Skip to main content

Sewing Date Traveller [A Finish]

I have to confess that when I first wrote my Finish Along list for this quarter, I wasn't sure if this project would actually be made, let along be one of my first finishes! But here is my finished Sewing Date Traveller! I first came across the pattern at the start of the summer and mentally added it to my list of one-day-I'd-like-to-make things. Then at the Sewing Shindig, I saw a few in real life, and it was added to the list for certain. I'd already picked up some Essex Yarn Dyed Linen with this project in mind, and the Shindig weekend convinced me to use Tula Pink's Zuma for the rest of it. This can be blamed on @rosedahlia who made a beautiful Sew Together bag in Zuma over the weekend, and Olive and Flo Handcraft who had a pop up shop with, you guessed it, Zuma!


The interfacing on this project scared me a bit - and was the main reason I wasn't sure it would get done. The pattern  (which is free!) calls for Pellon 65 which I couldn't source in this country. It was suggested that Soft and Stable would be a good alternative, but that's not cheap (for the 2m called for in the pattern, the price was heading towards £50!). I did some research at Shindig, and felt up a few bags and baskets, and decided that Bosal R was very similar. And much cheaper. And wider, so I needed less of it! Winner! I bought a meter for under £17 and maybe have enough left to make another one!


I cut all the fabric and interfacing out before our NEMQG Retreat, and quilted the outer panels in organic lines in pink thread. This meant when I arrived on retreat I was ready for construction! My machine was not keen on multiple layers of the interfacing, and I swore quite a lot, but a change of needle helped (quilting needle). I managed to get my top-stitching finished neatly and all the pockets attached. However, the side seams and boxing seams were a bit of a nightmare.... the centre zipped pocket also has Bosal R in it, making it very stiff and hard to get accurately under the machine. If I made this again, I would use a heavyweight, but not foam interfacing for this pocket, as I don't think it needs as much structure, but those seams do need to be better!

I had a bit of an issue with the handles... as in I didn't cut the fabric correctly and didn't bring it with me to recut. Luckily the binding fabric is cut far longer so I had plenty left over to patch the handles, and actually ended up making them about 2" longer than the pattern called for. I didn't however, making the interfacing in the handles longer, which means where the handles meet the bag and are sewn in the lining, I was one layer of Bosal down on what I should have been, which I think allowed for a much tidier finish at this point. Definitely a "mistake" I will be repeating should I make it again!


The lining was a bit large for the basket, but I folded it down and tacked it in place before adding the binding, which in turn made the binding much easier to attach. It's finished off by hand sewing the binding on the inside.


I love it! I can fill it with so much crap. It's easy to carry, and feels sturdy. It was like I gave myself a present and I'm already using it. And whilst it seemed like a big make when I first started, the techniques are straightforward and once prepped, it only took me maybe 6 hours to get it all together. Whilst I said at the time, I would never make one again, a few days have now passed and there may well be more in the future. There are also great opportunities for personalising it, especially on those external pockets!

This is my second finish of the quarter - you can find my original list here.

Marci Girl Designs

Comments

Emily said…
This looks great, and so useful! I love your colors.
I love it! Hooray for finishes! *waves pompoms*
Increasing the fabric design of your hand bag is good.To get more design in weaveron textile click on this link....:https://www.weaveron.com

Popular posts from this blog

365 Quilt Challenge 2016 [A finish]

I can't believe I've just typed that heading! When I made the block for January 1st 2016 I could not have imagined the journey this quilt would have taken me on. So make yourselves comfortable and grab a cup of tea, because this blog post may get lengthy! I'd seen the 365 Quilt Challenge on Facebook. I think every quilter on Facebook must have been aware of it. Loads of my friends had signed up and it kept popping up as a "Page you might like" thing. In the end, in November 2015, I joined the group, had a poke round. Decided it wasn't for me. One of the things that really put me off were the fabric requirements: you needed x amount of dark dark fabric, x amount of medium dark fabric, x amount of dark medium, medium, light medium, light, background.... I just couldn't get my head round those requirements. I'd looked at the mock ups on the wesbite and couldn't bring myself to pick a colour. I put it to the back of my mind. But I had obvious

Hidden Agenda [A Finish]

This is very possibly my favourite ever finish - I know I've said that in the past, but this one is going to be hard to beat. This time last year, I attended a day long lecture/workshop with Tula Pink and it was inspiring. Having not really loved her fabrics in the past (but loved her patterns), I suddenly saw them in a new light, linked with my 2018 new year's resolution to try more fussy cutting). Fast forward 8 months and I confess that my Tula stash has expanded quite a lot. I found some UK shops with older ranges of fabric, splurged on a few destashes and found the odd piece of her fabric already in my stash. The plan was always (and remains) to make a Smitten quilt, but I'm well aware that I have plenty of fabric to make other projects as well! So when I saw the Hidden Agenda quilt pattern by Angela Pingle, this fabric sprung instantly to mind.... and we all know I love a rainbow! And what could be better than rainbowfied Tula? I was ably assisted by my friend Ti

February Embroidery Along [A Finish]

I've really been enjoying my embroidery this year, after not doing very much last year. One of the challenges I set myself at the start of the year was to learn to colour tint my fabric before adding the embroidery - I love buying the pre-printed panels, but I'd like to do this myself as well. And the opportunity to learn this arose in February. Meg Hawkey of Crab Apple Hill Studio hosted a stitchalong to celebrate National Embroidery Month, and the first step was colour your fabric. I bought the pencils she advises,  the blending stumps, something called fabric extender and the pigma pen. And I gave it a go. My first attempt ended badly. Because the one thing I didn't buy was a new, clean paintbrush. So when I came to add the fabric extended, it went all bleary and muddy as, despite cleaning the paintbrush thoroughly, it obviously wasn't clean enough. It was unsalvageable so I started again, and I was so much happier with the results. The practice piece was, in

Labels

Show more

Archive

Show more