Cell Phone Bag, Patterns and Fabric- Oh My!

Last weekend, I had a sew-in with a friend.  We had a good time, chatting and sewing, and she made an awesome Vegan soup for dinner.  A while ago, she made her own pattern for a cell phone bag that I admired.  For our sew-in, we both made that little bag.  It holds not only a phone, but has a pocket for license and cards and a clip to hang keys.  There's a D-ring attached to the top of the bag and a Carabiner to clip it to a belt loop,  or attach the long strap to wear cross-body.

The fabric is a crazy upholstery sample that has little tufts of thread that reminds me of eyelashes.  I love this little bag, and will make more.  There are many times I don't want to carry a big purse but need my license, a card or two and some money.  This will be perfect.

Jos has McCall and Butterick patterns on sale this weekend.  I'm working on pants for my Designer group challenge, and through a blog (I don't remember whose), read that ConnieCrawford's pant draft was good.  So, I picked up her pants and jeans patterns, and a couple of other patterns, as well.

It was my lucky day, because I found some decent fabric in their RedTag section.  Usually I find crap, but I came home with a really nice black/white/metallic stripe knit.  This knit is beefy-not the thin, wimpy stuff.  I also found a red knit, that's a nice weight for a drapey something.  The gray knit is thick, textured with a metallic in it.

My brown pants are still not sewn, and are waiting on a hanger.  I have nothing brown to wear with them, so I have to find a pattern and fabric to go with them once they're done.  Meanwhile, I decided I want to make jeans.  I'm using McCall 5894.  I worked on that pattern today, and have the jeans cut, machines threaded.  I'm using a yucky Jos denim for the trial pair, and have some denim on order from Fabric.com.  Or course, that's always a surprise too.

Sewing jeans tomorrow.

Hot Patterns Gift To Me

Gwen, of "In Over My Head" blog had several give-aways in December.  She wanted everyone who entered to win, so at the end of the giveaway(s), she bought those of us who didn't win their choice of Hot Patterns from a particular grouping.  How sweet is that?  I decide on this HotPatterns Plain&Simple Boxy Bowling Bag pattern.  Whew--that's a lotta' name!  Looks like this:

I like a structured bag, and this fits the bill.  I'm going to search the HP Website and PR to see if I can find photos of the bag, finished.  I'm anxious to try this one out.

Thank you, Gwen.

I was glued to the TV last night, watching Downton Abbey.  Some of you are having Downton parties, with tea and crumpets.  I am so jealous!  Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it without a party.  Tonight, PeggySagers is doing her bi-monthly webcast.  It's about knits.  Honestly, knits are more popular now than in the 70s when Stretch&Sew erupted.  I took a lot of classes at the local S&S store.  It was new, fresh and fun.  Now the variety of knits has expanded so that it takes some skill to know how to handle the various fabrics, their stretch and eccentricities.  Which you know, they have.

I'll be here with my face in the computer screen tonight.  See you there.  

Rose Messenger Bag

Lori has a couple of bag patterns that she's designed.  A couple of weeks ago, she had a give-away of bags and her patterns.  I won the Rose Messenger Bag.  She made it from blue and brown cotton prints, and it has a pretty little zipper flower on the front.  Lori has done very professional sewing on this pretty bag, and I'm so proud to have it.

She sells this pattern on her etsy shop here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/girlsinthegarden?ref=em  On blog, there are photos of the Rose Messenger in different fabrics, and her girls modeling them.

Thank you, Lori.  I will treasure this bag.

Yes Sir, Yes Sir, Three Bags Full

I looked at the entries, and winners of the purse challenge at PR. I should enter a challenge. That would force me to apply myself to finish an item, and it would be fun. Maybe next time.

I love to make bags. It's a good place to use techniques that may be a bit overwhelming on a garment. And, it's fun to try new embellishments on a small project that I can see an end to in my lifetime.

There is a bag pattern that is great for trying out new techniques. It is called thesmarthandbag . The bag is box-shaped. It has a cuff at the top, akin to pant cuffs. On the under side of the cuff, velcro is attached. (this doesn't show on the outside of the bag. As is, this is a nice bag. But wait--there's more! You can make slip-covers to fit over the bag, and the covers are attached with velcro under the purse cuff. It's ingenious!







Here's my basic Smart Bag in black:




It's difficult to see in the photo, but I attached a fur boa to the top of the bag, over the cuff. There's clear plastic handles, and a red tassel. I could now make slip covers that fasten under the fur cuff piece. The bag is made from home dec fabric.

The pattern is still available at the website above, and there are others, as well. The possibilites are endless as to making the slip covers. Pintucks, pleated fabrics, different types of paint and embellishments. It's a big candy store out there!


This is another Smart Bag.

I don't intend to make a cover for this one. Here, I've used a jungle print cotton fabric, which I quilted. I put a ruffle around the top of the bag, (over the cuff), from a lightweight leopard print fabric. There's wood handles and wood beaded fringe. The lining is the leopard print. This is a fun bag!



Here's a crazy quilted bag. This pattern is from the booklet "Totes With Zippers" by Cindy Taylor Oates. The idea of the crazy quilted bag came from Barbara Randle's "Crazy Quilting With Attitude"
This reminds me of Mardi Gras. Very festive! I love carrying this bag also.

I'm going to the fabric store tonight, and probably the book store. Marty has a book review of "The Seamstress of Hollywood Blvd" that sounds delightful. I really need to carve out some time for reading.

I read blogs--does that count?