The Sewing Mom

I have been feeling extremely under the weather with a sever sinus headache that, even with prescription medications, I’m having a terrible time getting rid of. With that in mind, you’ll understand why it took me over a week to create this bag, something that probably shouldn’t have taken longer than 2 days! It is finished though and I even have the second, smaller bag started. I’m very pleased with how this bag turned out. The high quality cotton fabric is from Moda. It is approximately 12″h x 15″w, is fully lined with 2 interior pockets, and a spring tension rod closure which keeps it “snapped” shut until you pull it open. I am selling this fabulous bag for $40. Today’s Thursday Thirteen is the steps I took to make this wonderful bag.

1. Cut the fabric for the outside, lining, pockets and handles.
2. Cut fusible fleece.
3. Iron fusible fleece to outside fabric. This provides added support to the bag.
4. Sew pocket fabric to pocket lining, press.
5. Place and sew pockets to lining fabric
6. Stitch side and bottom seams of bag fabric and then do the same with the lining fabric.
7. Sew lining to bag.
8. Turn top of bag to the outside and stitch in place.
9. Sew straps, then insert double layer of fleece for shoulder padding.
10. Sew trim to straps.
11. Sew straps to bag.
12. Sew trim around the folded edge of casing.
13. Insert spring tension metal frame.

Enjoy the bag! The hardest part of making this bag was inserting the metal frame. It took more than two hands to get the post inserted into the metal frames, so my husband helped with that step, along with a strong pair of pliers.

I have been so busy lately and I apologize right up front to any of my loyal EC droppers who I have not been able to reciprocate with over the last day or so. Sometimes, as we all know, the computer has to take a back seat to family an real life and that is how it has been the last few days.

Besides having so much going on personally, my daughter is becoming more and more involved with softball again and, in fact, she is going to be trying out for a select team later today.

I have been doing some major organizing and catching up with paperwork as well as trying to get some sewing done. As I’ve mentioned before, we’re going to be selling at a show in July and I need to have some completed items to sell! I actually finished one of my all time favorite bags last night, but I don’t yet have pictures of it. I’m going to be making a bag organizer to go with it, so will post about that later.

In the mean time, I made this zippered bag last week. I love the flip flop fabric accented by the beach ball fabric and the green zipper. The zipper opens to a lined interior and there is a coordinating pocket on the back. The over the shoulder strap is about 30″ long. This is a great bag for carrying small items when traveling (i.d, etc) or for younger girls who carry the simple things, like lip gloss, cash and a cell phone! (oh those were the days!)

After staying away from my sewing machine for over a week, (this is a long time when sewing is an addiction), I got back in there and finished sewing a bag that I had started 3 weeks earlier.

This is a charm bag with ragged edges. The front is made from 5 inch square fabric charms sewn together with wrong sides together so that the edges are ragged instead. I also used the 5 inch squares to form 2 interior pockets. The lining and back fabric are a coordinating color as are the handles which are reinforced with batting for shoulder comfort. The bag has been quilted.

This bag is a great tote bag and is for sale for $30.

If you’ve tackle something this week, why not join 5 Minutes for Mom and Tackle it Tuesday?

I crafted this bag, along with the matching bag organizer, a while back. The front is designed from 5″ square fabric charms set on point. The back and lining are both coordinating fabrics. It is fully lined and the handles are reinforced for added strength. The bag is large enough to carry a laptop in, although, it wasn’t technically designed for that purpose and so it doesn’t have extra padding in it. The organizer is a great place to keep your keys, cell phone and anything else that tends to get lost in the bottom of your bag!

I’m currently making a similar bag and hope to have it completed by the end of the week. (If I would just get off this computer!)

I created this tote bag last week, before I had to take my sewing break to clean my house and do yard work! I kept meaning to show it here, but kept forgetting. This is by far, my favorite tote bag. I love the fabric colors. It’s an oversized bag with lots of interior pockets and 2 exterior pockets. This would be great for toting projects around or for someone who enjoys a large purse.

I am selling this bag for $35 plus shipping.