Butterfly Sling Purse Sew Along

I have always been a big bag girl, the bigger the better but the Butterfly Sling Purse is a little bag with the heart of a BIG bag. 

This little lady can hold a deceptively large amount of stuff, which makes it ideal for those of us who carry a little bit of everything. The last time we went to our local amusement park, this bag was perfect; I could get all the stuff I needed inside, but easily wear her on the coasters and not feel like I was lugging around a suitcase. At 9" x 6" you will be glad to trade in your hold everything mom bag for this lady for the day. 
Right now Janelle is offering a 20% discount on both the pattern and the hardware kit to make this sweet little lady, and in honor of the sale I will be hosting a sew along. The sew a long will kick off on October 10th, so you have plenty of time to gather your supplies and be ready to sew with us! 
Here's the schedule:

October 10:

Day 1.

                -Cutting fabric and interfacing. Attaching Interfacing

October 11:

Day 2.

                -Making your exterior pieces:

                                -Making slip pocket

                                -Attaching slip pocket

                                -Make & attach ID window

                                -Make small zipper pocket

October 12:

Day 3.

                -Making your exterior pieces continued:

                                -Attaching magnetic Snap

                                -Making and attaching closure strap

                                -Attach turn part of turn lock

                                -Making and attaching Shoulder strap tabs

                -Making Internal Pockets

                                -Making and folding card slot pockets

October 13:

Day 4.

                -Putting it all together

                                -Preparing zippers

                                -Making pockets

                                -Closing up open edges

                                -Adding hole for turn lock

                                -Making and attaching shoulder strap

Head over to Emmaline Bags to pick up your copy of the Butterfly Sling Purse and your hardware kits for 20% off. There are 4 different kits so you can pick up the one you most fancy. 

Order now so you'll be ready to sew your bag up with us starting October 10th. Happy Sewing!

Emblem Duffel Bag

Hello and Happy Friday!!  I'm so glad it's the weekend and I'm excited to share my Emblem Duffel Bag that I had the opportunity to test for Sara of Sew Sweetness. Sara's latest pattern is a great unisex pattern that could work as an overnight bag, a gym bag or even just a "I need to carry a crap ton of stuff around" bag.

The exterior is a fun and bold metallic Echino print that I adore (hello silver foxes!). the handles were made with silver glitter mirror canvas from Mikri World Supplies (LOVE that stuff!!!!) and I made my first purchase from Zipper Island for the hot pink zipper. I ordered on a Friday and got my zips the following Monday! I keep a lot of zips on hand but this one calls for a 30" zip, other than having to order the long zips, the other hardware most bag ladies will have on hand. 

I love the hot pink zipper against the mustard Echino!

This bag was a relatively quick and straightforward sew, and with the exception of adding the tabs on the side for the shoulder strap. That part wasn't overly complicated but it's fair to say that my machine and I weren't seeing eye to eye about how to stitch those tabs down. There might have been a few unpleasantries exchanged along with several broken needles....but that was my fault and not a reflection of the pattern. There are pattern pieces that indicate that you cut away from your stabilizers and interfacings in these areas to avoid just such difficulties, but let's just say that I **might** have overlooked that part until a bit later....oops. 

I super love the boxy shape of this duffle, it's not round like a lot of duffel patterns out there. It also makes for pretty quick construction. If you can make a zip pouch, you can totally  make this bag!

Head over to Sew Sweetness to get your copy of the Emblem Duffel Bag! You could sew up a few over the summer for when fall sports start, or make yourself a new bag. 

A Ghastlie Daisy Cross Body

Now that summer is winding down, I'm getting reacquainted with my machine (yay!). I've been working on bags of course. Last weekend I sewed up my first Daisy Crossbody Bag by Blue Calla Patterns.

She was a delightfully quick sew and I had a lot of fun making the scallop accent on the front. I've been holding on to a bit of this fun Alexander Henry Ghastlies print for a while and this bag was perfect for showcasing those super fun characters.

This was my first attempt at making scallops and I was a bit intimidated at first, but it came together so well and I was so happy with how they turned out. I'm normally not a huge fan of fussy cutting because of all the waste involved but it was so worth it for this bag!

Although I enjoy making bags with all the bells and whistles (zippers, hardware and accents), there's something so satisfying about sewing up a bag that delivers a lot of wow without a lot of effort. These scallops really make this bag pop.

For the exterior I choice Essex linen so that the the focus would be on the accent scallop. The quilting and topstitching were done in a bright lime, because of course I had to put something bright in there!

This bag features an adjustable strap and a magnetic closure. It calls for a zippered interior pocket, but as I initially was making this for me, I opted against it. After making and carrying a variety of bags, I've found I never end up actually closing any zippers and divided slip pockets are more my preference (one for phone, another for keys and anything else I need to keep within easy reach).

I love those sassy ladies!

I also opted to replace the suggested interfacing with foam stabilizer, only because I like super structured bags. I would note that it made the gussets a bit thick, so if you don't have a beastly machine or sew a lot with foam; you'd be much happier sticking with the suggested interfacings. I really loved how this bag turned out, and I will be making more. Seeing other Daisies I think it looks fab without the scallop accent as well. You could use vinyl for the top band and strap, or event the gusset to totally change the look of this bag. I had to add in my Emmaline Bags bling, I can NOT stop making these tassels!

Pick up your copy of the Daisy Cross Body Bag here.

What has been on your sewing table lately?

Pool Side Tote and the Swap Bug

Wow, where did summer go? Labor day has come and gone and fall is around the corner. In the blink of an eye there is pumpkin everything, everywhere. Earlier this year, I hosted my first swap with my friend Sey, and we have had so much fun hosting them together, we are now in the middle of our THIRD swap. We have had some amazing sewists participate and it's been so much fun that we've just kept going.

The first swap we did was the Instagram Pool Tote Swap, right before the start of summer. It was a secret swap, but I purposefully chose to make for Sey as a thank you for being awesome and for all her help. She is a huge Alexander Henry fan, and I heart Ghastlies so I had a ton of fun making for her.

As it was a pool tote swap after all, what better choice than the Poolside Tote from Noodlehead?

I was also starting to get my feet wet with this amazing Glitter Mirror Canvas from Mikri World Supplies...this stuff is amazing. It's so much easier to work with than your typical glitter vinyl but gives the same awesome results. It's much thinner but still very durable and have not used it in several bags with great results. If you have been frustrated with regular glitter vinyl, you should give this stuff a try, you'll be hooked!

I've had this pattern for a while, but never got around to sewing one up. It was initially a part of the very first Bag of the Month Club, and I've been holding on to it since then. The pattern itself is pretty straightfoward and easy to follow and I LOVE the shape of the bag, It's not your typical 'tote' bag and thats one the things I love about it. 

I did make a few modifications to the pattern. Firstly, the pattern calls for a facing accent on the interior of the bag. I opted to skip that, as I liked the look without. Also, I decided to do a welt zip pocket on the exterior, as I wanted it to obscure as little of those fabulous Ghastlies as possible. I also did both a zip pocket and slip pocket on the interior or this bag. There is so such thing as too many pockets!

This bag is one big Mama at 14.5" tall, 14.5" wide (at bottom) and 7.5" deep.  You can easily fit all you need and then more in this tote. The interior has a clip at the top to latch your keys onto so they don't get lost in this big lady.

Although summer is over, and the need for a pool tote is dwindling this is a great pattern to have in your library. It would make a great diaper bag with some modifications, or if you are like me need a bag to put your other bags in. A lady always needs more bags right?