The New Free Brookfield Bag From Sara at Sew Sweetness

Well, I jumped on this one.  I continually look for smaller bags to make, as some of you know, so when this bag came out a couple of days ago, I had to stop what I was doing and make it.  I was not disappointed.  The bag is a new, free pattern from Sara of Sew Sweetness called the Brookfield Bag.  I cut it out with fabric from my stash (and the great red faux leather that I am going to use up quickly if I don't watch out) the night the pattern came out and I completed it the next day.

The bag is closed with a flap and a turn lock but there are directions for using a magnetic snap instead.  I love this turquoise fabric with the red poppies.  I have had it for awhile and love how it goes with that red faux leather that I recently bought.  I used that faux leather for the top and corner trim pieces, the straps, and for the piping that goes down the side and bottom of the bag.

The back of the bag has the matching trim from the front.

The inside of the bag has two large elasticized pockets that are divided in half for a total of four pockets.

I really enjoyed making this one and I will make more.  It is the perfect size for those looking for a smaller bag (11" wide, 8" tall and 2" deep).

I Was a Winner in the Sew Mama Sew Blogger Giveaway

How fun was it to find out that I won one of the giveaways from the Sew Mama Sew Blogger Giveaway?  I don't win these kind of things so I was quite surprised and very pleased.  I entered a lot of the giveaways.  Hope you took the time to enter some, too.It is always a fun time when this giveaway rolls around (twice a year).  

Here is the stash of fat quarters I won from Sue at Suebee's World.

There is a fat quarter bundle of  9 yellow and coral Connecting Thread fabrics.  (There was only supposed to be 6 but Sue added in 3 extra from the same grouping).  There are also 2 Heidi Grace fat quarters.   Aren't they gorgeous?  I think so, too.

I gave away 6 (1/2 yd) pieces of fabric with 3 matching spools of  Gutermann thread.  My winner was Kim from Lily Patch Quilts.

I dream of a time we can all get in a BIG room and trade fabric pieces.  Wouldn't that be really fun?????

Lighthouse Convertible Bag

Since my other Bag of the Month Club Convertible Bag sold quickly, I decided I wanted to make another one.  This is a fun bag from Samantha from At Home With Mrs. H that I like because it is fun to make and looks great when completed.  This bag is large enough to carry an Ipad or just to use as your regular handbag.  It is convertible because the strap can be removed, threaded through the fabric tunnel on the back of the bag and clipped to the back, bottom D rings to wear as a backpack.  The adjustible strap allows you to wear it as a cross body or as a shoulder bag.  So many options in one bag.

I have had this lighthouse fabric for awhile.  It reminds me of the summers we used to boat and so many driving vacations where seeing the various lighthouses on our route was a must.  The reddish faux leather is one of the fabrics I bought last weekend when I went to the upholstery and drapery fabric outlet.  I bought the last yard they had.  It was great to work with and I would have gotten more if they would have had it.  The prices are great but selection and yardages always vary and I realize if I like it, I should buy what I think I will use over time because chances are others will like it too.  Like the shiny black quilted fabric that I went for that they no longer have!

Anyway, back to the bag.

It was fun looking at all of the lighthouses on this fabric to see which ones I have been to.  There are even two that are within a couple of hours of my house...Marblehead, OH and Old Fairport Harbor, OH, both of them on one of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie.  I put them on the front of the bag.  They are side by side on the bottom left corner of the purse flap.  One is white and the other is tan.

The flap covers the faux leather pocket and is fastened with a tongue latch.

The back of the bag has an outer zippered pocket and the hardware to turn it into a backpack.  (See the Statue of Liberty partially hidden under the fabric tunnel above the zipper?) Yes, she is considered a lighthouse!  (Didn't know you would get a geography lesson, too, did you???)

The inside of the bag has a slip pocket on one side and a zippered pocket on the other.

The last time I made this bag I didn't add the backpack hardware.  This time, I decided I would, to give it more versatility.  This is what it looks like with the strap threaded through the fabric tunnel and clipped on the bottom D rings.

I will definitely keep making this bag.  I love it!

Eloise Wallet Out Of A Fabric Swatch

Here is one more fabric swatch  project.  I have so many more up my sleeves but I need to get back to some big bags as most of my Bags of the Month have been sold.  I'll work with fabric swatches again soon.

I have looked at the Eloise Wallet pattern from Swoon Patterns for awhile and decided it was time to tackle it.  I decided to use a fabric swatch for this wallet but that probably wasn't my best choice.  A quilting cotton fabric would have been a better choice because this wallet gets very thick and difficult to work with toward the end.  More about that later.

What I love about this pattern is the extra "wallet" attached to the outside of the wallet.  This allows easy access to the cards and money that you use most often.  It is closed with a magnetic snap.

When opened, this attachment provides room for 10 cards and paper money.

 
And behind this attachment is a pocket that is large enough to hold my cell phone even in its case.

The main part of the wallet is accessed through the large zipper opening.

The inside of this wallet has room for 8 more cards (that's 18 total) and two pocket openings for bills or checkbook.  There is also a zippered pocket for other necessaries (coins, lip gloss, etc).

On the back of the wallet, I highlighted my favorite part of the fabric swatch.

This is a wallet pattern that is large and holds a lot.  I like the pattern but I will make some changes with my fabric and interfacing selections.  As I mentioned before, quilting cottons would work best for this.  There is a layer of Peltex on the body of this wallet that makes it stiff and difficult to turn inside out.  A heavier fabric makes it even more difficult.  I also would change the interfacing.  The pattern calls for craft fuse, which I used.  I have used it in a couple of bags so far and I don't like the stiffness it brings to the fabric especially when you already have a layer of peltex.  I will change it next time to my favorite interfacing, a woven fusible interfacing, Pellon Shape Flex SF101.  With these changes , I think I will love the results even more.

Fabric Swatches Into Buttercup Evening Bags

For a while, I have purchased upholstery and drapery sample swatches when my local fabric store discontinues the fabric and sells the swatches to make room for the new fabric.  I have recently been given more sample swatches from a local furniture store.  These swatches are a great way to get affordable pieces of expensive fabric to use for smaller projects.  I am even lucky enough to have an outlet a little over an hour away that has hundreds of rolls of this type of fabric for $6.00/yd.  Anything in the store! $6.00/yd!  I recently purchased an embroidered suede there that I have seen in another store for $40.00/yd.  This same store sells sample swatches for $.50 a piece.  The nice thing about that is that they often have multiples of one fabric which you do not see at furniture stores or fabric stores.  Anyway....what to make with them.  I have made rectangle pouches with wristlet straps and used them as a spotlight piece on a bag.  One of my favorite things to do with them, though, is to take the fancy ones and make evening bags out of them.  Here are two of them that I made this weekend.

To make these bags, I use the Buttercup Bag pattern from made by Rae.  She offers the pattern for free for personal use.   She does allow sales from her patterns but asks that you buy the pattern for $10 which includes a license to sell.  I make the smaller version and leave the strap off to make it a clutch bag.  I then draw a pattern piece that looks like a bow, cut 2 and sew right sides together leaving an opening for turning.  I turn it right side out, close the opening and you can do this by edgestitching around the bow.  I then thread the bow through one of these sparkly buckles or top it with a fancy button.

 I like both looks.  I then attach the bow to the top of the bag (over the magnetic snaps) by sewing the ends of the bow the whole length of the top band through all thicknesses.  That's all there is to it.  I love them.  You can make them to match the color of your dress or make them blacks, silvers, etc.

Here is what the inside looks like.  There is one small slip pocket.

Here are a few other colors that I have made.

Just perfect for a night out..... where do I get one of those???????