Sunday, December 5, 2010

Santa Bag, Express Lite Version

Ok, so a few weeks ago, when I made my Mondo shirt, Gwen commented that she made one like it a few months ago, so I started going back through her blog to find it. And that's when I stumbled upon her amazing Santa bag!

I knew I had to make it when I saw it. But I also knew I wasn't willing to devote the time and detail to her bag. Her bag is quilted (by her!), has a key ring, a monogram, real candy cane striped handles, two pompoms, a zipper, and purse feet.

Hence, here's my version of Gwen's Santa Bag, which I'm calling the Holiday Express Lite version. The pattern is Simplicity 8331, a modified version of view D. It's made from red canvas on the outside, a holly cotton that's totally not true to grain on the inside (and one of the oldest pieces of my stash, at least 13 years old, but possibly 17 years old, probably from the Rag Shop), with a red canvas pocket on the inside and red canvas handles.

Simplicity 8331 inspired by Gwen at allmyseams.blogspot.com
The pompom is made from a scrap of the white Santa trim, I folded opposite corners together and sewed, and then sewed on a remnant of white cord from my New Look bathrobe (though apparently I haven't taken a photo of my bathrobe with the cording). (And I always wondered what I'd ever do with just a few inches of leftover cording! A-ha!)
Simplicity 8331 inspired by Gwen at allmyseams.blogspot.com

Simplicity 8331 inspired by Gwen at allmyseams.blogspot.com

If I ever make this again, my note to myself is to sew the Santa trim 3/8 from the edge of the fabric, which is the seam allowance for sewing the lining to the bag. I had to rip it out and redo it.

The bag has no structure, though, so it is rather droopy. The Simplicity instructions say to use plastic needlepoint canvas in the bottom of the bag, but I haven't done that.
Simplicity 8331

I have made this before, out of the scissors fabric from Stitch lab. It is actually my purse that I have used almost every day since I finished it in late April.
Simplicity 8331 view D
My friend Debbie wanted to know how to make the "butt" of the bag, where the corners are. She saw this bag in person in May.
Here are some action shots.
Here is the pattern. In the bottom corner are three very important dots, a stitch line and a fold line.
how to make the "butt" of the bag

I transfer the markings to the fabric. In this shot I had already marked and sewn the fabric. There is a diagonal clip at the first dot from the edge of the fabric to the dot. I've been using tailor's chalk ever since Antoinette's undies tutorial. Love that tailor's chalk (and that tutorial!).
how to make the "butt" of the bag

Here's how it looks from above. Fold on the fold line (which is on the left and right edge of the fabric in this shot), stitch on the seam line (marked as S in this shot). You're matching the top dot to the bottom dot.
how to make the "butt" of the bag

It's very important to make sure the seam of the side of the bag and seam of the bottom of the bag actually match up before sewing along the seam line. I hadn't done that and the seams didn't match. So I ripped out the seam (you can see thread remnants on the right side of the photo). You can also see how important the clipped seam is!
how to make the "butt" of the bag
I didn't capture it, but I then cut the excess off at this point.

When it's turned inside out, the corner now has a "butt".

I should have pressed it but I knew I had more work to do. This is another moment where I think it looks better in real life.

how to make the "butt" of the bag

Thanks, Gwen, for posting your bag, it truly inspired me!

7 comments:

  1. What a cute bag for the season! Turned out great. Love the little dangling pompom! PS: I have made the wrap top that comes with the New Look skirt pattern too. Probably about the same time as you. I didn't like the synthetic in the fabric I used so only kept it maybe a year, but wore it a few times. So I think I did like the pattern and it did fit well as I recall. I'll have to try it out again. Have an awesome week!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your bag is very cute. Enjoy carring it. My daughter started using hers on Thanksgiving, and already several people have wanted to buy it, or threatened her for it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a festive bag! I have yet to sew a bag, and you did a great job with yours! I especially love the lining!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Awsome job on the Santa bag. The "snowball" is a nice creative touch.

    Christiana
    sewamusing.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love your Santa bag! So cute and festive!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a cute bag! Unstructured is perfect -- that makes it more like a Santa cap. Ditto for the snowball pompom!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for reading! I love hearing from you! Because I've been getting lots of spam comments, I'm changing the settings to moderated comments.