Hello, yellow! (spring bag - just for me!)

I wish I were a more successful clothing sewist - then I could be whipping up skirts and shirts for this lovely spring weather.  However, a new spring bag doesn't require fitting tricky curves - it just looks great!

 

I love the combination of this mustardy yellow (with a tinge of green), black, gray and pops of red.

 

 And this button!  I think it's the perfect soft accent for this geometric print.

 

Interior zip pocket (do you know these are actually really easy to make?  I never knew!) and blue dot coordinating lining fabric.

 And these pleats!  I love the double stitching on them - so crisp like the springy air today.

Wishing you something fresh and bold today.

It's a GIVEAWAY! (now closed - thank you!)

In honor of my chalk board mat tutorial being featured on Sew Can She, I'm hosting my first giveaway!

 

Would you like to win this bag?

All cotton fabric, with sturdy canvas interfacing...

...button accents...

...pleats...

...and interior zip-pocket.

To enter for a chance to win this BabyE crafts handmade, one-of-a-kind bag:

• become an official follower of Jane of All Trades through Google or email (I just added the "follow by email" on the right sidebar)
• (if you are already a follower, you'll be entered automatically)
• leave a comment on which button color you prefer - orange or brown
• cross your fingers for your name to be chosen!

I will choose one lucky winner and post it Friday, January 27th.  Check back to see if it's you!

Good luck! 

Dos mas...

When looking for a versatile, stylish, fairly-simple-to-make gift, why not try the "For Pleats Sake" bag from U-Handblog?  I certainly have! (Six times and counting!) (see here and here)

Here are my latest two, made for two of little E's teachers as end-of-the-year gifts. 

 I changed out the handle from Lisa's expensive/hard-to-come-by Italian leather handles for some wooden handles.  All you do is cut 4 4x3" rectangles of your exterior fabric.  Fold right sides together and sew with a 1/4" seam.  Turn, press and insert into handle.  Baste onto exterior bag once you've completed all the pleats.  Leave an extra large opening in the lining for turning so the handles pull through. 



My FIRST cut into my New York fabric!



The combinations of fabric, handles and lining fabric are endless.

  Have fun mixing and matching for a one-of-a-kind bag!

How to make a bag for your sister-in-law (or, a lesson in what NOT to do)

I should start off by saying that I love the end result and I'm pretty sure my sister-in-law will, too. (If you are my sister-in-law, STOP looking at this right now! Your birthday isn't for another two days!) The pattern is wonderful - easy to follow, well-explained and illustrated when necessary. What follows here are MY follies from the point I decided to make a birthday gift for above-mentioned sister-in-law. So.....

1. Decide to make a lovely gathered clutch from Noodleheads to accompany other purchased gifts.
2. Buy enough fabric for clutch from lovely Southampton Quilts.
3. Once home, decide to make the Pretty in Pleats bag from artsy crafty babe instead (I bought the pattern (plus another) at the end of last year - I challenge you to only buy one!).
4. Print off pattern.
5. Realize you do not have enough fabric from store that is a good 25 minutes away from house.
6. Decide to attempt to shrink pattern pieces to fit fabric.
7. Cut fabric.
8. Realize you do NOT have enough fabric.
9. Dig into stash to find coordinating fabric (a fourth coordinating fabric, mind you) and find an option.
10. Cut the fabric and second-guess your choice.
11. Dig into stash again and choose a different option.
12. Cut the fabric with the pattern on the WRONG fold!
13. Cut the fabric on the right fold.
14. Second-guess this fabric and give up for the night.
15. Go to Joann's the next day (other fabric store too far with time constraints, two little people tagging along and naps to maintain) and look for a third (or is it fourth, or fifth - I've lost count!) option for the fourth coordinating fabric.
16. Wonder if you should just make the gathered clutch but other fabric is already cut for pattern.
17. Buy two types of interfacing for project.
18. Forget to use coupon.
19. Get two little people back in car, buckled in.
20. Realize store double charged you for stabilizer.
21. Go back into store and fix above-mentioned error.
22. Get home and pair two fabrics from store with other fabrics.
23. Decide you don't like either option.
24. Debate going forth with second stash choice or driving back to far away fabric store (skipping a park play date on the first nice day in a while).
25. Opt to be a good mother and go to park.
26. Sew bag with second stash choice and end up being very happy with all the fabric choices.

Phew! Don't you just love sewing!? :)

And a mini pleated beauty

I'm starting to look crazy to those of you who don't know I am on a mission to make these for the moms in our family (my mom, my mother-in-law, my husband's grandmother, and my sister-in-law). So, here's the second to last bag - a mini one for Shane's grandmother. I had the fabric already to make a big beauty when she shared that she needed smaller handbags. A big shout out to Julie (http://letter9.wordpress.com/) for sharing her measurements for her smaller bag. I didn't add any applique to this one as it is busy enough (I am a bit disappointed that the pleats don't stand out a bit more). I added this last photo for size perspective.

And another....

And, here's the one I made for my mom for Mother's Day. I really like the black and white combination, even if the appliques were hard to cut (I trimmed one down to about half its original size before I was happy with the shape!). For the pocket, I sewed a piece of black linen together with the fleece and accent fabric (Alexander Henry Yoko), turned it right-side out and pressed - I topstitched it closed at the same time I sewed it to the bag inside piece. That worked really well - it is a nice, clean finish while being very sturdy.

Another Pleated Beauty

Okay, here's another pleated beauty from BTRS. This one is for my sister-in-law for Mother's Day. It is very similar to the first one I made - differences include a plain bottom, and a padded pocket with a separation sewn in. I also lined the handles with fusible fleece and liked it so much more than my first bag that I ripped out the first bag to fix the handles. That involved a good deal of careful seam ripping but it was totally worth it (except now there is pen on the bag courtesy of the 16 month old in the house)!

Another bag

So, this is the "Charming Handbag" from BTRS I made for the Valley Fabrics Amusement Pack challenge. I had to tweak the pattern/directions a bit to use all six fabrics. This is the front: the embellishment is actually one of the fabrics.
Here's one pocket on the inside.
Here's the other pocket.

All in all, it came out a bit busy with all the different fabrics but it was fun to do. I really do like the "Vintage" fabric from Robert Kaufman used on the outside. There is still another month and a half for people to get their entries in for the challenge (I dropped mine off yesterday - they were all very kind in oohing and ahhing). I don't expect to win anything - it was just fun to participate (of course, I wouldn't MIND winning!).

The Pleated Beauty (from BTRS)

This is the bag back - the fabric in the pleats and used for the applique are Robert Kaufman "Vintage".
This is the bag front - I added a fabric-covered button and elastic for a closure.
This is the inside - I added the bottom (different than the pattern calls for). The fabric was part of an "Amusement Pack" from Valley Fabrics in Northampton (ahhh...heaven). I bought the pack of six pre-coordinated fabrics for a sewing challenge sponsored by the store (photos to follow). This project was the perfect way to use up the left-overs!
The only thing I would do differently next time (as in, the cut fabric already waiting for its turn at the machine) is to add a lining to the handles as well (I used fusible fleece for the bag which gives it a puffy but sturdy feel).
P.S. Adding photos was not nearly as hard as I thought! Thank you, Blogger!