Look at theses goodies I won!

The Sew News Amy Butler Beautiful Belle Sew-Along had a giveaway for participating. The winner was chosen by random and I was the fortunate one to win the bounty. Here is what received in the post this week!

 

 

A lovely sewing box filled with notions!

Embroidery Patterns and Floss

To replace the rubber band I currently use :)

 

Two retractable scissor buddies to replace my current solution.

This has worked as a holding place, but it requires that I put it back when I am done... The scissor buddy always keeps the scissors with a clip!

I don't knit, but my cousin wants to learn, so this will be gifted to her.

This looks great as another option for making DIY labels.

Just wow! The quilts in this book are awe inspiring!

There are some fun projects to make in this one! Stay tuned!

The one I am most excited about!

Stencils, stencils, stencils! There are fourteen wonderful designs in this book that can be used alone or combined. The stencils are large scale and made of a durable plastic/paper material. It seems they will hold up to multiple uses.  

This will look lovely on a dress. I do have a stockpile of cotton jersey...

I like this one on pillows or bordering curtains perhaps.

 I am so happy with the bags I completed in this Sew-Along. Winning the giveaway was just the best icing on the cake!

Happy Sewing!

Beautiful Belle Bag Sew-Along

I have been chomping at the bit to finish the bags I started in the Sew News Beautiful Belle Sew-Along. I wrote about the process here in this post and this one. Over the course of the month, participants are tasked with constructing the bag in small manageable steps. I was right on track with the schedule, but then I got antsy. I added some embroidery stitches to one bag in an attempt to slow down. 

I was going to work on some other projects this week when I checked in on the FLICKR group. Other group members could not wait either and completed their bags ahead of schedule! Following their lead, I finished both of my bags today!

I prepared to sew my leather handles on my heavy duty sewing machine. 

I used a 4mm stitch and a heavy thread in my sewing stash. I was sewing at a moderated pace with success until I got to a seam in the leather. My needle broke!

I was only on the first handle of four and and I only had three needles! At this rate, I was going to be in trouble. One bit of sewing advice I got from a friend is, "when in doubt, change everything and begin again." I changed the needle, changed the thread to regular dual duty, and stitched at a higher speed. This combination proved to work for me and I got the handles done. The pattern called for stitching a fold in the center of the handles. I decided not to do this. I made my straps about 3 inches longer to wear as a shoulder bag. I wanted the strap to rest flat when worn. I also did not want to push my luck with sewing  four layers of leather.

I have found in my previous Amy Butler bags that the pockets are generally too large for me. I like my pockets to fit specific items and not have much room to move around. I tailored the pockets to fit my electronic tablet, wallet, and size of my cell phone. I also wanted at least one of the bags to have a magnetic closure, so I added that to the lining. I also customized the other bag to have a zipper in the lining.

Cell phone pocket

Tablet pocket

Magnetic Snap Closure

I completed the remainder of the construction per the pattern instructions and love the end product. 

Interior

Added my DIY label

Beautiful Belle With Leather Handles in Chevron

And the other with the embroidered fabric

 

Added Zippered Pocket

Beautiful Belle With Leather Handles in Amy Butler Bliss Bouquet  

 

The size of this bag is perfect for the Mommy essentials; it is large without being cumbersome. The applied interfacing helps it maintains its' shape when it is not full. This is a one of the easier Amy Butler bags I have made. I highly recommend making it and trying it with leather handles.

Happy Sewing!
Bianca

Doodling on my Beautiful Belle Bag

We are in week three of the Beautiful Belle Handbag Sew-Along. This is the week of construction and customizing our bags. It has been so hard not sewing ahead and finishing my bag in a day. To slow myself down, I have been reading Hoopla: The Unexpected Art of Embroidery . It is a great book showcasing artists who use embroidery in innovative ways.

 

This book got me thinking about doodling on my  Amy Butler, Bliss Bouquet fabric. I knew I was not going to do anything extreme on this improvised piece, but I wanted to try something. While the kids took advantage of a 70 degree day, I took to the hoop.

Don't you just love french knots?

Split Stitches

Reverse Back-stitch

 

Some filling stitches

The stitches will be on one side of the bag and gives a little dimension and texture. I did not plan the stitches on this, it was a stitch as I went project. I am happy with this and am really excited to see the completed bag!

Happy Sewing,

Bianca

Amy Butler Beautiful Belle Handbag Sew-Along Week 2

It is week two of the  Amy Butler Beautiful Belle Handbag Sew-Along. When I begun this sew-along, I thought I would have a hard time pacing myself and would have made my bags by now. (I have been busy with some custom orders: a lace jacket and a custom embroidery order.) It took me a few days to narrow down my exterior fabric choices, but when I did, I was able to move to this weeks' task of adding marking and interfacing to pattern pieces. 

My bag fabrics

Amy Butler bags are usually advanced lessons in interfacing and stabilizers. This pattern however, requires only medium-weight interfacing and a little bit of Shape flex to give it its' structure.

Interfaced interior fabrics

Interfacing and stabilizer area along the bottom.

I have decided to use leather for my handles on both bags. There is an awesome thrift store in town that has progressively declining prices on all of their items. On Wednesdays, everything in the store is $.25! This store is the definition of chaos on a Wednesday and when I go, I must go with a plan. No kids, knowledge of what I want, comfortable shoes and a willingness to "throw elbows" if needed ;p. I went in one day with a plan to source leather and boy did luck out! 

Half of my haul! There is some animal print in there!

The other half: with some blue suede and silver leather in there!

I thought this bag was a good candidate for leather handles and I shopped my stash for a good match. For the chevron print fabric, I decided on tan suede from a skirt (sorry no before pic) .

Suede handles

 For the floral print bag, I choose this pink suede jacket.

Pink Suede Jacket

Sleeve removed

I cut the handles on this one longer.

Ready to sew!

I have a heavy duty sewing machine and leather needles. I am confident (hopeful and prayerful) that my machine will be able to take on this task. I have been publicly coveting an industrial sewing machine like the one Hillary at Entropy Always Wins  just bought. Since I am no longer saving for a Chanin Studio week (I longer support this company), an industrial machine is closer on the horizon than I thought!  

I will share how my Singer does on the handles when I begin bag construction.

Happy Sewing,
Bianca