Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Part 3 - Tiny Happy Bag # 2

There were so many different flowers in my Mother's Day bunch, and I only know the roses. These green ones, I have no idea what they are called, but when I looked at them I thought, they are not ripe yet!
Sorry, my knitter friends. Still not about knitting. If you would like to learn how to make a zipper bag (as I did), here's a link to an tutorial. It's one I found, cruising the net again. There are several good ones out there.

I'm not totally pleased with this one, but it will serve it's purpose. Both ends of the zipper are very bulky. The zipper foot on my sewing machine is bad. The one on my old Singer was a pleasure to work with. They look very different, and I can see how one would work better than the other. Anyway, I've put all the odds and ends of knitting accessories and then some in it. There's plenty of room left. Maybe I'll find a better use for it.
Here's Tiny Happy Bag # 2! This one's mine, mine, mine!

Not quite finished yet. I didn't want the closure with the button; I was thinking of magnetic snaps. And the inner pocket is made with the lining fabric. It's my bag, I can do what I want!



About the outer fabric. I was looking for a stiffer fabric, and while the first bag was perfect in that regard, this one was a surprise. In the store it was stiff and I thought perfect for the job. I wash all the fabric before I use it. After washing this one, it got buttery soft. Well, my sewing days are far behind me, and I forgot a lot. Anyway, I bought some iron on stuff to give the fabric some back bone, and also to help with the incredible fringing.
What I learned (again), cotton fabric is so easy to work with, other fabric can be a pain .....




A trip to Michael's and I had the magnetic snaps in hand, and shortly after on the bag. There was a dilemma though. I hadn't thought it through enough. The closure works fine, but you can see the ugly side on the outside. How to fix that?



On the right side, I fastened an old Ducky brooch, which was waiting its turn to be useful.

On the "back" side I glued on part of an old earring. I removed all the metal parts. If it should ever fall off, I still have the other earring to harvest.
Until a week ago I've never ever heard of Amy Butler. Did you? I think almost all her bag patterns are nice. In fact, one I thought was so nice, that I had to have the pattern. So I ordered it. It's the Chelsea Bag, you might want to google it. It looks quite simple, and I think it will be easy to make, but I don't want to invest time to figure it out on my own. So, yes,there will be some sewing in the future. I have another couple of tote patterns I want to make, but the sewing thirst is quenched for now; sewing machine packed away (but not out of reach).



Next post, we will resume regular knitting blogging! Promised! ;o)

10 comments:

hakucho said...

Your bag is wonderful and I really like how you concealed the ugly part of the magnetic closure. It is nice to find uses for things that are just sitting around not being used. It really is the perfect summer bag!

Are you still holding off on casting on more socks?

happy sewing and soon HAPPY KNITTING :)

Teresa said...

Oh wow, I love that purse! The duck button is adorable.

I'm not really good at sewing, next to me you're a Guru so don't feel so bad. :D The last time I had sewn something I sewed the bottom hem of a skirt and it actually ended up being sewn to the elastic band at the top.

Oh, and I think that's a Chrysanthemum. I could be wrong.

sgeddes said...

Those poor green flowers were probably dyed to look that color! I think that they are some type of mum.

I have hear of Amy Butler - but only because I saw it on some blogs. The bag pattern will be nice! Can't wait to see it all doen up.

Tracy Purtscher said...

Looking good Girl! Love the bags. It's awfully refreshing to jump from one handcraft to another every now and them isn't it?

Got a kick out of the re-purposed earring....have you always been like that or are my ways rubbing off on you??? What the next re-fashioning project! LOL

Renna said...

Per your tip, I did google the Chelsea bag by Amy Butler, and I LOVE it! That pattern is now on my wish list.

Your bag is beautiful, and what an ingenious way to do the magnetic closure. I've been pouring through my fabrics to see what I can come up with. I'm not a seamstress, but I sew "a little" for crafting, and my mom, who can no longer sew, gave me tons of fabric. Bags are dancing in my head! ;-)

The Kelly Green Rogue said...

thanks for sharing these! They are so pretty I'm hoping to have time to make some of them in the next month!

Anonymous said...

love the bags, the long one that fits the skeins is a very good idea! I REALLY need to learn to sew!

Anonymous said...

You're the Queen of the Bags - they look fantastic!

meg said...

love the bag, came out so great.

the flowers still look fab.

i love amy butler bags, too!

Anonymous said...

Hach, was für eine schöne Tasche. Besonders der breite Schultergurt ist genial. Wenn mal wieder mehr in der Tasche ist schneidet er an der Schulter nicht ein. Toll !!!
Bei mir reicht es nur zum geradeaus nähen.

Ich wünsche Ihnen noch viele tolle kreative Ideen und sende sonnige Grüße aus Deutschland

Doreen