Fabulous Frenchy Bag

If you've yet to discover Amy Butler's unique line of purse patterns, you're certainly in for a treat with our upcoming class for the fantastic Frenchy Bag. Stylish and versatile, this vintage style purse is perfect for all of your 'must have on hand' items, and can be created in two sizes: over the shoulder or close-at-hand bag style. Class Instructor Mary Jeanine Ibarguen will expertly help you master the quick construction (which is perfect for beginners). Choose from our wide variety of designer cottons in stock to create your own stylish handbag! The ability to personalize makes the sky the limit for how you choose to create your own bag. And just as is true with potato chips, we highly doubt you'll be able to stop after one! Here's a few examples of how one of our employees customized the Frenchy Bag using the fabric (and a superhero) as inspiration. Wonder Woman inspired bag features gold cord 'lasso of truth' as a fun detail Panel fabrics can be showcased perfectly with this handbag A vintage Star Wars sheet was used to create this kitschy Frenchy bag. Join us Monday February 20th and 27th from 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm for this two-part class. The fee is $25 plus class materials. Space is limited so reserve your spot today by calling 407-831-6488 or 1-800-831-1492.

A Great Weekend in The Villages

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of taking part in the 'Quilters & Stitchers Marketplace Event' in Lake County's scenic Villages. The event hosted over 3,000 avid sewers, quilters and crafters, and it's quite possible every single one popped in to check out our fully stocked booth! 

It's always a treat to meet new friends when we take a piece of our store out beyond our Maitland location, and we were pleased to share our stock, staff and sewing surprises with all of our new acquaintances this weekend.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth to say hello and don't forget to visit the next time you're in our neck of the woods. We promise there's a lot more to explore beyond our front door. 

Store owner Pat and our event manager Scotti are excited to share a piece of The Sewing Studio with The Villages.

The Sewing Studio was the booth to see this weekend

Even when on location, The Sewing Studio is truly your one stop fabric shop

Sewing Inspiration

Gone With the Wind (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)Sewing inspiration can come from any source at any time, but for most of us it tends to come from the same place over and over again. For me, it's movies and television.

As a child of the eighties, I've spent a great deal of time dreaming in front of the television. My first interest in the costumes worn in my favorite shows was when I saw "Anne of Green Gables". I adored the show and immediately read all of the books. I dyed my hair red and wore long, straight skirts like Anne did over a pair of boots I found that looked identical to the period the story takes place in.

But it didn't stop there for me. Around the same time my sister brought over a worn VHS copy of "Gone With the Wind". I immediately caught a severe case of Scarlett Fever. Although I didn't wear hoops skirts to school that year, I was immediately entranced by the beautiful costumes worn in the film and researched as much as I could about the work done by Walter Plunkett.

When I finally did pick up needle and thread, the first thing I wanted to do was recreate the costumes from Selznick's legendary motion picture. My poor baby cousin had to endure several Halloweens as mine and my aunt's dress up doll, even wearing Scarlett's green floral picnic dress one year.

All of this was years before I became acquainted with the internet and learned that "cos-play" was something other people did as a hobby.

Of course, since then I've certainly expanded my abilities beyond simply recreating costumes into several different areas of sewing, but I still see costumes in movies and TV shows that make me want to head to my sewing machine and start turning out something -- anything. Especially when I watch "Gone With the Wind". It still inspires me to this day.

What inspires you to sew?

MJ's Easy Tote Bag

MJ’s Easy Tote
By Mary-Jeanine Ibarguen

This particular totebag combines a lot of different techniques:

·        Accu-Quilt Go ‘Critter’ Die Cutter

·        Rick-Rack

·        Use of a brand new product: Soft & Stable

·        Prairie points

·        Covered web handles

·        MJ’s ‘Tote without a  Pattern’ instructions (if you’re interested in a basic tote with some pockets, maybe a snap or Velcro closure, a flat bottom, you don’t really need a pattern.  Learn some of the basic techniques HERE or in my upcoming class on March 29, 2012).

Ready?  Here we go:

Fabrics needed:

·        3 light green fat quarters

·        3 medium pink fat quarters

·        ½ yard medium/dark green for prairie points

·        1 yard medium/dark pink for outer edges, handles

·        Leftovers will be used for lining and interior pockets

Supplies:

·        One package Soft & Stable, white

·        Two package medium rick-rack for seams (or smaller pieces from your stash)

·        Steam-a-Seam 2 for fusible appliqué (2 sheets or ¼” yard)

·        ¼” Seam-a-Seam roll (optional but very useful)

·        AccuQuilt Go ‘Critter’ Die

·        Solid or variegated thread for outlining the fusible appliqué

·        Your favorite closure (Velcro, magnet, button, snap, etc)

·        A regular (size 80 or 90) needle and a heavy duty Denim (size 100 or 110) needle.

·        A Walking Foot.  If you don’t have one, you should!  You can use it any time you’re sewing through more than a couple of layers.  It keeps everything feeding evenly through your machine…no puckers!!

Lets get makin’…

Cut six 5” squares of each light green fabric.  You will have a total 18   5” squares.  Arrange them into two nine-patches and sew them together.  Press the nine patches.

Center them on two 18.5” squares of Soft & Stable.  Now is a good time for a few pins.

Apply (sew) rick-rack over the interior seams.  (You are sewing through the rick-rack, the fabric seams and the Soft & Stable)  I ran out of the one package of rick-rack, so instead of running back to the store, I used some yellow from my stash.  Worked pretty well, don’t ya think?

How to make a prairie point?  Cut a 3.5” square, fold it in half diagonally.  Press.  Fold in half again to make a triangle with all the raw edges on one side of the triangle.  Now this little cutie can be inserted in a seam.

I played around for a little while with the prairie points…did I want a lot or a few?  Did I want different colors or just the one color?  I used some scrap pink Critter appliqués to help me test the various prairie point combos…

Anyway, when I was ready with my prairie points, I ‘pinned’ them to the edge with a little ¼” Steam-a-Seam.  Another great product I can’t live without.  Pins in this case would be difficult to push through all the layers and would probably make the prairie points all wonky.  But the SAS makes them behave until I can baste them down with my walking foot and sewing machine.

 

Time for the appliqués!  To use the Go Cutting System, its best to first apply Steam-a-Seam 2 to the back side of the fabric, then cut the Critters out on the Go cutting system.  Did you know that if you buy the Dies, you can use the store’s Go Cutter?  We’ll even show you how to do it when you come in.  There is a good blog post here on how to use multiple fabrics for one critter.

Play around with the appliqués, and have some fun.  When you decide where you want them, peel off the paper backing and iron them down.  Load up your sewing machine with some pretty thread.  It’s a good idea to try out some of your settings of your zigzag stitch before on a scrap:

Cut into your one yard of your medium/dark pink: you will need at least 2.5” wide strips to border this design, using a sew and flip technique.  In this next photo, I’ve sewn the sides together, but placing the two big squares right sides together and sewing on the left and right.  Sew across the bottom too.

 

Do you know how to box the corners?  See a good tute here. 

Now its time to make the lining. Measure your outside pieces.  They should be around 18.5” unfinished, so make your lining the same size.  I actually used up some of my leftover greens to make a light colored interior (I hate looking for stuff in the deep dark depths of a totebag).  I added a big pocket on either side of the lining. 

**Now is the time to add your personalized label to the top of a pocket, if you have one.

 At the top corners of the pocket, I stabilize the lining fabric with a little square of fusible tricot so the pocket doesn’t get torn out of the lining.  I haven’t actually seen that happen, but lets not start now, OK?  Here’s a photo of that tricot on the wrong side of the lining:

 

Here’s an important reminder: when you sew the sides and bottom of those lining pieces, be sure to leave a 4” hole on the side to birth that tote bag. OK?  And don’t forget to box those lining corners, too.

** Now is the time to add those magnets or Velcro if that is how you will close the bag.  You need access to both right and wrong sides of the lining to do that.

Handles: I covered some cotton web handles with my pink fabric.  Measure the width of your handles (1”), and cut the fabric double plus ½” (total of 2.5”). Iron the pieces in half lengthwise, then press a ¼” fold on both sides of the width.  Insert the webbing piece, fold one little fold over the webbing and kiss it to the other little fold.  The webbing should be completely encased.  Sew down on both sides of the handle, maybe 1/8” to ¼” from the edge. 

Measure and pin where you want the handles.  A word here about adding handles.  Don’t do what I’ve done in the past; don’t make ‘bra strap’ handles.  Be sure one hand starts and stops on the same side of the tote bag. 

NOTE:   this is a good time to switch over to your Denim size 110 needle.  I can’t tell you how many needles I’ve broken sewing handles onto bags.  The Denim needle is actually made with stronger metal that shouldn’t snap.

Apply the ends of the handles to each outside piece, raw edges matching up to the bag.  Make sure they aren’t twisted.  Baste the top edge with your walking foot.

Finishing the Bag

OK, you can do this, you’re almost there:  Attach the outer bag to the inner bag like this: turn the outer bag right side out, and inner bag right side in.  Place the outer bag into the inner bag.  Right sides of the two bags should be kissing.  Put in a few pins if desired and sew all the way around the top.  Check that you’ve caught everything in your seam allowance; you may have to go around again.  Be sure there are no folds caught up in your seam (ask me how I know!)

Birth that bag!  Pull the bag through the opening in the lining side.  Be patient and it WILL come through.  And you thought you were done giving birth ;)

Press that top seam, and top stitch ¼” from the top edge.  You may want to reverse and go over those handle areas a few extra times.

Don’t forget to sew up the hole in the lining.  I get lazy at this point and do it on my sewing machine.

If you wanted to use sew-in magnets or snaps, now is the time for that.

You are done, aren’t you proud of yourself!?

Organizing Your Sewing Room for the New Year

Image via WikipediaIf you're like me, the first thing you want to do when the calendar rolls over to January 1st is to get organized. December usually plays havoc with my house. At first it's collecting presents and wrapping supplies for others, which usually temporarily take up residence in my sewing room; and then after Christmas when all of the presents given to my family fills up the room again.

When January hits, it's time for me to reclaim my most precious space and get it re-organized after a year of sewing projects, not to mention prepped for a new year's worth of crafty hobbies.

These tips will work whether you have a whole room dedicated to your sewing pursuits, half a room that shares time and space with the computer or home office, or a portable sewing machine that you hoist up on to the kitchen table whenever it's not being used by hungry husbands or children.

First, you want to map out your space and create stations for the different stages of your projects. Obviously you don't cut out your patterns in the same space that you put your sewing machine (unless you do everything on the kitchen table, that is). So determine the best space for cutting and pinning, sewing and serging, ironing and/or steaming, and a place for either your dress form or full length mirror (if you're your own sewing form, that is).

Image via Wikipedia

Then, determine what equipment and supplies you use most often for each station. This varies depending on the type of sewing you normally do; whether it's quilting, dress making, or home decorating. Whichever you decide are used most often, these are the things you want within arm's reach at any given moment. Nothing is more frustrating than getting all settled and in a comfortable position to cut, pin or measure and having to walk across the room to get what you need. If you're like me and sit on the carpet to cut and pin, you want your scissors and pins handy for that area.

Once you have your work areas mapped out, you need to focus on your storage area. I'm sure most of you have lots of "spare" fabric that you've bought on whims and need a place where you can see it. I've learned that fabric that's out of site is out of mind. That's why I like clear storage bins so I can see what I have at the proper moment when inspiration strikes.

You'll also want all of your sewing magazines organized so you can find them easily to refer back to an article that may bail you out of the hair-pulling predicaments that inevitably pop up in the middle of every project. Only keep the issues that you know you'll refer back to, though, or you run the risk of over-stuffing your space and possibly being featured on "Hoarders" (a girl can only dream, am I right?).

And let's not forget about your patterns. These I don't need a clear storage system for, I just need another room to house them all! These need to be organized in a file system that works for you. I like to group similar style dresses together so I can quickly look through them based on what project I know I'm about to dive head first into. If you're using a dedicated room, the closet is usually a good place to store patterns, although if you're like me you'll quickly fill that up and beg your husband to put a POD on the front lawn.

I think you'll find that having an organized space will increase your enjoyment of your hobby. It only takes a few hours once a year to get it going. Oh, who are we kidding? I have to do this once a month. I can be a messy seamstress! But start the New Year off right and get into the habit of straightening and organizing your area regularly to reduce stress and have more time for buying fabric.