Vogue 1311 - Koos Bag

When this Koos bag pattern came out in late April, I was smitten. I decided it was just the thing to make now that I am replete with red FabMo fabrics.

Auditioning FabMo samples for the sides and straps. The bag bottom, completed, is underneath.

I hoped it would be a quick project but, like all bags, it took longer than I expected.

This bag has some interesting details. First, it is shaped like a squat cylinder, however the location of the straps means that it falls into a spherical shape when held. Top-stitching on both sides of the circular seams at the top and bottom, flatten the seam allowances and further encourage a spherical shape.

Strap Holes:

You might recall when I made the Koos coat that it had wonderful buttonholes. In fact, I recommended that you buy the pattern, if only for the buttonholes.

The bag uses the same design element, except this time they are used for inserting the ends of the straps.

Strap holes, in process.

One thing I did differently from the pattern: it instructs you to fold the raw edges to the insides of the little squares. To reduce bulk, I mitered those corners.

Interfacing:

The pattern calls for fusible hair canvas interfacing. I used fusible fleece. Once I applied the fusible fleece to each piece, I stitched in the ditch along the piecing seams to quilt the fleece to the outside layer. This shouldn't be necessary, but I find that fusible fleece peels off fairly easily.

Straps

The fabric I used for the straps is double sided. So I pieced the straps to use both sides. Also, the last few bags/totes I've made have had straps that were too short. So I lengthened these by a bit over 3". I used the fusible fleece inside the straps, as well.

Zipper:

The bag calls for a 16" zipper. I started the project last weekend and I was not in the mood to leave the house for a zipper. My zipper box did not have anything appropriate, when I noticed a white zipper, approx 18" long. This was a nice heavy duty separating zipper with metal teeth and two zipper pulls. I bought it, long ago, for a few cents at Fabrix. It had a white cotton tape.

I decided to paint it. (At first I thought I'd dye it, but I had no red dye and did not want to go out to buy that either.) I bought fabric paints a couple years ago when I was experimenting with silk screening, so I painted the zipper with Metallic Crimson Lumiere paint by Jacquard.

I hung it outside to dry...

steam set it with the iron, and shortened it (from both ends) by approx 2".

I was very happy with the new color. There was some paint on the metal teeth, but most of it seems to have rubbed off already. Lumiere adheres to fabric, but not to metal.

Piecing:

This pattern has two views. I made view A. View B is similar, but has overlays and bias binding covering the edges of the overlays, similar to the recent Koos swing coat pattern.

Pattern pieces are provided for the piecing. I used the provided pattern for the top and bottom of the bag, but I was not satisfied with the 5 pieces provided for the side of the cylinder.

I ended up using 10 pieces for the side, instead of 5.

Note that if you wanted to make this without any piecing, it would be easy to do. They provide pattern pieces for the interfacing and lining that are not pieced, so you could use those for the outside, as well.

Lining:

View A has no pockets. View B has one pocket. I made two pockets, using the pattern from view B. I like these little pleated pockets. They are sewn to the lining so that they extend over the upper seam that attaches the circle to the side.

I did not have any FabMo lining fabrics long enough for the side, so I pieced together five silk samples, changing the direction of the stripe. Hanging off the ironing board is one of the original silk samples.

I finished the bag last night. It's ridiculous. It's big, like an overnight bag, and I love it! It makes me smile. I just need an overnight invitation to use it. ;)

When I did my photo shoot today of the finished bag, I decided that it resembles a pumpkin, so I plopped it into some plants that resemble pumpkin vines. (I'm informed that these are nasturtiums.)

Coincidence...

Recently, I've been checking the Vogue website daily, waiting for the Fall patterns to be revealed. When I opened the site this morning, I saw they are featuring this pattern on the front page.

FabMo and Lined Zipper Pouches Galore

I've been a bit quiet of late, but I've also been busy at work, including a few 10-12 hours days, leaving me with minimal energy for sewing or blogging. But last weekend I took a class that spurred a little creative (and may I say, obsessive) binge.

You may remember when I blogged about Scrap in San Francisco recently. They are a place where organizations and manufacturers donate materials of all kinds that they have no use for. It keeps lots of material out of the landfill and provides supplies for teachers, artists, and creative people of all ilk. They do have some fabric, but that is not their focus.

Enter FabMo. FabMo provides the same sort of function, in Mountain View (on the peninsula south of San Francisco, about 40 minutes in light traffic) and they specialize in fabric. Local manufacturers, decorators, and individuals with unwanted stash, donate fabrics to FabMo, and contributions range from samples and sample books, to giant bolts of fabrics, and everything in between. (And, to be accurate, they also have other supplies available, such as trims, zippers, and ceramic tiles, but fabrics are the main focus.)

They give these fabrics away, though you do, of course, pay a donation to help cover the costs of overhead. Unlike Scrap, which has daily hours and a much larger facility, FabMo opens about once a month for a distribution and you register for a 45-minute slot. They replenish the fabrics continually during that time, so it's not an issue of first-come first served gets the best stuff.

I have heard of FabMo for years from my sewing friends but had never gone down there to check it out. (I can be a bit slow about such things.) Many of the fabrics they receive are home dec (I have a friend who has reupholstered most of her living room using FabMo fabrics) and I don't "do" home dec, except for the occasional tote bag. The fabrics run the gamut, and include synthetics of all types, silks, linens, and wools.

FabMo also offers classes. A sewing pal, Luanne Seymour, teaches three of those classes. Some of my sewing friends have taken her workshops and I occasionally attend a show-and-tell where their projects have been shown, so I know she teaches a quality product.

Sue mentioned to me that Luanne had a lined zippered bag class coming up, so I decided to make my first trek to FabMo. I am SO glad I did! In her class, you start with a pre-made kit provided by Luanne (or you might spend hours pulling fabrics from the bins and not accomplishing anything). After completing our first bag, we pulled fabrics for another bag, though I didn't get started on the construction until I got home.

Luanne demonstrates how to insert the zipper.

Not many people know this, but I used to be an obsessive quilter. (That was before my digital camera, so I don't know where the pictures of my quilts are.) So, for me, the fun was in the piecing of the bags. Many of the most luscious fabrics that called to me were quite small, samples with paper adhered to them and, after you cut the paper away (Luanne has tried all sorts of techniques and was not able to dissolve the heavy duty glue they use), they were smaller still. Some of my smallest pieces, for example, being around 1.5" by 4". So piecing was necessary if I wanted to use these great textiles. I made one bag in class and then three more at home. You can see, from my second bag to my fourth bag, that the piecing becomes more involved. This is because my fabric scraps were getting smaller, but I love the effect.

Sue is ready to put her bag together!

Complete!

Auditioning fabrics for the second bag, including fabrics from home. My pile is on the right and Sue's on the left. We like similar colors. ;) You can see I brought my Janome Gem (far right). My Bernina 930 (pre-computerized) died and is being serviced, but I love my little Janome!

My bag, sitting on fabrics for bag #2.

I no longer have enough fabric to make more bags and am too spoiled to use mundane fabrics. But it's just as well because I have other things to sew. However, I am signed up for Luanne's tote bag class in May. :)

While we were there, we met the founders of FabMo, Hannah and Jonathan Cranch, whom I refer to as Mr. and Ms. FabMo. Jonathan talked about the 40 tons of material they keep out of the landfill each year - the statistics are quite impressive. They also participate in community events. While we were there, I saw Hannah cutting 1/2" strips of fabrics (using scissors!!!) for an upcoming Earth Day event in which they are participating. Thousands of youngsters are expected to attend this event and the FabMo booth will offer a weaving project. They are cutting 50 pounds of fabric strips in preparation for the event. With scissors. My hands and wrists hurt just thinking about it.

Luanne's version of the zippered bag is fully lined. Both ends of the zipper are covered (a very nice detail), and the bag features a bottom so that it stands up. If you are local, I really recommend Luanne's classes (and probably all of the FabMo classes). It's not just the great instruction (Luanne is a wonderfully generous, relaxed, and thoughtful teacher), but also the camaraderie of the group (I knew several people attending) and the luscious fabrics. But if you aren't local, I found some online tutorials for you. There are many more if you google for them, but these look nice. Let me know in the comments section if you have other good ones to share.

• Lined Zippered Pouch Tutorial on Flossie Teacakes
• Fully Lined Zippered Box Pouch on It's a Pretty Modern Life
• Lined Zippered Boxy Pouch Tutorial on Projects by Jane

Bag #4: pieced outside

Bag #4: pieced lining

Bags 1 through 4, side 1. I made them in the order displayed, with the first one at the top left and the last one at the bottom right.

Bags 1 through 4, side 2.

The inside of Bag 4. I pieced the lining. You can see how the zipper ends are covered.

Bored mama, sitting in a dark-ish room and waiting for DD1 to call back on Facetime. ;)

Wet Felting Class - A Polka Dot Purse

Oh dear, you can tell I'm a bit under the weather here.

Last Friday I took the day off work and attended a wet felting class at a friend's house. The teacher, Judith Colvin of Bitterroot Fiber Arts Studio, was visiting from Montana. I had done some wet felting years ago, but it was more on the order of felted soaps, and felted Easter eggs. I had never made anything that required templates and water not neatly contained in a bowl.

I'd always found the idea of water everywhere off-putting, but, in fact it really was not bad at all. I did not bring an apron (don't own one) and I brought a change of clothing, but did not need it.

The purpose of this class was to make a pillow sham but Judith kindly allowed me to make a purse. (I dallied before signing up and the purse class was filled.)

It was a lot of fun! But, wow, after hours of felting, I was feeling it in my lower back. Wet felting is not for sissies. In fact, the reason I gave it up years ago was because it inflamed the tendonitis in my wrist.

The following pictures are from Judith's blog.

Most everyone made a pillow sham, but I made a purse. Judith, our fearless leader, is on the far right.

Felting away...

Originally, I was going to add some embroidery, but now I'm not so sure it's a good idea. I went a little nuts with the pre-felt embellishments. This is what I mean when I say I'm not that artistic. ;)

If Judith visits again next year I just may take her Nuno Scarf class. If you live near Montana, I highly recommend her classes! (She also has an Etsy shop - the link is on her blog.)

Superbowl Sunday

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend and Superbowl Sunday. I have been fighting off a cold and am a bit draggy. I am moving very slowly, but I do have a couple easy projects in the works. I also did a little organizing of my clothes. I now have a shelf of Teagarden T's. I counted 13 of those, but might have missed one or two in the laundry. ;)

Vogue 8741 - Marcy Tilton Hobo Bag & Pattern Giveaway!

More pictures

Pattern Giveaway!

I rarely sew purses. I always think I will, but I don't.

I purchased this fabric a couple years ago from Fabrix. I love this fabric and would have bought yards of it (at $3 a yard), but only one yard remained. It is a woven rayon blend (I think) that has been embossed with a leather texture. It is very easy to cut out and sew - it's nothing like a pleather - and it has a great look and feel.

I decided it should be a purse and, finally, it is.

The pattern calls for a fashion fabric and two contrast fabrics. The difference between View C and View D is in how the contrast fabrics are used. This bag is reversible. This fact is not made obvious on the website or on the pattern - you would only know this when reading the instructions. I think this is unfortunate and it's a side effect of the minimal description Vogue now provides for each pattern.

The purse is reversible, but it's wonderfulness doesn't stop there. It features compartments and a zippered pocket. If you like purses with lots of different places to put things, this one is for you. I used one contrast fabric, not two. If you choose to use different fabrics for contrast 1 and contrast 2, it would be much easier to find things in your purse, based on the different fabrics/colors, but I am happy with my single contrast. :)

This purse is, essentially, a purse within a purse. It has four layers: the outside, the lining, the inset, and the inset lining. Sometimes the bag is sewn to the lining, and sometimes the lining is sewn to the inset lining. This creates the inner compartments that makes this bag so useful.

My inside fabric is a waterproof print that I purchased long ago at Fabrix. I bought this fabric to use as bias trim on another project, but I ended up not using it and it sat in my "donate" pile (because I had no real use for one yard of a waterproof fabric) until I realized that it matched the outside fabric perfectly. I used it for both contrast 1 and contrast 2.

By the way, I don't plan to use this purse as a reversible purse, but if it were pouring rain, I might!

Materials & Notions:

• Textured (embossed) brandy-colored rayon blend, from Fabrix.
  
• Pellon fleece, to underline the outside fabric. This is optional, but it made my fabric look even more like leather. I did not use fusible fleece, but I don't see why that would not work.
  
• Dritz Spray adhesive, for adhering the fleece to the outer fabric. (Or a similar brand, but this is what I had in my sewing closet.)
  
• Waterproof chartreuse fabric, with a monochromatic tropical print, from Fabrix.
  
• 7" zipper. I used a decorative zipper.
  
• Thread. I purchased regular thread to match the outside fabric, and the lining fabric, and top-stitching thread for the outside fabric. Or so I thought. When I got home, the "top-stitching" thread was 100% cotton thread (oops), so I used regular thread for the top-stitching. But top-stitching thread would have been nice. :)
  
• A tool for turning a narrow bias tube. I used my favorite technique which requires a bobby pin.
  
• Fray Block. This is optional, but I used it on the end of each knotted, bias fabric tie.
  
• A Dritz tool for making 1" bias tape and a safety pin to pin the tape to the ironing board as you create it. You can make the bias tape in any method you prefer, but this tool worked well for all the yards of bias that this purse requires.
  
• Sewing pins!! I mention this only because I bent many pins on this project. When pinning the final layer onto the base layer, there are 16 layers of fabric, including the pleats on four layers, the two base layers, and the fleece layer throughout. Many of my glass head silk pins bit the dust during this process.
  
• Sewing machine needles! For most of this project I used a single MicroTek needle (by Schmetz). This worked well, until near the end when it was trying to go through many layers and it shattered. I finished the project with a jeans needle.
  

Construction Notes:

• This pattern uses 1/2" seam allowances. It is easy to miss this fact.
  
• This purse confused me at first, so let me explain how it works. It is made from 4 layers: the outer layer, the lining, the inset, and the inset lining. The inset and the inset lining are used to create compartments, so the purse has the inside bucket, and two compartments on either side. In the innermost layer (called the inset), there is a zippered pocket. There are self ties to keep it closed and the purse is reversible; if you turn it inside out the zippered pocket will be on the outside. This is a large purse.
  
• I made the 1/2" opening for the zipper in the inset as directed. At first I planned to use a standard zipper. But after the opening was completed, I noticed a decorative zipper in my stash and decided to use that.
  

  
  

  The standard zipper opening is too wide for the decorative zipper, which was an afterthought.

  The 1/2" opening was too wide for this zipper, so I added a strip to narrow the opening - I could have added a strip to each side of the opening, but decided to put it on the top only, so the raw edges would be absorbed into the top of the pocket. When applying the zipper, I folded the ends under, at both ends of the zipper, and top-stitched it to the pocket. The rest of the pocket was constructed normally.
  

  

  The narrow strip added to the top of the pocket.

  

  The completed zipper. This is the first time I remembered to use one of my new fabric labels!

• In step 8 of the pattern instructions, you put the lining layer together with the inset lining layer, right sides together, and baste the lower edges together. From here until step 20, these are treated as a single layer. In step 9, you stitch them together, in the ditch of the lining seams, to form a pocket. It was not clear from the directions whether you should do this on both sides of the purse. In the end, I did do it on both sides, because I decided that the compartment would be very large if I didn't. But I don't think it matters that much, so do what you think is best.
  
• I found some of the construction steps confusing. Therefore, I took pictures as I went. Hopefully these pics will help clarify the steps for anyone else who might also find them confusing. The numbers of the steps correlate to the numbers on the pattern instructions.
  
  • Step 16: The bag has been pleated and pinned to the base. I was concerned that the pleating would be difficult, but the instructions recommend that you not obsess over this and I agree. It's actually fun. Also, the instructions state that the size and spacing of the pleats will depend on the fabric. I found this to be very true, as the outer layer/batting pleats were a very different size than the pleats in the lining fabric.
    

    

  • Step 17: The bag lining/inset lining (the two layers are basted together at the hem as one layer) have been pleated and pinned to the base, on top of the outside layer.
    

    

  • Step 18: The lining for the base has been pinned, wrong sides together, to the base. After each step, I machine stitch that layer.
    

    

  • Step 19: The inset, which contains the zippered pocket, has been pinned to the base. After this is sewn, the inset is pulled up over the rest of the purse and all four layers are now attached.
    

    

• A pattern piece is included to create the ties that can be used to hold the purse closed. At first I followed the directions to turn the raw edges under to make the ties. But this created very chunky (approx 1/2" wide) ties. I hate chunky ties, so instead I created a 1/4" tube from each piece of bias. I trimmed the edge of the sewn seam and used a bobby pin to turn the tubes inside out. I tied a knot in the end of each tie, as directed, and finished with a dot of Fray Block. This isn't strictly necessary, since the tie was bias, but I prefer to use a dot of Fray Block.
  
• I found an error in the pattern. A pattern piece is included to create a continuous bias strip. You cut one of this pattern piece. However, it does not create nearly enough bias. Bias trim is attached to the top of the purse, which has 4 edges. There are another 4 edges on the inside layer, for a total of 8 edges. Finally, you cut four 10.5" strips from the same bias strip for the purse handles. There was only enough bias to finish 7 edges of the purse plus one 10.5" purse handle. I had to create another 40" or so of bias to complete the purse.
  

Conclusion: I really like this purse! The only disadvantage is that it is quite large. I didn't realize from the photo on the envelope that it would be this large. I will save it for those occasions when one needs an extra large bag. With all of the compartments, it would make a good travel bag.

More pictures:

Because this pattern hasn't yet been reviewed, and because there is a lot going on in the purse, I attempted to document it fairly thoroughly.

Hanging on a hook. See the lovely texture of the fabric.

If you look carefully, you can see the tie closure.

Reversed. I don't plan to use it this way.

The ties, up close. You can also see the various compartments.

Inside

The straps, up close.

It's big!

The End. ;)

Pattern Giveaway!

I was given a copy of this pattern, but had already purchased it, so I have an extra. If you would like it, please leave a comment. I sympathize with folks outside of the country who can only purchase these patterns at full price, or with extreme shipping, so this is definitely open to you, too. I will draw names in a week or so.