A friend commissioned me to make another Amy Butler birdie sling bag for her to give as a gift. She picked out all the fabric (and did a fantastic job, as I adore the colorways) and I finally got it all sewn up the other day. These bags definitely get easier to make the second time around. I'm hoping it'll be even easier the third time, as I actually have all the fabric to make one for myself; I just haven't gotten to it yet. I think it's because I can't stand cutting & ironing all the fabric and interfacing, so I keep putting it off.Here's a pic of the inside. I added a magnetic snap closure, which I meant to do last time but then forgot. Oops. I also used some of the leftover fabric from the exterior to make the interior pocket since I prefer a little contrast. I'll also reiterate my complaint that the pattern calls for WAY too much fabric for the bands and handles, especially is you use 60" wide home decor fabric. I think I got 3/4 yard instead of the 1 1/4 called for, and I still had a ton leftover. Next time I may take it down to a 1/2 yard and see if that works better.
I'm ashamed to admit, I have had this outfit 75% done for the last 2 months, only to get stuck on the binding and put it aside in frustration. Well, the pregnant friend that this was for had her baby last week, which lit a fire under my behind to get it done. It's the Kimono PJ Set from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones book, generously loaned to me by the above no-longer-pregnant friend. I had the bright idea to do it in flannel instead of cotton, thinking it'd be cozier. This actually worked out fine for the most part, except for the binding, which I foolishly also tried to do in flannel. Here's a tip for anyone trying to make tiny flannel bias tape: don't do it. Trying to get 1/2" flannel single-fold binding to hold a sharp crease was next to impossible. And then folding it over and pinning the now 1/4" on each side? Infuriating. So instead, I went and bought some double-fold bias tape from the store and sewed it on the "wrong" way (meaning, I just jammed the raw edges into the fold instead of opening it up, sewing along the crease, then folding and sewing again). I also opted to put binding along the cuffs of the sleeves too. I think it added a nice finished-looking touch.Like other Amy Butler patterns I've tried, this was not a difficult project, but there were a lot of steps and the directions can be confusing at times. I think I read them about 20 times before I started, just to be safe. My main complaint though is that the pattern instructions were a bit lacking in common sense. First off, folding 1/2" hems on the bottom of the pants and the bottom of the kimono top looks totally absurd on a tiny size 0-3 month outfit. I was unhappy enough with how it looked that I ripped it out and sewed a 1/4" hem with an additional row of topstitching along the edge. Second, how the heck they expect you to be able to sew the hems on the sleeves is totally beyond me. I ended up ripping open the side seams so that I could open it up flat, sew on the binding, and then sew it back up. If I ever make another one of these, I'm going to be sure to do my hemming BEFORE I stitch everything up and overcast the edges.A last note about working with the flannel instead of regular cotton: because the weave is a little looser, it is not as forgiving when you make mistakes and have to rip out seams. If you look closely at the pic above of the pants, you can still see all the holes from where the original hem was. Also, the edges tended to fray more easily and the fabric is overall less stiff, so it was a little trickier to keep it pinned into the bias tape. But like I said, it all worked out fine in the end, so don't be afraid to try it. I'm pretty happy with how this outfit turned out, and I'll likely make more in the future.
Yes, it's 2 Finished Objects in 2 weeks! Can you believe it? I have been wanting to try the Amy Butler Birdie Sling bag pattern for a while now and finally broke down and bought it last week. I didn't think I'd be up for making another bag so soon, but this pattern looked significantly easier than the Everything Bag, and a friend of mine wanted one, so I had her pick out fabric and I sewed it up. I've come to accept that making anything but the most basic of bags is going to involve cutting lots of pieces, no matter how easy or complicated it is. Besides the fact that you just have a lot of parts of the bag to contend with (lining, exterior, pockets, straps), there's also usually some kind of interfacing involved which will double the number of pieces. And then the ironing - so. much. ironing. *sigh* It's frustrating, but a necessary evil. In any case, I think I'm getting better at putting it all together, and I would definitely make another one of these. It was still fairly time-consuming, but fun to make. And I love the look of it. A couple friends are also making the same bag and it's very interesting to see how different it looks with different fabrics. This bag is made from home decor fabric - a kind of brocade-looking fabric for the main part of the bag, a thick woven upholstery-type fabric for the strap, and then a striped canvas-y fabric for the lining and pockets.
I was nervous that the brocade would be hard to work with, but once the interfacing was on, it was no problem at all. The strap fabric was a bit tougher. It was very heavy and hard to press and it also shed loose fibers non-stop. I ended up reinforcing all my seams with an overcast stitch because I was nervous about it falling apart with heavy use.Other notes about the pattern:I thought it was very clear and well-written, with good diagrams, unlike the last bag. I do think that the fabric amounts were a bit off, especially if you use home decor fabric, which is going to be wider than lightweight quilting fabric. I ended up with an absolute ton of the strap fabric leftover, so I'm probably going to make a matching pouch or something to go with the bag.I love the shape of the bag, particularly how the pleats at the top stand out so nicely, as well as the rounded gusset at the bottom.
I'm looking forward to making one for myself, maybe later this spring, if I can decide what kind of fabric to use. I like the durability of home decor fabric, but I feel like short of spending more than $12/yd, there aren't as many fun options (I'm a total cheapskate, in case you didn't already know). I'm contemplating trying it out with some sari fabric next time I see it on sale.
After that last post, I decided to take advantage of naptime and make the big push to get the bag done. After much grunting and griping (and I literally mean grunting as it was damn near impossible to force through my machine at times), here it is!Inside:Outside side pocket (there's one on each side):So now that that's done, here's the rundown on the pattern. Keep in mind, I don't work much from patterns. I generally prefer to work out my own ideas.The good:It feels like a very solid bag. It's also HUGE, so while I probably won't use it for everyday, it'll be great for those days that I have a ton of crap to lug around. I also like that it has some padding to it.The bad:This bag is a LOT of work. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are 48 separate pieces to cut for this bag. Once you get past all the legwork of cutting and ironing, it can go together fairly quickly. The inside is definitely the trickiest part since you have to deal with the divider and pockets, with elastic.
The pattern itself could probably be written more clearly. I got stuck for a long time on making the center divider panel. There really weren't enough diagrams, and the ones they did have were confusing to me. I also wish that the book had included pictures of the inside, bottom, etc.The ugly:Again, as mentioned before, the center divider makes it really really difficult to stitch the bottom panel on the lining. Also, because of that divider, the way you have to attach the lining to the exterior is also pretty difficult to manage. I used about a bazillion pins, stitched very slowly, and I still ended up with uneven seams and stitching. I'm half-tempted to rip it out and do it again, but at this point, I just want to be done. Changes I made:I made the straps longer by about 8 inches. I am not a small person and I knew there was no way 18" straps were going to stay comfortably on my shoulder. I also added a strap with a key clip, since the it's a pain to be carrying a kid and digging around for your keys all the time, especially in a giant bag.I also contemplated adding a wide panel at the top with a magnetic closure because I don't like how open the bag is. But I was getting really burned out on this project and just wanted it to be done, so I skipped it. But I may go back at some point and add it since I'd only have to rip the top seam. I wish I'd added a smaller pocket for my cell phone and maybe done elastic on the outside pockets too.Tips for anyone else insane enough to want to try this pattern:Definitely be as precise as possible when you cut your pieces. I used a cutting mat and rotary cutter and it made a huge difference. There is not a ton of room for error on this pattern. I had to really work to get the inside and outside to match up.Also, my sewing machine has an adjustable presser foot, so I could ease the pressure. This was a huge plus when it came to sewing over the pockets and corners, where there were sometimes as many as 8 or 10 layers to sew through! If your machine doesn't have that, I'd consider using a walking foot. Oh and make sure you have a nice sharp needle.
I finally started sewing together the Amy Butler Everything Bag last week. I'd say I'm about 80% done with it. I think it was definitely way over my head in terms of skill level, but at least I'm pushing myself and learning something new, right?The major major issue I ran into was sewing the bottom panel of the lining to the sides. It's the last piece you sew on for the lining, and because there the center divider is stiff and does not bend, it made it virtually impossible to smash down into my machine to sew on with the 1/2" seam allowance. Here was my pathetic 1st and 2nd attempts before I gave up and just hand-stitched it.
A few other random notes for anyone attempting this project: I went with the recommendations in the book on the interfacing and bought Thermolam Plus for the fusible fleece. Well, I come to find out it is NOT fusible fleece unless it says Thermolam Plus FUSIBLE on it. Sounds pretty obvious to most people, but I guess silly me assumed that if it that was the only one I saw at the store and it was on the fusible interfacing shelf, why wouldn't it be the right one? And I only figured this out after ironing and ironing like a moron and wondering why it wouldn't fuse, only to have a friend look at it, give it a quick feel and say, "That's not fusible. There's no glue." Grrrr. So of course, this added about 10 extra steps since I now had to baste the fleece to the exterior panels, and it doesn't lay right and I had to trim it, blah, blah, blah.But once I got that done, by comparison, the outside was easy to put together since there were no pockets or dividers to mess with. All I have left is to match up the inside and outside and stitch them together. I'm debating on whether or not to add a tab with a magnetic closure on top, but I will likely skip it since at this point, I just want to be done. Here it is so far.
The lining is looking like it's a little bit higher than the exterior, so I think I may have to go in and rip some of that out and restitch it to get it to be the right height. And no, I can't just fold it down more because again, the stupid center divider is in my way. I am never ever making a bag with a divider in it again.
Believe it or not, my lack of posts does not mean I've been slacking! I've actually been pretty busy rotating between a few different projects lately, and I even finished one the other day but have not had a chance to post just yet (that whole full-time mom thing has an annoying way of disrupting my craft & blog time). Anyways, I bought the stuff to make E a tutu skirt a while back but sort of lost steam on it when I couldn't quite decide how I wanted to put it together. Well after getting annoyed with a different project I just started (more on that in a minute), I decided to come back to it. It's basically on layer of shimmery chiffon-y material, and then 3 layers of tulle. I do sort of like the look of the finished product, but next time around I'll definitely put it together differently. I screwed up the order (my punishment for not thinking it through before starting to sew) and it ended up taking me probably 3 times as long as it should have.
No action shot just yet, but only because the day that I gave it to E and let her wear it, her shirt was absolutely filthy and I couldn't bear to take or post any pictures of her looking like that.Other projects I'm currently working on:Another PortabelloPixie outfit, this time the "Gracie" reversible jumper. I'm not big on pockets or rick-rack, so it's going to be pretty plain. I am, however, totally perplexed by how the neck yoke is supposed to go on. I'm hoping that it'll make more sense once I get to that part. I had to temporarily put it on hold until I got a new ironing board after my old one went kaput.I'm also making another shirred sundress, this time for the daughter of my favorite photographer. That one shouldn't take me more than a couple hours, once I get everything cut. Again, I've been waiting on getting a new ironing board. I have to say, for someone who hates to iron, I've become very reliant on my iron and ironing board. :PI'm starting to have a love-hate relationship with my other big current project. I've never made a bag before and have always wanted to, so instead of sucking it up and springing for the Birdie Sling pattern, I decided to start with the Everything Bag from an Amy Butler book that a friend loaned me, even though it looked sort of complicated. Well, "sort of" is a huge understatement. I've spent the better part of the last 3 or 4 evenings cutting out 48 freaking pieces from 2 different fabrics and 3 different types of interfacing. Yeesh. All I can say is, thank god for rotary cutters. I finally got a new ironing board last night, so I'm hoping that I can at least have all the pieces prepped tonight before I go to another sewing night tomorrow.That's it for now! Hope to have some completed stuff to put up after this weekend, or at the very least some pictures of the work in progress.
