Sewing

A Total Failure

~ Michelle ~ 5 Comments

A Total Failure

Just before the dress challenges I posted about before the tour, I had another sewing challenge. It was a total failure of a sewing project. I thought I’d share it with you since I asked you all to share your sewing mistakes with me for a chance to win a PDF pattern. My failure was a new pattern for me, and I just blew it – the first time.

Here’s the awesome material I found. This is a big panel of material.

I love this. This was created to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday this year – there’s one for each province. I found mine at a local quilting store. I thought it would be perfect for my Canada 150 – In the Bag bag.

Do you see that crest on the right side with Canada beside it? I was going to use that to create a beautiful bag. I’d measured everything out and I thought it would all fit perfectly. I was super excited about it. It was going to be beautiful!

I was happily sewing it together. Below in the photo, it’s just pinned. It was looking great.

The Canada quiz material on the right? I was using that for the back of the bag as well as this little side feature. My beautiful leather maple leaf was mirroring the leaves on the back material and was all sewn on.

Great Sadness

Then a very VERY sad thing happened. I hadn’t considered having to turn the material for the bottom of the handbag. I knew there was a bottom, I guess I just thought it was an extra piece.

I now had a bag front showing the word ‘ANADA’ going up the side. I also lost some of my crest. It was the ANADA that did it though.

This was not going to work at all. Sadly, I’d already made internal pockets and bag straps. Sigh.

There’s Always a Silver Lining

The good news about messing up my first bag was I knew exactly what I needed to do for my second bag.

I played a little more with my leaf’s placement. I really wanted it on the side like this.

Then I remembered the strap anchors and this wasn’t going to work. Do you notice it’s stitched down here? Yup. I had to take all that stitching out. It had already been sewn on the quiz fabric, so this was the second time sewing it and then taking the stitches out.

So, before I sewed it one more time, I figured out where my seams were, where the bag would fold, where the anchors would go, where the snaps were. I tried to think of everything. I was not doing this again. After all that, then I put my leaf on. Whew. You’ll notice it’s not sewn down here in the photo below. This was just laying everything out.

Everything turned out great the second time I sewed the bag, or the third time I sewed the leaf.

Overall, I’m really happy with my second bag. I still haven’t thrown out my first one though. I’m hoping I’ll be able to salvage some of that material… Not quite sure how yet.

I had a number of people who shared their own sewing mistakes with me on my blog when I posted about my second bag during the Canada 150 – It’s in the Bag tour. Marsha picked a number for me before the tour even began. Congratulations! An Emmaline Bags PDF pattern is going to Rhonda! Rhonda, I’ll send you an email and give you the details on how to collect your prize.

If you haven’t done so already, there are give-aways on every blog, and lots of prizes! The give-away for the prizes ends at midnight EDT today.

Happy creating and congratulations!

Below are all the tour details again – just so you can still enter.

Tour Discounts

  • 10% off!
    Tangled Blossoms Design     is offering 10% off anything in stock for the duration of the tour. Offer expires June 10, 2017. Use discount code HAPPYBIRTHDAYCANADA
  • 15% off!
    Bringberry Handbag Hardware and Design     is offering 15% off anything in stock for the duration of the tour. Offer expires June 10, 2017. Use discount code LOVECANADA150

Tour Stops

June 4

Emmaline Bags

June 5

Tangled Blossoms Design ◊ With Love in Every Stitch ◊ Happy Okapi

June 6

Michelle’s Creations ◊ Barabooboo ◊ Soca Sewing

June 7

Glitter in my Coffee ◊ Michelle’s Creations ◊ Seam of my Pants

June 8

Seam of my Pants ◊ Creative Roots Sewing ◊ Happy Okapi

June 9

Seam of my Pants

June 10

Giveaway ends at midnight EDT (North America)

July 1

CANADA DAY 150

Giveaway Prizes

Please join us in thanking our tour sponsors by visiting their websites.

Canada 150 — In the Emmaline Bags Bag

~ Michelle ~ 71 Comments

Welcome to my stop on the Canada 150 — In the Bag tour.

This tour is a bag-making, bag designer, bag supplier tour, so by my title, you may have guessed I’m featuring a bag from Emmaline Bags.

Most of the bag patterns shown on our tour were donated to the bloggers by the designers. You will be able to buy them, and maybe even win one. (I’ll be giving away a pattern on June 10th, so keep checking in.)

Here are all our sponsors, but some of these are our Designers too. (At the end of this post there are links to all of our sponsors & designers)

All of our Designers offer great patterns you can purchase, however, I really wanted to show there are free options out there. We are celebrating after all!

The bag I’ve chosen is a pattern from Emmaline Bags – and it is free. In fact, the additions I’ve made to it are all from Emmaline Bags’ blog, so they’re free too. Well, you do have to buy your materials and hardware…

Here’s the pattern I made:

Isn’t that lovely? I’ve been admiring the Miss Maggie’s Handbag since it came out, and dreaming of a leather Miss Maggie. However, I found some perfect fabrics I wanted to use for my Canada 150 bag.

Here’s my Miss Maggie’s Handbag:

Oh, I love it! The material I used for this was created to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday this July 1st. This is Stonehenge Oh Canada by Northcott. I’m including a link for the fabrics just in case you love it too. Being Canadian, I was able to find this at my local quilting shop.

Here’s the back view of my bag:

Nice hardware, eh? Yup. I really do love this bag.

Pockets

The bag is lovely all on it’s own, but I wanted to add a few things. The first thing I added was a zipper pocket inside the bag.

This zipper pocket is the perfect size.

Here’s the tutorial for adding a zipper pocket to a bag.

SEW AN EASY ZIPPER POCKET METHOD 1- A TUTORIAL.

Janelle (owner of Emmaline Bags) says, ‘Everyone needs an internal zipper pocket in their purse or handbag…’ I felt the same way. I love to have a zippered pocket to keep things tucked away and safe. This tutorial was easy too. I had no problems with it whatsoever.

The fabrics I used for the inside of the bag are both special edition fabrics that were created just for Canada’s 150th. The maple leafs (part of the Canadian Sesquicentennial Collection by Northcott) inspired my maple leaf on the front of my bag, and the Canadiana quiz material (same collection as the maple leafs) was just too fun not to use.

More Pockets

The bag comes with one slip pocket included in the pattern.

That pocket is perfect for a cell phone, or anything else you want to keep separate in your bag. I’m thinking my cell and sunglasses!

You can also see in of all of these pocket photos that I’ve added a magnetic clasp for a closure. This closure is what the pattern suggests, and Janelle has a tutorial for that too.

How to Install a Magnetic Snap Closure

Janelle has some really great tips in this tutorial to keep that snap tightly secured, and I followed them.

Bling Bling

I had to add some bling to my bag.

Who could resist a Sewn label? Not me. Anyone who sees my bag will know it’s an original and handcrafted.

The Long John Strap Anchors, the handmade hanging metal tag, and the leather tassel are more bling. Well, the strap anchors are rather practical in that they attach the straps to the bag, but they definitely bring the bling factor.

So much more love!

To make my tassel, it was back to Emmaline Bags’ blog for another tutorial.

HOW TO MAKE A TASSEL: AN EASY BAG MAKING TUTORIAL.

I had so much fun making my tassel. It was extremely satisfying. Leather is so lovely to use. The leather I used for my tassel was from a second-hand score. A box of leather samples and a few other things for $5.

As well as making the tassel from my upcycled leather, I also made a gorgeous Maple leaf – the symbol on Canada’s flag.

Over the top love!

 All the beautiful bling I bought (commonly called hardware) came from Emmaline Bags’ online store. Unfortunately, it’s not free. But you do have a chance to win some.

Hardware Tip & More

In the Miss Maggie pattern, it’s suggested to keep the plastic protective covering on your hardware while you sew your bag. That makes a lot of sense, but some of my hardware didn’t come with plastic on it.

I used some Press & Seal to cover my hardware during the sewing process and it worked perfectly!

There were no scratches to any of my hardware this way. Not only does Beverly Johnson (The Fairy Bra Mother) tell us how to clone a bra with Press & Seal, but now I can see another great reason why we all need this in our sewing rooms! You can see I started by covering my hardware with a bit of felt. The Press & Seal was faster and no pins.

I have one more little tip for you. To attach the magnetic clasp, I needed double-sided fusible interfacing. I know I had some, but I could not find it anywhere. I happen to have lots of single sided interfacing though and more than one sewing machine.

I sewed a strip of interfacing together with the glue sides out. It worked perfectly under the magnetic closure.

How to Win

For my give-away in the Canada 150 – It’s in the Bag tour, I’m giving away a PDF pattern from Emmaline Bags.

Comment on my post about your biggest sewing failure for a chance to win. Marsha (Seam of my Pants) has already picked the winning post number for me. All you have to do is post. The winner will be announced on the 10th.

As well, on the 10th I’ll be sharing my project that didn’t work out for this tour.

Enjoy the rest of our tour.

Happy 150th Canada!

&

Happy creating!

Each blog has an exclusive giveaway, so be sure to visit them all.

Tour Discounts

  • 10% off!
    Tangled Blossoms Design     is offering 10% off anything in stock for the duration of the tour. Offer expires June 10, 2017. Use discount code HAPPYBIRTHDAYCANADA
  • 15% off!
    Bringberry Handbag Hardware and Design     is offering 15% off anything in stock for the duration of the tour. Offer expires June 10, 2017. Use discount code LOVECANADA150

Tour Stops

(These links will be active on and after the day they are scheduled.)

June 4

Emmaline Bags

June 5

Tangled Blossoms Design ◊ With Love in Every Stitch ◊ Happy Okapi

June 6

Michelle’s Creations ◊ Barabooboo ◊ Soca Sewing

June 7

Glitter in my Coffee ◊ Michelle’s Creations ◊ Seam of my Pants

June 8

Seam of my Pants ◊ Creative Roots Sewing ◊ Happy Okapi

June 9

Seam of my Pants

June 10

Giveaway ends at midnight EDT (North America)

July 1

CANADA DAY 150

Giveaway Prizes

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please join us in thanking our tour sponsors by visiting their websites.

* Jewellery is the Canadian spelling.

When Things Aren’t Coming Together

~ Michelle ~ 8 Comments

Have you ever had a sewing project that just wasn’t coming together? I’ve had two of those recently.

A Butt-Kicking

Let’s talk about the first one. It’s a lovely dress. The Carefree dress by hallå.

Isn’t that pretty? It’s been kicking my butt!

It’s not the pattern. It’s dumb little things that keep happening. I cut out the skirt and somehow laid the top out and didn’t have enough material. I had been sure I had enough. I gave up at that point because it was late, and I really like my material. The next day when I went back, I did have enough material. I couldn’t figure out how I couldn’t see that the night before.

Everything got cut out and then had to wait.

I had to take a break from sewing my dress to finish another project that I’ll be revealing in a few days. Let me give you a peek.

Oh! That is gorgeous fabric! It has words from Canada’s national anthem on it.

Well, now that I’m mentioning something… There’s a blog tour coming up right away. Tune in tomorrow for the launch!

Back to the skirt. I finally had some time again this week to get back to sewing it, only to feel like I was getting beat up again. This time it was the waist gathering. I sewed that long running stitch to make the gathers three times. It broke the first two times when I was gathering it. I did get it though. I am determined. I will finish this dress.

Here’s what I have so far.

I’m really liking this. The material was the last of its kind at my local fabric store, and it was 70% off. I liked that too. It’s a lovely cotton Lycra (CL), so will be wonderful to wear.

Here’s how the top will kind of look once it’s done. Well, I’m sure it will look better than this, but you can get the idea.

I’m using the same red CL for the waistband as for the arm and neck bindings.

I’m also thinking of making a hack to the pattern. Rather than sew the top to the waistband, I’m thinking of adding a band to it, and leaving it separate. As well, I’m thinking of making a red top and band so I can add a little more versatility to this rather than just the one look.

Happy creating!

Agnes Swing Top & Dress

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

This week I’m trying a new pattern. It’s the hallå patterns’ agnes swing top & dress. I’m making the dress.

This is so pretty! I’ve heard so many great things about this pattern. I was really looking forward to trying it.

Something I Like

Right off, I can tell you something I really like about this pattern. It’s a layered PDF pattern so I can print the size I want, or if not sure, just two sizes. I love that! I’ve also heard the instructions for these patterns are really good. I’ll let you know.

Plans

My plans are to use this adorable pattern to make a nightdress or two. I really don’t like the over-sized, one-size-fits-all sleep tees that are so commonly available. I also love my cotton, which narrows things down too.

Another idea I have for a nightgown is the Butterick 6031. I’ve made the camisole, but if I lengthen the slip it would be a lovely nightgown.

Last year, I purchased some lovely cotton Lycra my fabric store brought in. This year, it’s all on sale 70% off. I’ve bought a few more solid colors and prints just for my summer nightgown project. One of the solid colors is the same as my summer house coat, so I’m thrilled about that. That’s where I’m starting.

Small Bumps in the Road

This bump isn’t a new bump. When I look at my measurements, the pattern would put me in a size 20. I know that will be way too big. Out comes my sloper just to prove to me this is going to be too big..

My sloper has a little bit of ease added to it, and I would want more ease for a nightgown. However, this would still be way too big.

I’ve been down this road so many times though, so I knew to look at my high bust measurement rather than my full bust. And even though I’ve been sewing for 25+ years, I learned about the high bust on this blog! Thank you!

My high bust wasn’t going to work this time though. It was going to put me in a size 2/4, and I knew that would be way too small for me.

Since I could print different layers, I printed off 6/8, 10/12, and 14/16.

You can see below, my shoulder hits between the 6/8 and 10/12.

Solution

If I wanted something a little more fitted, I’d probably adjust the shoulder to a 6/8. I’d make a size 10/12 except for the bust, which I’d make a 14/16. Seeing as I want this loose for sleeping, I’m making the 14/16.

My Agnes Make

This does come together really quickly. It’s quick to cut out, and quick to sew up. A serger is what is used in the instructions, so I’m used my serger.

I finished it with a rolled hem.
My hubby is so cute. He tells me this looks like a summer dress. I told him it is a summer dress!

It’s super comfy and as I’d heard, a pretty easy and clear sew.

I will definitely make another agnes, probably a top because it is a very flattering style. I’ll also make one change.

For my next one I’ll use the instructions from the Perfect T-Shirt to do my bindings for the neckline and arms. I prefer her way. It will take a bit longer, but I think the results are a bit better too. I’m not used to this way either, and feels a bit more in control sewing on the bindings in two steps. This one was just one step with the serger.

Here I am in my new agnes.

Material Disappointment

My one disappointment here is not in the pattern, or the instructions. When I was cutting out the dress, I noticed some imperfections in the material.

I’m calling these ‘slubs’ because this reminds of what you get in slub cotton. However, this isn’t supposed to be slub cotton. I’m glad it’s just a nightgown. I turn the lights out and don’t notice them at all.

Happy creating!

Plans for Another Bra

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I have to say, I really do love sewing bras. There is something very addicting about that little bit of lace, material, and elastic. I also have to say, I really loved making a bra from a pattern I drafted. When I made my first bra five years ago, I never thought I’d do this!

I was thinking now I have a pattern I love completely, and that fits so well, it’s time to get on with my Spring Wardrobe. However, I decided one more test bra first. I can always use another black bra.

Materials 

For this bra, I chose some lovely black lace with red details. Along with that lace, I chose black duoplex and power net, but red elastics to make the red in the lace really pop.

This is one of the gorgeous laces I bought at Fabricland last year for $2.50/meter. Oh, I had fun stocking up on those laces.

Alterations

For this bra, I made the underarm smaller. I add 1/8-inch back to the bottom of the cradle as the thinned band under the cradle was a really tight sew last time. As well, I added 1/4-inch to the top of the cradle where the wire ends as it was just a touch short there.

You might be wondering how all these alterations worked out? Let’s take a look.

Here’s my newest bra from the front:

I really love the red elastics on the top and bottom of the band.

Here’s the side:

I’m asking the famous Mrs. Weaver for a bit of help again. The side of my bra is doing what this very pretty Empreinte Maya bra is doing. (Photo from Amazon.ca)

See how the bra pulls in at the wire line at the side? Mine is doing that, and I need to figure out what I need to adjust to make it not do that. Thank goodness for all the professional bra-makers out there!

And here’s the back of the bra:

It’s such a pretty bra! I love the lace and the red elastics. Looking at this photo of the back, I can see I need to trim those red elastics just a smidge more.

Lastly, here’s the bridge – I widened the bottom of it. You can see here with my navy bra beside it that it’s wider.

I need a little more room there, so this is much better.

I’m especially pleased with my sewing this week as I’d hurt my knee and all my sewing was left-footed sewing.

Happy creating!

P.S. You may want to read Just One More Stop at the Fabric Store.

Did you see Orange Lingerie has just published a new bra pattern? It’s lovely!

You can find the Fenway bra on Etsy.

Testing my Drafted Pattern

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I’ve made my drafted pattern, but I want to check how it will fit before I sew up a bra.

Testing

There are a couple of ways I can test the fit before I start sewing up a whole bra. In Beverly’s Craftsy class, Foam, Lace & Beyond, she shows how to convert your Classic pattern from a diagonal seam to a horizontal seam. I did this to compare the two patterns because the original pattern I made from the draft was a horizontal seam.

It’s looking pretty good on paper and I’m feeling encouraged.

Alterations

Even though I’m encouraged by my pattern, I still want to make a tester cup. There are no alterations done to this basic pattern, and I have a list I usually need: make the underarm smaller, a flat spot adjustment, check the bridge height and bottom width. Then there are the Omega considerations. Making a test cup is simply one more confirmation for me.

This tester cup is looking good too.

Here’s the dart I pinched out. I’ll adjust the pattern and then it’s time to cut out a new bra! I’m going to adjust the strap and upper cup at the side too. You can see both in the photo below.

A Trial Bra

My sewing was going along nice and smoothly, and then a tiny snag. I pulled the elastic out of the finding kit and it was the ‘old’ elastic. There’s been a change in elastics and the newer one is 20% less stretchy. It’s a good thing the Fairy Bra Mother blogs. I went over to Beverly’s blog and used her information to take out that extra width I’d added to my band. You can read her post here.

I not only looked that up, but also her post on sewing a Gothic Arch because it’s such a comfortable alteration.

New Bra

Here’s my new bra. It fits so well, and I’m so excited about it! I think I’m more excited about this bra than any bra I’ve made in the past.

Here’s the side view. You can see there are a couple of little alterations I want to make.

The pin there? I want to take a little more out from the underarm there. As well, I’ll want to raise the side there 1/4-inch. The wire is coming to the top of the elastic, that’s why I didn’t finish it there.

The back is fine. Taking out that 20% makes it fit perfectly.

Here’s the Gothic arch I added. It is such a comfortable pattern alteration.

All in all, I’m thrilled with my new bra, and the drafting experience.

Happy creating!

P.S. You may want to look at A Review of Sewing Bras: Foam, Lace & Beyond.

Patterns

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

After working on drafting a bra from measurements, my work wasn’t done with the draft. The next step is to use that draft and make a pattern. Let me show you a little of the progression so far.

Drafting

Here’s the draft. It doesn’t look anything like the pieces I’ve seen in bra patterns.

Horizontal Seam

Then, a few more steps and things start to look more familiar. Beverly takes you through it all in her manual. Take a look at these pieces. These actually look like bra pattern pieces.

I’m not the biggest fan of a horizontal seams. I used one when I made my Heather bra.

Common Bra Seams

Here are some different seams shown in bras (photos are from Bra-Makers Supply and Sewy):

Vertical Seam

I’ve also tried the vertical seam when I made KS 3300. Once I started making my own patterns from the draft, I had to try each pattern. This part of the process was definitely fun for me. The photo of the vertical seam is from the Sewy website. It’s their Linda bra pattern.

Diagonal Seam

My favorite seam in bra-making so far has been the diagonal seam. That’s the bottom left in the photo collage above. A diagonal seam is what we find in the Classic pattern or the Shelley pattern from Pin-Up Girls patterns.

I also love the power bar and split lower cup on the Shelley. Here are a few of my favorites from that pattern.

I love this pattern, and know I will make it using my drafted pattern!

Curved Seam

The one I really wanted to try was the curved seam. All the gorgeous Cloth Habit Harriet bras I’m seeing were making me want to buy that pattern too. I had to be very strict with myself not to buy yet another pattern I have. The photo in the first collage is from Sewy again. It’s their Isabell pattern, which I have. I also have a clone of a Fantasie bra that is a curved seam too. I didn’t need one more pattern, but I was tempted! However, I did want to make one when I was making the patterns.

Patterns I Made 

Here are all my new patterns. I just need to add seam allowances to some of them, and make little changes like adjusting for a flat spot, thinning the band under the cradle, and lowering the bridge.

I also drafted my a new cradle and band.

Happy Creating!

P.S. You may also be interested in Sewing Bras: Foam Lace & Beyond.

Here’s some exciting news.

Merckwaerdigh

The news is from Merckwaerdigh’s Etsy shop. Here’s what Margreet said in her post on Facebook: “SPRING … a perfect time for a major change! As of today all listings in the Merckwaerdigh shop at Etsy are FREE SHIPPING!!!“

She is raising her cost a bit, but what she is adding to the costs will still be lower than shipping costs! Yay!

Another Perfect T-Shirt

~ Michelle ~ 5 Comments

After working on drafting a bra, I wanted an easy sewing project. I knew just what to sew.

I pulled out my Perfect T-Shirt pattern.

This was my third time making this pattern. The first one was pretty good, but the neckline was a bit loose. I adjusted the shoulder so the neckline would fit better for the second one, and have loved it. So this third one, well, all the alterations I needed for this had already been done, so it was simply a matter of cutting it out and sewing it up.

This T-Shirt pattern was shown on Sewing with Nancy – that was where I first saw it. I recorded the show thinking I’d watch while making up the tee. You can watch it here.

However, being in Canada, I’ve had a hard time finding the notions used in the show and recommended on the Pamela’s Patterns website:

Knit Stay Tape (neckline), Woven Stay Tape (shoulders), Double Sided Fusible Stay Tape (hems)

The Stay Tape is shown here in a screen shot from the show.

I asked at my local fabric store what they’d recommend instead of the Stay Tape. One of the staff there sews a lot of knits; she said she uses knit interfacing for the neckline and hems. She uses a woven interfacing for the shoulders. I did just that. Here is my first tee showing the woven interfacing on the shoulders. (I didn’t take any photos during sewing this time.)

I have to say, I’ve made three tees this way now, and the interfacing works beautifully. If the Stay Tapes aren’t available in your area, knit and woven interfacing works and is probably a lot less expensive.

Here’s my last tee’s hem with the knit interfacing for the hem. I cut a 1″ strip and fused it onto the tee.

Below is a screen shot from the show where they’ve used Double Sided Fusible Stay Tape:

Looking at this, I’m thinking the interfacing would take less time than the Stay Tape. They’ve had to cut the Stay Tape so it will curve along the hem. There’s no cutting the interfacing once you’ve cut the strip because it’s a knit. It curves along any curves very easily. I do have to use pins though, where they’re not using any pins.

Here’s my new tee. It was a lovely quick sew, and I know I’ll enjoy wearing this as much as I’ve enjoyed my last two Perfect tees.

Here’s the front.

Here are the back and side.

This is a darted tee, so the fit is very flattering. However, there are a couple of little construction aspects I’m not sure I love. I’m showing them in the set of photos below.

When sewing on the neckband, it’s the standard quarter the neckband and distribute it equally around the neckline. It even says this for the scoop neckline, which I used. I wasn’t thinking when I sewed it up because it’s not equal distances all around the neckline. You can see the difference between the front and back below in the first two photos.

One other design aspect to this tee is the curved hem, which is flattering on, but to keep the material from distorting, I had to narrow the hem at the sides. (That’s the third photo.) It’s about 1/2-inch on either side and it’s 1-inch for the rest of the hem.

It’s not a problem as along as I’m aware I need to make these changes. So, I’ll make a note on the pattern to remind myself of both of these issues for the next time I sew a Perfect T-Shirt.

Happy creating!

Useful Handbag Hacks

~ Michelle ~ 13 Comments

Do you ever want to make a handbag and the pattern looks great, but it just doesn’t have all the features you want? That’s how I’ve been feeling.

Here’s my first Raspberry Ripple handbag. I love the outside of this, but I didn’t love the inside. A zipper on one side and a couple of side pockets. It’s adequate, but not exactly what I want.

Common Patterns

I’ve been looking at a lot of patterns, and too many of them are totes. I don’t love totes. They’re fine as a tote, to throw a few books in when heading to the library, but they’re not a handbag.

Most of the patterns I have, or have seen are all missing one thing I really want in a handbag – a divider inside. I love a divided handbag. I like to put things like my sunglasses on one side, my wallet in the zippered divider pocket, and any cosmetic things like hand cream or lip balm on the other side. Nice and neat – not all thrown in on the bottom. I also like a top zipper closure to secure it all.

So, I haven’t found my perfect patterns out there. After a little searching around, it seems I’m not alone. A few bloggers have posted some hacks that look really good and I wanted to share them with you.

Purse Dividers

This first one was referred to me by Marsha (Seam of my Pants). Thanks, Marsha! Sherri at Thread Riding Hood has a free pattern (for a tote) and tutorial on how to install a divider.  I’m using a photo from Sherri’s blog post to show you just how nice it looks.

That is so lovely and such a neat-looking finish. I love her fabric choice too.

This next one came from a search and it looks really good too. On the photo it says it’s from Diedel Bug. It’s on the Swoon website. It’s adding an interior divider pocket to the Eleanor handbag. This is a great-looking tutorial, and exactly what I’m wanting. Again, I’m using the photo from the website.

This is great! It even has the zipper in the divider just like I’m wanting.

Here is one more divider tutorial for you.

This photo is from Abby at Things For Boys*, and it’s a divider for a tote bag.

These are all great tutorials, and I’ll go through them all before I draft a divider for my next Raspberry Ripple handbag.

Zipper Closures

There’s one more thing that will make my Raspberry Ripple, and so many of the other bag patterns I have, my perfect handbag – a zipper closure at the top.

Here’s one more great tutorial on how to add a zipper closure.

This one is from Lisa at Andrie Designs. And it’s for a tote!

With all these tutorials, I feel ready to make all the changes I want to make to my Raspberry Ripple pattern.

Happy creating!

A Review of Craftsy’s Sew Better, Sew Faster: Garment Industry Secrets

~ Michelle

It’s time for my Craftsy class review again.

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This month, I’m reviewing Sew Better, Sew Faster: Garment Industry Secrets with Janet Pray.

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Marsha and Naomi couldn’t join me for this review. Unfortunately, I don’t know when they’ll be able to join me again right now. We’re all still good together, just all busy working on different projects.

Basic Information on the Class.

Janet’s class has quite a few reviews compared to the last class I reviewed. This one has 170 reviewers, and only a couple didn’t completely love the class and give it Five-stars. It has a 4.8 rating. That’s still really good. That’s a lot of love.

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Here’s the Lesson outline.

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My First Thoughts.

I’ve watched through the class. I bought the class in mid-December and it’s now mid-February and I only received the pattern two day ago. I contacted Janet’s company, Islander Sewing Systems and they sent a second pattern. Unfortunately, as a reviewer, I can only share my thoughts after watching. I can’t give an opinion on the pattern or pattern instructions because there just wasn’t time to even begin a project.

No Pins.

 Janet emphasizes that no pins are used in making the class project. I know she’s not alone in her no-pins philosophy. However, I had a neck/arm injury years ago and although I’ve recovered quite a bit, I’m not where I was before the injury. No pins and using my hands more isn’t a selling point for me.

I did try the no-pins a little though. I tried it on the Raspberry Ripple handbag I was sewing. Yup. I tried it. Then I ripped the seam out again because I only caught part of the fabric underneath. Then I pinned it the second time. So, if you have any reasons of your own why you need to use pins, then follow your own wisdom.

I will say though, after watching how Janet does her no-pins on a long straight stretch of fabric, if you don’t have any hand/arm issues, try it! It does look simple, easy and very efficient.

 Helpful Class Features

Something I’m finding very helpful in Janet’s class is after explaining each part of the jacket construction, she shows you exactly which pieces you’re working on.

Here’s a screen shot from the class showing the pattern pieces that were pressed at this stage of construction.

That is such a helpful part of the class. I haven’t seen this done in any other classes.

Panties

This class is all about techniques used while constructing a jacket. I’m sure you’re all wondering how panties fit in with this.

Well, when Janet is showing us how she does the inside shoulders on the jacket, I’m thinking panty construction. She gets things twisted around so the seam is enclosed once it’s sewn. It’s the same as when we’re using the burrito method for our panties. Just take a look at how twisted the material is for sewing this seam. I love it! I definitely want a few pins though.

This sewing method also produces a great finish that is just as neat as the burrito method is on panties.

More Burritos

 Imagine my surprise when just a little later in the class, Janet is demonstrating The Burrito Technique! She tells us ‘we will know it’s a burrito because of the filling. If we don’t have any filling, it’s just a tortilla.’ It makes more sense when you see it, but it is another great technique to make a really nicely finished garment.

Here’s the photo showing everything all nicely encased in the cuff using The Burrito Technique.

Personal Recommendation

So, do I recommend this class? Even though I wasn’t able to sew along and make the jacket, I do recommend this class. I think Janet really knows her stuff and I learned a lot of great tips and tricks watching her class. Some of them I will incorporate, and some of them I will not. I’m mainly thinking of the no-pins.

Other than that one point where I have personal reasons for not following Janet’s tips, all of her tips were great! The jacket she makes is lovely too.

Happy creating!