is one thing, but sewing is another story altogether. Trouble is, those triangles are itty-bitty and downright intimidating for someone who can often struggle to sew a block with tiny squares. The half square triangles are only 3/4" square!

I know my weaknesses, so don't tell anyone, but I cheated. I paper pieced every single unit containing triangles. It took five hours to finish, but those triangles are downright perfect! 

Tomorrow a new block comes out and I'll be two blocks behind! How do people with small children and full time jobs ever manage to get any quilting done? I'm in awe.

Happy Weekend!

The Last Kitten and Struggling to the Finish Line

I made it! I wanted this last kitten block for "Kitty Craft" to be out by mid April, but, to be honest, I didn't think I'd even come close to my deadline. He's a cutie, but this little guy fought me every step along the way.

The journey with these kitties has been quite an adventure. Fitting a busy kitten or two into a specific space was much harder than I'd imagined it might be. I threw out tons of ideas for crafts the cats might play with simply because they wouldn't stay confined to the shape and size of my blocks.

This last kitten went through quite a metamorphosis this past several day. I was sure I had it all figured out on Monday. I whipped up the block and it looked just fine. My little kitty was so cute looking straight out at me with guilt written all over him. I put him in place on the design board, wrote on the pattern for awhile, and went to bed happy.

When I walked into the sewing room Tuesday morning, though, the kitten looked just plain wrong! As I was designing and stitching the block I'd visualized the little face, but a straight forward silhouette has no face. And his head was too big!

Back to the drawing board! I redesigned and stitched the entire block again in time for a late lunch. It was perfect! I put the kitty in place on the design board. Then I took the companion heart block upstairs to work on writing the pattern. The rest would be smooth sailing. There was only one little star block to whip up quickly and then I'd have most of Wednesday and all day Thursday to finish writing the pattern.

I took the heart block downstairs quite late in the evening, and looked at the design board. The kitten looked funny. It took a few minutes to figure out that to show him trying to get to the flower, he desperately needed a second front leg. Thank goodness he's black! I carefully removed the blanket stitching on the front of his chest, inserted a leg, and stitched the new leg in place. I went to bed very happy.

Metamorphosis of a Kitten

That was the night the gremlins chose to come visiting again. They hadn't played a trick on me in quite awhile, so I guess they thought they owed me a super big one. They stole the hearts!! Honestly, they did. I turned the entire house upside down, searched everywhere - including waste baskets! Now In addition to the star block I had to make the hearts all over again. Sigh. All the pieces were finished and on the design board Wednesday afternoon, but I had no time to write on the pattern in the evening. I did not go to bed happy.

Thursday morning I wrote like a mad woman. By noon my head was woozy, my knees were stiff from sitting, my back hurt, and I definitely needed to get away. I met a friend for lunch and did a bit of shopping. I even took a nap when I came home. The pattern would just be late. 

After dinner, though, I got a second wind, and by the time I went to bed the pattern was finished!

Tonight, I truly will go to bed happy!

Look at that! 

Only one very small block and the borders to go! I just might get the last of the pattern out in May - right on schedule. 

Happy Weekend!

The Splendid Sampler Gallery - Falling Behind

What a week I've had!

1. I've done the sewing, taken photos, and written two tutorials for the Summer Purse. 
2. I made two mug rugs and a pattern to go with them.
3.  Thursday was my monthly book talk day school. I presented 12 books to each of two groups of students and tried to get them excited about reading every single one of them.  This is truly one of my favorite things to do. 
4. I was in Omaha with my son for most of the day on Friday.

With all of that activity, I fell behind with the Splendid Sampler blocks, but I did manage to make one of them today. That one, though, is a doozy. (Does anyone even use that word anymore? My age is showing again.)

The Splendid Sampler Gallery

 "Family Affair" is paper pieced, and some of these pieces of fabric are so tiny! The white strips are terribly narrow, so getting the whole block to come out perfectly is a matter of patience. I like paper piecing. It usually goes very quickly, but today I really had to slow down. There were moments of frustration when I was putting the four sections together, but now that it's finished, this block is one of my favorites. It has a bit of a kaleidoscope effect.

Block 15, "Family Affair"

What I like about paper foundation piecing:  I love the precision! Those sharp, sharp corners make me happy. It's usually much faster than other methods, and I love the excitement of discovering the unexpected in the finished block. It never looks like I thought it would. in this case it's way better than I'd guessed. A lot of people hate tearing off the paper when the sewing is done, but I really don't mind at all. It's one of those activities that is slow and monotonous so your brain can wander here and there. I try to save it for the end of the day when my energy is low. Tearing the paper helps me to relax.

What I don't like about paper foundation piecing: The amount of fabric that gets wasted. There is waste, and with good quilting fabric costing upwards of $11 per yard, it's hard to toss out so many tiny bits of fabric that are too small to salvage.

 Your Blocks

Marjorie Colleran

Marjorie sent Block 12 to me yesterday. All of those little 1" squares nearly did me in, but Marjorie's block is absolutely perfect. I really do like the blue and white checkerboard effect.

Marjories' Block 12

Marjorie's email made me smile. She's been terrifically busy with family and friends recently, but I have a hunch that she'll be able to find more sewing time very soon.

She wrote, "My 'fabric solvy'  arrived and I'm hopeful that this will be the week for catching up."

Isn't that the truth of it, though? It's easy to find time to sew when you have the perfect fabrics.

Dixie Moore

Look at the progress with these blues! As blocks accumulate we're starting to get a feel for what the finished quilt will look like, and it's starting to get exciting - and addictive, too.
 

 
Dixie's email said it all.  " I just sent you a photo of my completed blocks, all but the paper-pieced. Now that I’ve had a day or two to remove myself from the frustration, I’ll try again, a few more times.  Never took a class…never really wanted to learn it.  My fabric life is more about appliqué and regular-pieced quilts.  Don’t mind stepping outside of the box now and then, but if you don’t know what you are doing, this paper-pieced block is daunting."

April is zipping by at breakneck speed and I have a Kitty Craft block to make this coming week. I wonder where the cats will be playing this time. Hmm...

Have a super duper week!!