Bag of the Week 50

Folded Quilted Tote Bag

Many years ago (before I had kids) I used to attend a sewing retreat with the Richmond Chapter of the American Sewing Guild at Holiday Lake 4H Camp in Appomattox, VA.  Our sewing space was a lovely lakeside cabin with beautiful views.  I met so many nice people at those retreats, and one year I watched as a number of the ladies made this fantastic tote bag.  I went home and made one for my mom out of fabrics I had in my stash.

This bag is terribly difficult to photograph – it has lots of nooks and crannies that are just impossible to show properly.  In the photo above there is a pocket underneath the triangular flap and an identical one on the opposite side of the bag.  In addition, in the center of the bag (between the top folded edges is another pocket.  PLUS I added a zippered pocket on one inside wall.  This bag starts out as a flat square, 31” in this case, which is then folded and stitched into the tote you see.  It is a fun and easy project.  Below are instructions for folding your finished square into the bag.  You can make your square in any method you choose.  My sample is strip-pieced onto a solid fabric foundation (with a thin layer of batting between) and the edges bound.  You can also use whole cloth for both sides and either bind the edges or stitch right sides together and turn. 

1.        Fold square diagonally with right sides together to form a triangle.

2.       Measure along the folded edge, divide this length into thirds and mark.  Beginning at the folded edge, draw a perpendicular line at these points stopping 1 inch from the top of the triangle.  Stitch along these lines, backtacking well at the top.

3.       Turn the side points to the outside of the bag along the stitching line – they will overlap and form a pocket on each side.  Stitch the two layers together where they overlap.

4.       Add a strap by stitching the ends to the inside of the bag, centered over the side seams.  Customize your bag by adding pockets to the inside of the bag before assembling.

Bag of the Week 49

Angel Pail

Back in February of this year I featured a Snowman Pail by Farmyard Creations.  This Angel Pail is another one of their patterns, though I took a lot of liberty with the details.  The outer pail fabric is layered onto batting and the fused appliqué is then stitched with a machine blanket stitch.  French knots are added for the eyes and the cheeks are blushed with powder blusher.   The pattern calls for loops of ribbon for the hair but I chose to wrap jute onto knitting needles (wet with spray starch first) and use the resulting ringlets as the hair, topped with a ribbon bow.  The wings are 3-dimensional and the sign around the angel’s neck was machine embroidered with a favorite saying of mine (the pattern suggests hand embroidering “an angel is someone like you”).   The quilted handle is attached with buttons.

I recently dressed up one of these pails with a paper-wrapped can nestled in some glittery tissue paper designed to hold some holiday goodies.  I also think this would make a great way to corral all of the greeting cards I receive during the holidays.  You can occasionally find these out of print patterns on Ebay.