Tuesday, October 13, 2015

A tote to make your eyes go funny

20150920_163114
"It makes my eyes go funny" --says quite a few people.
20150919_182352
I bought this fabric in August at Paron during ATP's visit to NYC.  It's Tom and Linda Platt fabric, and is reversible.  It has a really neat pattern to it.  Originally I thought I would make a skirt, but it's a bit much.  And I was thinking of making a bag for Anne's birthday. It was the weekend before the ASE, so it was then or never, if I was going to give her gift to her in person.  She had told me when she visited in August that one of her coworkers doesn't like all the prints Anne wears that "make her eyes go funny" so I was pretty sure Anne would like this tote.

20150919_172952
Initially I started folding the fabric in different ways, to find the right placement....this way....
20150919_173020
....that way....

but it was when I put the entire piece of fabric on the floor and photographed it that I saw that there were converging lines both horizontally and vertically which helped me decide on the placement.



20150921_104446
You can see the converging lines in vertically in the middle of the bag, and on the bottom.

20150921_104524
Yes, I did match my outfit to the bag for this photo shoot....it's a Vogue wrap dress and Jalie shrug.  I showed it to two of my coworkers who each said it made their eyes go funny...uhmmmmm....

20150920_164435
There is no bottom seam; I cut the fabric as one continuous piece so each side is symmetrical and I didn't need to worry about anything matching on the bottom.  There is peltex in the bottom to keep it stiff.
20150921_174836
This bag is made with reversible methods, so you can't tell where it was turned inside out.  I piped the top and topstitched in cream.  (Hint: the topstitching hides where it was turned inside out.)
20150920_164418
The lining is black duck cloth; the exterior fabric has medium weight Fashion Sewing Supply interfacing fused to it.
20150920_164240
The side seam somewhat matches.  Again I tugged-tugged-tugged to try to grain the fabric.  It's not bad but it could be better.
20150920_164116
Interior zipper pocket, with my label.
Fun fact: some of the cream from the pocket lining could be seen, so I used a black Sharpie marker (made for fabric) to cover up the cream.
20150920_164131
Fun pocket lining.
20150920_120954
Patch pocket on the other side.

20150927_093345
Anne and me at the ASE with her bag.  She loved it and used it all weekend long.  Yay!    Happy Birthday Anne!

I have enough of this fabric left to make myself a bag, and a zipper pouch or two...hmmmm....
IMG_20151004_172113
Pumpkinettes I grew this year. There would have been 10, but something (a deer?) ate one of them and several pumpkinette leaves.

Be well!

19 comments:

  1. What a great bag. Lucky Anne! Your pumpkinettes are so cute. Good thing that deer ate only one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tomasa! I was so shocked the morning I woke up and saw that several leaves and a pumpkinette had been eaten!!

      Delete
  2. Yes, I feel so lucky to be carrying this amazing bag. It makes me smile to remember all the fun at ASE. =)
    Glad to see your vine was so productive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! I'm so happy that you like and appreciate the bag!

      That was my largest pumpkinette crop ever!

      Delete
  3. Love the bag. You are such a good friend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Anne made a dress for herself that fit me quite well and gave it to me, so a tote was the least I could do!

      Delete
  4. Very nice. Did you add he fancy zipper pull?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I bought the zipper (with fancy pull already attached) from Emmaline Bags online. They are in Canada but came to NJ relatively quickly.

      Delete
  5. I saw this on IG. I love how you used a photo to 'see' the pattern. Someone else used that method with the b&w setting to determine light & dark values of fabric to make a quilt.
    Fab tote - your finish work is awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! Taking the picture really helped "see" the pattern for sure. That sounds like a good method for quilting too.
      Thanks for your kind words!

      Delete
  6. Really stunning tote & I love all your info & tips .

    ReplyDelete
  7. That really is the perfect use of a statement fabric! Tres chic!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! I love the bag! Your fabric placement is perfect. Hmmm, now I want to make something that "makes your eyes go funny"! Lol!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nice post.. I always get my gardening done by horticulturalsolutionsny .. I have been using them since 8 years.. I highly recommend them

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for sharing this with all of us.
    pirates of the caribbean 5

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for reading! I love hearing from you! Because I've been getting lots of spam comments, I'm changing the settings to moderated comments.