The Tote Bag That Took Me Down

It’s been a rough week.  I've been grouchy and snappy. There’s been a lack of sleep and when I do sleep it’s been laced by horrific, scary nightmares which has resulted in me having a super negative attitude. On Wednesday evening I thought “Maybe I should do some sewing, it might just make me feel better.” Oh boy, was I ever wrong and if I knew how wrong I was I would have just gone and did the dishes instead. I went to my Pinterest page and looked around for inspiration. I saw this tote bag that I've wanted to do for a while now. I thought it was the perfect project; it had new techniques that I thought were only slightly challenging. Oi….

This may be the only tip I have to give back: I don’t bother printing patterns, I trace them off the screen. I set my adobe reader to full screen view at 100%. Then just trace it on some notebook paper. I just think it easier, but I guess the biggest motivator for this methodology is became I don’t have a home printer. ;) So that was the first step, tracing, cutting and taping it together.  I'm sure someone already figured this out already, but did you?

After that I picked this strange fabric I got from somewhere… (from its horrible condition, maybe the dumpster?). I have never been sure what do with it cause it is full of stains, splatters, and tears. Seriously why has this yard of fabric been so torn up? Was it used in a garage somewhere? Anyways, I cut it out and was thinking I’d try a couple of things. You know how they always say clip rounded corners my quick solution is to use my pinking shears to do that. Is that wrong? I was hoping to find out

Alright, things are going good. Got the pattern made, cut it out, now step #2…. darts …. Whatever those are…. I guess I am quasi familiar with what they are. I mean hello, I watch project runway – I've heard that term before, but uhm… how do it you do them. The instructions were just, put in darts. So I had to go the internet and find someone who could teach me. Well here’s the thing I hate, you’d think that places like Crafty.com would be the place to find easy instructions but there has never been a time that Crafty has been able to communicate to me. I love bloggers because I can relate. I found this page called Coletterie. Whoever wrote the blog post about darts was great, they made it easy to understand for me. NOW here is once again I flex my maverick muscle and just can’t follow instructions. They talked about leaving some of the thread and tying a knot with it. Why? Just back stitch right? I don’t get it and I will not put that much work (unless I get good at hand sewing soon) into something simple unless it’s absolutely necessary. So darts were one of the first things that took me down – I kept sewing them reversed and my seam ripper got a workout that night.

Well, I won’t get too into it, but as the project progressed, things got worst. I think there was a combination of being tired and headstrong that resulted in error followed by error. I wasn't paying attention to the instructions and instead choose to just bully my way through it. Sewing is about patience something I have lost and maybe I’m looking to get it back. But this wasn't the time for a lesson in patience … or was it? Anyways, I guess I got upset because all my meticulous prep work was lost when I sewed the pieces together wrong, I couldn't pull them apart because of the flimsy nature of this fabric. Instead of pulling apart it just ripped. Dumb Dumb – should have paid attention. Le sigh…. I guess I was so disappointed because I lined up my strips so nicely I really wanted this to work out. And now… this will probably become rag (Which is probably what it was to begin with).

Day 2. I decided to not let the previous failures get me down and try again. I was going to pay more attention to the instructions. Work smarter and not harder this time. I went to cut the same fabric but… this pattern uses more fabric than I thought. I only had enough for “one more piece.” So back to the crap bag of fabric and I remember I only got a little bit of this drapery-crap fabric left so that’s perfect. Things definitely went better this time… except… I forgot or missed turning the interior fabric RST before sewing together. So other than the fact that my interior fabric is reversed it turned out okay. I looked at the fabric and thought that the fabric could handle a stronger top stitch. I think it’s cute-ish in a way. Sometimes I look at it and see prom dress top.

	So one last try today - Get it right, behave and conform. This time was for real-real, I decided to use fabrics that I love. Alright I love it, finally. This time I used the scraps from the interior curve to make four pockets, two of each prints. Like the green bag, I used different top stitch, I’m not sure I love it but its okay. There are things I like about this. I lined up my pockets with the prints expertly. The final decision on the top stitch pattern I’m on the fence about. I wanted something architectural and have some structure to match the print.

Things I learned after getting knocked down:

• Darts are an interesting creature. They require precision. Sloppy Darts = Extra and unexpected darts.
• Don’t be sad Davey, sometimes life is hard but you managed to get through this self-imposed obstacle.
• I swear, this pattern is needless complex. I’m pretty sure that that you could sew up the straps and just pull everything out an opening in the bottom of the bag. Right? Right? Does anyone know? Seriously, should I try it?
• Patterns, textures, and color – you never know what will work so just try it.

Getting Some Closures

I’m one of those dudes who has what I call, the final step problem. You know what I mean? Do I put away my clean laundry or just pick out of the laundry basket all week? Do I put away the dishes or just pull the clean ones from the dishwasher. So it should be no surprise that there were sewing projects also waiting for final touches. Those missing final touches being that I needed to be added were closures.
But I there was no more time to procrastinate! Some of these bags had new homes to go to so I couldn't put it off any longer.

You remember my Daycare Bag right? I really struggled to think about what type of closure would be best for its function. I don’t think a bigger clasp would have been beneficial for a mom or dad on the go shoving last minutes items into the bag. So I just decided to be unoriginal and just do some snaps. I figured if they actually needed to close it that these would be sufficient.

I was a little apprehensive putting these on. I've done grommets before, which I didn't realize are very similar to these. The instructions on the back of the package were so tiny and vague. So I reached out to the internet thinking, “no big deal – there’s probably a youtube video showing how to do this”… yea, no (or at least I couldn't find one). I was lucky enough to find this blog called Sid's In Stitches – this Sid lady is my new hero cause without her showing me the steps I might have blown threw more snaps than I had on hand. Anyways, this is why I created this blog – to say thanks, so thanks Sid!

The last bag that needed a closure before it got sent out was my Hippy Dippy Bag. This one could handle a bigger and badder closure, so I found this leather toggle cutie to use. I figured big deal – I just need to sew this down…. Well, you know how I’m complaining that I don’t have proper needle usage down? Yea I think I’m still having that problem because when I tried to sew this down I got some for real eyelashing problems. But maybe the tension was wrong…. So I had to think about what I could do. I decided to change it up and use a.... a... back-and-forth stich? a... a... tight zig-zag stich? Man I just really need to educate myself soon on these terms. I of course I did a quick google to see how others were sewing on their leather toggles. I found a blog by a lady named Maris called Sew Maris. She’s amazing and a talent. How she put on her leather toggles on was inspired and the coat she made was perfection.

Maybe I learned something, maybe I just need to re-read my old posts:

• Maybe as I get further along I really need to take a class or read a book.  It's fun discovering on my own, but I think a little training could go a looooonnng way.
• When all else fails do it your way and love it.
• I love finding new sewing idols and learning from them.  <3 <3 <3

My Heavenly Headbands

See, I told you I could find something else to sew other than tote bags!  I decided to make headbands simply because I saw them pinterest and they looked like a great gift to make for friends.  I made some car seat covers for some lady friends of my mine who had kids recently.  Well, unfortunately, one of the girls is moving away.  I know this will be sad for them both to leave each other, so I wanted to make something for them to remind them of their friendship.  I made them these fabric headbands out of the remaining fabric from their car seat covers.  Awh, I love them both so much and I hope these remind them of all their good times.

I choose the pattern and tutorial at Me and My DYI for Reversible Headbands.  One of the main factors for why I choose this one is because she used the kind of elastic I had (non-roll).  Originally I was thinking of making the Craft Snob’s DIY Headband because it involved fewer steps, but it uses fold over elastic – I’m not familiar with that and don't have any.  I probably could have used non-roll elastic, but… whatevs.  ANYWAYS, I like ones I made better anyways, they are cuter.

So the first one I made I followed Debbie’s instructions at Me and My DYI exactly. I love her instructions and details, but oi, she used one of those turn-inside-out-tools, and I haven’t had luck using my mom’s and I don’t have one so….. I felt that anxiety bubble up because I hate turning pieces inside out, but actually it wasn't that hard. I created my own concoction to pull the elastic through the strap. It worked out just fine. You can follow her instructions and I’m sure they’ll turn out as perfect as her. That being said, I (of course) ended up altering her pattern. After sewing the first one I felt like it could use a bit of tweaking.

Okay, so below is what I had an issue with, the bands almost seemed too big. The top of the band like lifted off the head a little. You can see that I wanted it to have a pleat in it, so that it folded over. So I altered the pattern a smidgen.

As it turns out my elastic was ¾” and Debbie’s was a ½” so I need to change the pattern a bit anyways. Below you can see her original pattern below (folded in half) and my altered pattern above showing how I was accommodating the larger elastic size. The first one I made it was hard to pull the elastic through and because it was such a tight fit it kind of twisted around a bit.  BUT as you can see in the bottom picture, the fold over came out amaz.

Anyways, they turned out so great. I did a couple where I did reversed for the two ladies to each have a fabric from each other’s car seat covers. That being said, I’m not sure if it’s worth the extra work to make them reversible…. Cute, but, meh.

If you are reading this now I am probably at my sewing machine furiously making as many as I can for all the girls in my life. I hope these inspire you to make your own. Oh, here are some silly pics of me demo-ing these headbands for my friends.

What I learned before all the blood got stuck in my head from an overly tight headband:

• Check yourself before sew yoself.  A couple of times I sewed the strap on the back twisted.  It’s hard for me to devote my attention 100% to sewing.  I either have the TV on in the background or chicken on the grill or something else dragging me away from the sewing machine.
• A couple of times I just used my rotary cutter free-hand and the cuts which came out weird which meant that the final sewing came out weird too.  My mom always hounds on me to cut things out straight and correctly.  But my thing is that I have been able to convince myself that I can correct wonky cutouts by sewing them together straight…. I’m not sure I’m convinced anymore.
• Can boys wear headbands, cause I look hawt. Jk, I’m not wearing them.  Maybe I’ll keep one for when I am washing my face. :)
• GREAT project to get rid of your remnants and scraps.

I LOVE BATIK FABRIC!

UGH! I wanted so badly to do another sewing project this week, but I can’t because I'm going out of town! (WOOT!!)

Anyways I plan on moving away from tote bags officially… possibly…. Lol…. for the moment. I just really want to change it up to get new perspectives.

I thought show you the new fabric I bought. I LOVE BATIK FABRIC SO MUCH. It's so inspiring to me. Earlier, while getting supplies for my trip at a local box store, (I don't want to tell you cuz I hate admitting that I shop there) but for the price and the amount of fabric I got it was a good deal. I'm going to make stuff out of this in the upcoming weeks so stay tuned mi amigos.

Nothing new to learn this week, but here's some cool facts about batik:

• Wait, WHAT? The island of Java is the source of current inspiration...?  Well well well, the things you learn.  Batik-Wiki
• Oh Martha.... You so silly.  Martha Teaches Us How to Batik at Home
• Uhmm... LOVE THIS!  Making it with Crayons
• WANT IT ALL -->  Fat Quarter Shop - Batik Fabrics
• I am posting this one because I am CONSTANTLY flipping batik fabric back and forth to assure myself that I sewing the Correct side of the fabric.  Quilting with Batiks
• AND last (but not least), my compadres over at crafty got the 411.  Fabric Patterning Fun with Wax Resist

The Hippy Dippy Bag

This is the reason why I started this blog – to learn from other bloggers and show them what I made. I found this bag pattern on Pinterest and was blown away.  This little lady worked so hard (I'm sure) to create this pattern and online tutorial. And here I am, a blessed man because of her hard work.  I loved her creativity and I thought it was cool because I liked the style. Plus I liked how she was daydreaming and sketching during her business meeting (like I do).  Anyways, like I always say, I saw something and I was inspired.  I knew I had to make this bag because I couldn't get it outta my mind. 

A couple months ago I went garage sale hopping with a friend of mine (Jennie, you might have heard of her) and I was on the lookout for fabrics and other notions. At this very upscale house I found some beautiful napkins - 8 napkins to be exact. I've always been attracted to this color scheme.  I call it “Rich Christmas” colors - I mean for 50 cents, how can you go wrong?

Alright, of course every project start out the same, for me at least, which involves printing out the pattern and trying to figure out how to incorporate a limited amount of fabric resources into the pattern. Lordy, I probably spent a good hour trying to decide how to use the fabric to fit the pattern. Do I use the plaid on the exterior or the interior or do I use some of the plaid on the interior pocket pieces or just on the back pieces? I only had 2 each of the solid napkin pieces which measured approximately 12x12 inches. So that pretty much helped me figure out how to utilize all the fabric. Essentially what I determined was to the plaid fabric for the exterior pockets and the solid fabrics to be interior of the bag and side gussets. However, the larger intention always was to create the binding out of the fringe from the plaid fabric.

Okay so I cut everything out. Of course I do the lining first and the pockets (cause I've learned from my previous errors). You can see here how I cut the exterior side panels out of the two remaining solid fabrics on the diagonal and then use the excess material to create pockets for the lining. Genius! I know, get over it. Here's how they turned out!

With the lining done I moved on to the exterior of the bag. Now….. I did mis-figure the amount of fabric necessary to make the exterior pockets. What I mean is that I did not account for the fact that the pocket needed to have two pieces. I guess I was thinking original that the stiffness of the plaid fabric would be sufficient. It probably would have been, but what I realized in the moment was that I couldn't do the binding if I didn't have two pieces of fabric. It worked out okay. I was able to use the scraps to create a diagonal pocket. It was always my intention to create pocket on both sides of the bag (this was something I learned from the daycare bag). Anyways what ended up happening is that one pocket on the exterior is vertical and the other side of the bag is diagonal, which was pieced together. I think it turned out okay, right?

Anyways I don't know if I am sewing my binding correctly - I need to ask my mom. I definitely am doing it my way... which, I kinda love.  I guess I love it because it's sort of rolled or lifted in a way. I started by sewing the binding down with the hem folded over. Then I turn it over and sewed it so the other hem was folded over. I'm not sure if I should be cutting down the waste before sewing the binding down, but if I didn't then I wouldn't have that cool popup look to it. Maybe I need to revisit how to sew binding….. Either way it’s pretty cool, dontcha think?  Here are my binding tech below:

Alright the exterior of the bag is made, the interior of the bag is made….. you know whats next…. the strap. At first I was thinking of making two straps…. But I couldn't make two straps to make the bag into more of a tote bag because of a lack of fabric.... so I went back to making one strap (considering what I know now, two straps would have been best). Maybe it's on the tacky side, but I really do love the fringe. So I decided to make the strap that had the fringe on the exterior of the strap. So what I did is piece together using the last of the solids and the fringe. I'm not explaining it very well, it was very jury-rigged. I know this and I accept it…. Anyways here's what's up with the strap. I love my quilting detail.

I think the strap turned out to be too large and I am beginning to understand why the original seamstress sewed it to the exterior of the bag instead. I broke two needles trying to get it sewn into the seam. I think this is because I didn't cut down on the waste after sewing the exterior and interior down. This is a problem I have constantly. After I turn a piece inside out I'm like “its fine” and move on. I think what happened is that where the exterior pocket meets the top of the bag it is too much fabric for the sewing machine to handle.

Anyways I love this bag, I think it's so cute! I call at my little hippie dippie bag. I mean how could it not be hippy with all that fringe?  I think this is an amazing pattern and I definitely want to continue exploring all the possibilities.

What I may or may have not learned during this project:

• I learned my lesson from last time and instead of plowing through and staying up until 3 in the morning to finish it. I split it over two days.  (obviously I work, so two evenings or one Saturday is more than enough time to finish this bag). Hooray for me.
• Dude, I really need to remember to trim down the waste after stitching stuff together. This is something I have run into a lot and I am tired of replacing broken needles. Get it right Davey.
• I am on the fence about using scraps to making a project the first time or using fresh fabric.  A part of me says for the timid, use fresh fabric – It’ll be easier.  On the other hand I say be dangerous.  :)
• Are those pre-made canvas straps worth it? YES THEY ARE!

The Jennie Bag

Sigh…. I’ve been missing sewing. There is a overwhelming pattern in my life, typically-cyclically-annually, this time of year gets for real-real cray-cray. This was the first summer that I decided to no longer ignore the signs the universe was sending me and decided to free up my schedule accordingly. Anyways, even though it has worked out for my benefit, my sewing time as suffered. For shame, I know....

I've got a girlfriend who had a birthday. She is just like another friend of mine, Jennie. Jennie loved her Cargo Pants Bag and so I decided to make another one for this girl for her birthday gift.

I’m gonna break for sec and give you a heads up. This sewing project was difficult… not sure why. Maybe it was my over-confidence, maybe it was creating it in two different locations, maybe it was the weird fabric choices, maybe it was the stress of trying to adapt something new, or maybe it was just a weird confluence of all those things. Here is the thing, making something, anything, be it crafts or art, is so strangely therapeutic. Even after all of these years you’d think I’d learned that by now but the weird thing is that I don’t think you ever truly learn that lesson. I think every arts/crafts experience is unique. I am telling you this is because there is something about creating in the face of obstacles. I guess what I love is when you complete a project, maybe it didn’t turn out how you like but it always will be a product of the journey.

Anywho, this post is how I took a project I have already made and remade it into something new. So I wanted to make a purse for my friend’s birthday. Well I haven’t done anything for LITERALLY weeks. My mom and I had a scheduled hang out sess so I brought my sewing machine and some gifted cargo pants. My mom needed to hit up Joann’s this week super sale and I needed liner fabric so we headed on over. OMG I found the CUTIEST light corduroy fabric in the trash (discount) bin. We got back home I started cutting into the cargo pants.

I did what I am always preaching in here, you gotta envision the project. I looked at my available material, found objects (like pockets) that I wanted to use, measured stuff out, and use my imagination to picture how it will turn out. I think this is a critical step. This time with the front flap I wanted to cut out two pieces for it instead of the recommended one piece. This isn’t necessary but I had an idea after doing the first one that I wanted to try this time. I think the Noodlehead lady said make your front flap 12” long, so what I did is make a 2 ½“ strip and then a 10” front flap. I wanted the strip to match the dimensions of the side gussets and I wanted to sew a closure into the seam between the two. Just trust me, you’ll see it later. Anyways, cut out the rest of your pieces you silly goose.

Don’t forget to add your pockets to the liner if you want one. Speaking of pockets, this is something I thought of doing the last time I was working on this pattern. Why settle for just ONE exterior pocket on the flap, why not side a pocket right into the front of it!?!? So I used two cargo pants for this project, a dark blue and brown. So I used the back pocket of the brown pants on the outside front of the bag. Que Cute, no?

Okay, my closure talk, I’ll try to be as short as Peter Dinklage in a pissing contest. I have no idea how to do this, you’d think I’d be representative to my generation and google how to do one of these latches. But… I wouldn’t be your maverick seamster if I didn’t learn how to do it through trial and error. To get to the point, I should have used the button on the brown pants instead of the hook closure on the blue ones. A button would have been reversible…. If that makes sense. Anyways, as you can see below, I decided it to do it this way after trying to test it as much as possible using the pre-sewn frame of the bag. What ended up happening is that the hooks don’t work because at some angle (either the flap being up or down) the hooks slipped out… thus rendering them superfluous. Definitely, definitely use the button closure instead.

So.. this next part is embarrassing. I have been researching binding, dreaming about it at night. You’d think I'd have it down, but this project made me realize that a little bit more practice wouldn’t be the worst thing. But it wasn’t bad overall - in fact I learned something. I ripped a 2” strip from the linear fabric and hemmed one side of it, then sewed the hemmed side to the front flap. Here’s the thing, this 2” strip was WAY too big for binding, so I winged it. I folded the binding back over the front flap and sewed it down to accommodate for the extra room. It worked out okay, I tried to sew back over my first set of stiches but….. well, not my best work forsure. I have to say though, I kindof love this “new” method (I say “new” because I’m sure someone already invited this) BECAUSE it could look cool if you knew what you are doing… but just because mine looks janky doesn’t mean it has to be. Sorry to all the perfectionists, what you are about to see might give you some anxiety.

So here is how the latch turned out… hmm, mmm. Very cute. Just wait till next time, I’m gonna git it RIGHT gurl! Love that front pocket – note the belt loop turned into a clip hook – how yooouu doing clip hook?







This was a labor of love; let's spill some tea:

• YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FINISH THE PROJECT ONCE YOU START THE PROJECT! Why haven’t I learned this yet? I lost valuable hours of much needed beauty sleep cause of this project.
• Google “sewing tutorials, how to sew closures”
• Start kickstarter funding project. Those bargain bins are calling my name…..
• Does this post scream 70's or is just me?