Cargo Duffle Cameras

Along with five of my fun quilty peeps, we're heading off to our annual long weekend sewing retreat on Mayne Island in a couple of days. This calls for a new travel bag, n'est-ce pas?  Who am I kidding, I rarely need an excuse to try a new bag pattern!  Plus I love everything Anna designs and knew I'd make her Cargo Duffle as soon as I saw her first one posted. The best part? This pattern is 100% FREE! Thanks Anna.

I was recently in Seattle and had a lovely visit with Keli at my favourite little fabric shop, Drygood Designs. I was thrilled that she had new Echino cameras in stock, so I purchased a yard to use for my duffle. In addition to sewing, photography is another passion of mine, so I just love this print.

(just cause photography is a passion doesn't mean I'm an expert...pardon the sunspot!)

All of the panels of this bag are quilted. I decided this was the perfect project to try ByAnnie's Soft & Stable for the first time. I'd heard good things about it and it didn't disappoint!  It's 3/8" thick foam batting/interfacing that has some sort of fabric-y surface. It's not fusible, but the surface took 505 spray baste very well.   It cost about $18 for enough to make this bag, so it's more than triple what cotton batting would cost, but I think well worth it for the structure it adds to this bag. It was no harder to sew through than batting and it has almost no weight.

I quilted the Echino panels with a cream Aurifil 28 wt cotton thread and a 4.5 stitch length. I pieced the bag using polyester Gutermann thread for strength.  Although I followed the pattern and covered the seam allowance (on the inside of the bag) where the bottom and zipper gussets meet with a single fold binding, I decided not to tackle covering the main seams with the binding.  I just wasn't confident I could do a nice job of it.

Instead, I followed this tutorial and lined the bag with a quilting cotton. In lieu of pinning the lining along the zipper tape (as recommended in the tute), I first held the lining in place with Clover Wonder Clips, then glue-basted it prior to topstitching all along both sides of the zipper.

Finally, the only other change I made was to add in a fabric pull-tab at each end of the zipper.  I love this duffle and will definitely make more in the future. I think that I'll add 3" or more to the width next time to make it a larger bag (and that will necessitate slightly longer straps, as they'll sit further apart).

Fabrics used:

Echino cameras

"Deer Valley" by Joel Dewberry (handles and pocket lining)

Essex yard dyed linen in black (handles, panels)

"County Fair" by Denyse Schmidt in home-dec (weight outer pockets).

"Giverny" by Marianne Elizabeth for Bernatex (main lining)

The Charlotte Purse

Poppyprint peeps already know I'm a certified bag lady. I've probably made over 50 bags and purses and never tire of them. Choosing coordinating fabrics, linings and closures is super fun for me. When Jennie of Clover & Violet asked if I'd like to test out their new Charlotte Purse pattern, it was perfect timing.

We will visit friends in Oregon later in the summer and when we saw them last, I received some very strong hints that a bag would be very much appreciated.  I really hope she likes it, because it did take quite a bit of time to sew up (note: I'm not above asking for something back if it's obvious it isn't quite what the recipient had in mind and it won't see any use). After all, I can always try again. It's not like I don't have a few yards of fabric here in different colours!  I've very open about my brown aversion, but this Echino linen blend has so much else going, it almost doesn't count as brown.

This purse is super roomy and has loads of storage. Both the front and back side have a full quilted pocket (I used fusible Pellon for batting).  The lining and main body fabrics are supported with lightweight, fusible woven interfacing.

On the inside of the main body, which measures about 13" x 12", there is a cell phone pocket on one side and a zip pocket on the other.  I love the construction of the zip pocket (below). The first time I used this method it was a bit of a brain-bender, but I've made them many times now, and always include this type of pocket in a bag that I design for myself. Sometimes it's fun to use an unexpected print to line this pocket but this bag already has a lot going on, so I stuck with Kaffe's Aboriginal Dot which is a fav lining fabric of mine.

It's the first time I've bound the top of a bag and I really like the finished look (not to mention getting to skip the 'turning it all right side out through the lining' process!). The fabric covered button and closure are super cute details that really make it for me, along with the functionality of an adjustable strap.  Thanks for the pattern Jennie - I will definitely make this bag again!

A little linen & a lotta Zakka

Have you heard about the Zakka Style Sew-along at Lindsey's? I've had the Zakka Style book for a few months now, having purchased a copy from my friend Laurraine who has a project in, and on the cover of, the book (she made the nesting linen boxes - definitely one of my fav projects in the book!).  Another friend Mette designed the delightful linen bags on page 80, and Nova the itty bitty quilt block magnets on 30. I must admit when I first flipped through the pages I was suffering post-Christmas-gift-making overload and general burnout on small projects so I left it on my coffee table untouched until last week.

Now that the sew-along is in full swing and there are over 200 members of the flickr group posting pictures of their own Zakka projects from patterns in the book, I'm all over it!  My sewing time is very limited at the moment due to intense preparation for D's circus show this weekend, but I managed to put together a few of the pencil cases designed by Shannon Dreval.  It's proved to be one of the most popular projects in the flickr pool so far - likely due to how quickly and easily you can put them together!

For the ones above, I used some Echino scraps & some small pieces of Lotta Jansdotter's new Bella line (the sweet little birds and orange cross hatch) plus assorted other scraps.  These were made true to the pattern.  I thought I'd try and widen it a bit so that a rotary cutter would fit. I'm always worried about the sharp blades rolling around in sewing boxes, even with the guard on.

Turns out by adding 1/2" to the width, a standard OLFA 45mm cutter fits, but so does the 45mm spring grip model. Bonus!

Flickr friends have asked about my limited edition pink cutter - I bought it several years ago and don't know if they are still available. I do love it!

Interested in getting your Zakka on? The sew-along goes all spring/summer with one project each week. It's a great way to get tips on each project from the weekly guest bloggers who make them. If you complete the weekly project, you can link up for a chance to win prizes. It's doubtful I'll make the weekly deadlines, but it's fun to follow along.

Two-Zip Scooter Chic

Our France trip is fast approaching and I've been sewing up some new and useful items to take along. The iPad sleeve appeared here and today I'll show you the great bag I made for D (my 13 year old daughter).  I found Erin's blog Dog Under My Desk after photos of her great Two Zip Hipster bag started popping up on blogs and flickr.  You guys all know I'm a sucker for a new bag pattern and I LOVE making a new bag for every trip.

During the afternoon before I left for retreat last week, I cut and prepped all of the pattern pieces. Instead of using sew-in interfacing, I fused woven interfacing to all of the quilting weight cotton (the Amy Butler lining) and fused Pellon fleece to all of the linen blend outer bag fabric (Echino scooters).  All in all, the prep took just over an hour and the bag construction about 90 minutes.

Erin's .pdf pattern is great: clear photos, concise instructions, easy to follow.  She's even got a tips section on her blog that is all about interfacing.  After making many bags and purses, I can tell you that I will never use non-woven interfacing again. The bubbling and crinkling and crispiness is just awful and your project can instantly be ruined with one blast of steam from the iron.  Because I like using heavier weight fabric (linen blend or home dec), pressing is necessary to finish your seams nicely. Your interfacing has to be able to stand up to the heat!

The photo above shows two things I had to do differently from the pattern. First, I was not able to find the hardware for a strap slider, so I made the strap a fixed length. The ends went through the D-ring, then I sewed two seams of straight stitch to secure them to the wrong side of the strap. Then a row of 7mm wide satin stitch covers the strap end.  Below the D-ring, you'll see that I was not able to topstitch all the way around the top of the bag.  My machine couldn't handle the thickness over the area where the D-ring loop is sewn into the top of the bag. Next time I make this, I'll trim the fusible fleece batting so it doesn't run into the seam allowance at the top of the bag.

This entire bag was made from one piece of Echino scooters in brown. I love Echino yardage that includes accent stripes (in this case, the fuschia dots and natural/aqua stripe).  I purchased the Echino on sale here. There are lots of great pockets, the bag is secure with a top zip, and I know it will be perfect for D to take on our trip!

Now Mom needs a vacation bag. One that can accommodate my new DSLR. Back to the sewing room I go....