Pattern Test Drive - The Sling Bag by You Sew Girl

Today we are going to show off our new You Sew Girl Sling Bag. It is made out of a lovely Sweet Potato Orange Denim which matches fantastically with the feature panel of Kokka Sun Bear fabric. It is a fairly easy pattern suited to adventurous beginner to intermediate sewist. If you have made any You Sew Girl bags before then you will be able to whip this one up with no trouble at all.

The finished bag measures approx. 25cm x 25cm x 13cm (9-7/8" x 9-7/8" x 5-1/8") excluding the strap. The strap is grown on and can be lengthened and shortened as desired. This is the length straight off the pattern which is fine for a small petite person like our size 8 mannequin here but if you are taller/larger then you may need to lengthen it a bit.

There is an optional zippered pocket in the lining which is handy for holding all of those little bits and bobs that can get lost inside your handbag.

The feature fabric we chose is a bit lighter than the denim so we decided to appliqué it onto the denim rather than piecing the two together. A quick tip for folding over the raw edges of the overlay piece is to use 1/4" Quilter's Edge which is a double-sided iron on adhesive tape. 

• Cut two strips for the feature panels, one for the front and one for the back.
• Iron the Quilter's Edge onto the wrong side of each of the long edges, fold over and press again to get a very neat 1/4" seam. 
• To attached the overlays onto the bag you can either use vliesofix (or similar) over the entire piece or just use more of the Quilter's Edge on the sides (which is what we have done). 
• Top-stitch 2mm in from the edge of the overlay to hold it in place permanently.

Hardware

You can get away with having no hardware on this bag, though it is suggested to use a magnetic snap as a closure. As always you can add O-rings, oblong rings etc to jazz up and/or lengthen the strap.

Interfacing

The sling bag is a soft and slouchy bag so it can have minimal to no interfacing. The denim we have used is quite heavy so we have used a medium/light woven fusible interfacing on the facing pieces only (excluding the strap facing). There is a hard Peltex base to give the bag some shape.

If you would like to recreate this bag here are the materials that we have used.

• Sling Bag Pattern by You Sew Girl
• 1.5m x Main Fabric Crossroads Coloured Denim Sweet Potato by Amy Barickman
• 0.3m x Lining Fabric Premium Solid Storm by Northcott
• FQ x Feature Fabric Sun Bear and Friends Navy by Kokka
• Medium - Light Fusible Interfacing
• 15cm x Peltex 72F Double-sided Fusible Interfacing
• Magnetic Catch 18mm Antique
• 20cm (8”) zip for lining pocket

- Ky and Cloud

Travelling Bunny: 3-day Bag Masterclass with Nicole Mallalieu

Last week I flew down to Melbourne to attended a 3-day bag making masterclass with Nicole Mallalieu (You Sew Girl). The class was hosted by Kimono House which is a lovely little fabric shop in Melbourne's CBD which specialises in Japanese fabrics, kimonos/ yukatas and crafts.

Kimono House workshop space

Machines were supplied for all of the out of town students which was a great help.
I was lucky enough to score Nikki's Bernina for the 3 days :) 

On Friday afternoon Leanne, the owner of Kimono House, took us for walk around Melbourne CBD with a focus on craft. The walk ended at Spring Street Grocer, with what is reputed to be the best gelati in Melbourne. I tried three flavours (dairy free chocolate, salted caramel and pistachio) and approved of them all :)

A few of the locations we went to on the tour.
Top: Clementine's (all stock is made and crafted in Victoria) and Corky Saint Clair
Middle: Subject To Change, Gewurzhaus Herb and Spice Merchants, The Cats Meow
Bottom: Morris and Sons, Spring Street Grocer

Nicole demonstrating the finer points of bag making.

Over the 3 days we learnt heaps of tips and tricks from Nikki including techniques for hard bag bases, zipper applications, customising handle straps, and interfacing options. Everyone had a great time and finished sewing up either a Day Bag, Large Tote Bag or Beach Bag.

Hurrying to finish off our bags on Saturday afternoon

All of the finished bags

I made up a Cartas Marcadas Large Satchel and a very Nautical Beach Bag (Beach Bag still requires lining)

I'm quite taken with the bright striped interior of the Large Satchel, especially teamed with the hot pink zipper.

I had a great time away and picked up heaps of tips for professional bag making which I look forward to imparting to our customers and students. We are hoping to run a few bag making workshops at Voodoo Rabbit this year so make sure to sign up to our newsletter (top left on the side menu) for notification of upcoming classes.

- Ky

The Brisbane Craft and Quilt Fair Starts Today !!

Whew, we have managed to get our stand setup and ready to go for the Brisbane Craft and Quilt Fair which starts today, October 16 and runs until Sunday October. It is amazing how much preparation goes into preparing for one of these shows which is why we are only doing the local ones in Brisbane for now. 

Brisbane Craft and Quilt Fair 2013

When: Wednesday 16th to Sunday 20th October

Time: 9am - 5pm daily

Where: Stand H14, Brisbane Exhibition Centre Halls 3 & 4, Cnr Glenelg & Merivale Streets, Southbank.

Please note that our East Brisbane showroom will be closed during this event and will reopen on Tuesday 22nd October.

Here are few quick snaps I took of the stand before we left last night.

Front View of our stand

You Sew Girl bag samples

Lots of yummy bolts of fabric

Directly across from us at H15 we have a demonstration space where you can watch StephC from Cake Patterns give short hourly talks about sewing with knit fabrics. Steph will also be available between demonstration times to answer any question you may have about dressmaking, knit sewing or Cake Patterns. You will also be able to purchase Cake Patterns and Riley Blake Cotton Jersey Knits from us during the Fair. 

Click image to enlarge

We hope to see you at the fair,

- Ky and Cloud

Totes Cute Tote Bag

When we order in fabric we ask, "What would you make from it?" before we buy it. If the fabric doesn't talk to us, we don't get it in. We had always planned to make a kid's version of the You Sew Girl Small Tote and Satchel but we were waiting for the perfect fabric. This ultra kawaii animal print fabric from Cosmo just screamed "Totes Cute Tote" when we saw the sample :) The fabric is a heavy canvas base cloth so it is very durable and the rich red background colour looks great teamed up with our Indigo Denim.

Difficulty

The Small Tote and Satchel pattern is a great project for a beginner as it contains lots of tips on the basics of bag making and sewing. For more advanced sewists it is a quick and easy project that can be whipped up in an afternoon / evening session (I think this one took me 3-4 hours in total).

Interfacing

After my Alexander Henry Mirage Carry All Bag blog post, Nicole from You Sew Girl suggested that I try using Medium-Heavy interfacing paired with H630 wadding. This would give me the structure I was after but not be as bulky as the Medium Interfacing paired with H640 wadding combo. I am happy to say that this is now my favourite way to interface my bags :)

Options

Most You Sew Girl patterns come with a number of different finishing options. I have made the longer version of the bag, with a flap and internal zippered pocket. I think it is always nice to have a least one pocket on the inside for storing little bits and pieces. I particularly like the red zipper against the blue fabric. If you can't match a zipper to the main colour of a fabric don't be afraid to try matching it to one of the other colours in the print.

I have used plastic looplocs and tri-glide with 38mm webbing to make an urban style adjustable shoulder strap. You can find the tutorial on how to make an adjustable bag strap here.

Like all of Nicole's pattern the Small Tote and Satchel is very versatile and allows you to make many variations using just the one pattern. These are just a few of the variations that Nicole has made, you can find more images as well as descriptions on her website.

If you would like to recreate this bag here is everything that I used

• Pattern - Small Tote and Satchel Bag Pattern by You Sew Girl
• 35cm x Main Fabric Indigo 6oz Medium Weight 150cm wide Denim
• 0.3m x Lining Fabric Hooty Hoot Returns Jacks Blue by Riley Blake
• FQ x Flap Fabric Animal Circle Canvas Red by Cosmo Textiles
• 0.5m x Medium - Heavy Fusible Woven Interfacing
• 0.35m x Vilene H630 Fusible Wadding
• Bag Base Peltex 72F Double-sided Fusible Interfacing
• 1 x Satchel Set 38mm Black Plastic
• 1.5m x Polypropylene Webbing - 38mm Black

- Ky

Fabric Friday - Mod Bag Dilemma

The October Craft and Quilt Fair is fast approaching and I need to start making bag samples toot sweet. I asked Cloud for a fabric combination for the Mod bag and she gave me three. So I ask you dear bunny readers, which fabrics should I use?

Here is a pic of the Mod Bag, it is a You Sew Girl Pattern and has a bit of a retro feel so Cloud has chosen some appropriately retro inspired prints from our range.

Option 1:

Outer Bag - Bauhaus Brown Grey by Alexander Henry

Belt - Premium Solid Slate by Northcott

Lining - Premium Solid Raisin by Northcott

Option 2:

Outer Bag - Notting Hill Primrose Poppy by Free Spirit

Belt - Premium Solid Tomato by Northcott

Lining - Notting Hill Tartan Poppy by Free Spirit

Option 3:

Outer Bag - Splendor 1920 Decodence Azure by Art Gallery Fabrics

Belt - Premium Solid Navy by Northcott

Lining - Premium Solid Ivory by Northcott

I think that all options would look best with Silver hardware. I am leaning towards option 2 but I'd love to know what you think. Don't take too long, I have to cut this out on Saturday :)

- Ky

Alexander Henry Mirage Carry All Bag

This bag isn't called the Carry All for nothing, it is HUGE. The finished bag measures 38cm x 34cm x 9cm (15"x13-1/2"x3-1/2") and seriously you could fit the kitchen sink in this thing :)

The Carry All has a lot of options for pockets and closures. I went all out on my bag, here is the list of the features I included:

• Outside Pocket with magnetic closure
• O-rings on strap
• Flap with piping and o-ring
• Zippered top
• Internal compartment pocket
• Internal zippered pocket
• Internal divider pocket

Zippered Top

The internal compartment pocket sits behind the Internal Divider Pocket and both pockets are closed with a button and loop.

Internal Divider Pocket

The Zippered Pocket is meant to be 18cm wide but I couldn't find an 18cm zipper in my stash for the life of me. I just cut 3cm off the pocket and made it 15xm wide to accommodate the zipper I did have :)

Internal Zippered Pocket

The Outside Pocket is meant to be closed with a sew in magnetic snap but I didn't have any so I used the non sew in type without any problems at all. I used these instructions to make sure that the back of the snap isn't going to cause any damage to my bag. I also fussy cut the pocket so that when it is closed the pattern on the front pocket matches the pattern on the front of the bag seamlessly.

Outside Pocket

After I piped around the edge of the flap I kind of wished I had piped the top of the outside pocket as well. I was also going to use a magnetic catch on flap instead of the O-ring but one magnetic catch on the front pocket seemed like enough so I went with the ring instead. I think that the antique brass colour goes quite nicely with this print.

Flap Closure, and check out that fussy cutting on the front pocket :)

Notes on Interfacing

When using quilting cotton to make You Sew Girl bags I usually always fuse a layer of Medium Woven Fusible interfacing and a layer of H640 wadding to the outer fabric to give the bag structure, unless you want a floppy bag in which case just use interfacing. I also used my new (second hand) Elna press to fuse all of the interfacing and wadding. This definitely fused everything more evenly than using a standard iron.

In the Internal divider pocket I used Medium-heavy fusible woven interfacing instead of Peltex 72F. The Peltex would have given a more sturdy divider but it would have made turning out the bag and top-stitching the lining gusset a lot harder than I was prepared to deal with.

Use a walking foot to help sew bulky layers of wadding.

As you can imagine 2 layers of wadding plus 2 layers of medium interfacing plus 2 layers of fabric can get very bulky. This is when having a walking foot is a big bonus, I find that it helps the machine pull the fabric though a bit more evenly.

Difficulty Rating
This bag is not for beginners, I would recommend having a few You Sew Girl bags under your belt before attempting this one. The hardest part is top-stitching the outer bag gusset as the bag can get very bulky and tricky to get under the presser foot evenly, especially if you have used wadding to add extra structure. There are also lots of pieces and this can be a little bit daunting. I would recommend going through the instruction book and highlighting all of the optional extras that you are planning on including so that you don't miss anything.

If you are wishing to recreate this bag this is everything that I used:

• Pattern - Carry All Bag Pattern by You Sew Girl
• Outer Fabric - 1.15m x Mirage Navy by Alexander Henry
• Lining Fabric - 1.15m x Outfoxed Stripe Navy Blue by Andover
• Main Bag Interfacing - 1.15m x Medium Fusible Interfacing
• Main Bag Wadding - 1.1m x Vilene H640 Fusible Wadding
• Internal Divider Interfacing - 0.35m x Medium - Heavy Fusible Woven Interfacing
• Flap Piping - FQ x Premium Solid Navy by Northcott
• 55cm x Piping Cord - White #1
• 3 x Wire O-Ring 50mm Antique - 4pk
• 1 x Magnetic Catch 14mm Antique – 5pk
• 40cm zipper for top of bag
• 18cm zipper for internal pocket
• 1 x button

Happy Sewing
- Ky

Fabric Friday - Decisions, Decisions, What Fabric Should We Make A You Sew Girl Beauty Case In?

The Beauty Case Pattern by You Sew Girl is a vintage-inspired bag which is equally suited to use as a toiletry bag, a travel-bag for craft projects or simply a fun handbag. Pockets line the lid and walls of a spacious interior, so you have plenty of places to organize, store and carry whatever you choose.

We need to sew up a shop sample and half the fun is choosing the fabric! Here are some of the options we’ve been playing around with.

Pony Love

Main Fabric: Candy Party Handsome Pony Black by Kokka

Lining: Truck Stop Pindot Red by Alexander Henry

Hardware: Flat O-Rings 25mm Silver - 4pk

The Music Lover

Main Fabric: Music Plaid Red by Cosmo Textiles

Lining: Rock n Romance Stardust Midnight by Art Gallery Fabrics

Hardware: Flat O-Rings 25mm Silver - 4pk

A Seaside Holiday

Main Fabric: Nautical Stripes Sandy Beiged by Kokka

Lining: Seven Seas The Fleet Red Organic Cotton by Cloud 9

Hardware: Flat O-Rings 25mm Antique - 4pk

Which combination should we choose? Leave a comment & let us know your favourite - or suggest another combination.

- Ky and Cloud