The Julianna Clutch Bag

This bag is made with the Julianna clutch Bag Pattern from www.ithinksew.com.  The matching sunglasses case is made from a pattern in Sue Kim's Book "Bags: The Modern Classics."

 

 

 

On the back of the bag I decided to add a divided pocket. 

 

 The flower is just me playing with fabric. 
Enjoy!

Floral Bag- From Bags The Modern Classics

This is the Floral Bag from Bags the Modern Classics book By Sue Kim.  I really love this book.  I also love all the cute patterns on her web site www.ithinksew.com. 

I decided to make a bow instead of a flower to go on the bag. 

 I added a zipper closure instead of the magnetic snap closure in the pattern.

 

 

Chic Hobo Bag

This is the Chic Hobo Bag from the book Bags The Modern Classics by Sue Kim.
I really love this book!  I added the bow..it's not part of the pattern.   
I had to fend off the children before they took over my sewing room. Since I haven't been sewing much lately, I wanted to make a quick bag. It only took me about 4 or 5 hours from cutting to finish--with interruptions! Whooo HOOOO! I have to admit, I did not read the instructions. I almost glanced at the pictures. :)

I think I'm ready for spring...of course in these here parts we never really get winter. Enjoy!

Glenda Clutch

This is made with the Glenda Clutch pattern from Bags The Modern Classics by Sue Kim.  She also has a web site filled with great patterns.  IThinkSew 

This was very quick to put together.  I was able to use scraps.  I also added the pink handle.  I cut a piece of fabric 2" by 14".  I fused interfacing to the back.  Then I folded it down the center.  Opened it and folded each long raw edge into the center again.  Then folded and edge stitched down each side.  I attached the handle to the side of the bag. 

I applied interfacing (Pellon 809) to both the front/back pieces and front/back lining pieces.  Also to the front and back of the flap.  I did this because the fabric I used was very thin. 

For the flower, I played with some scraps. 

Here is a pic of the inside.  I added a pocket by cutting another lining piece then folding the raw edge down a few times and sewing across the top.  Then I basted it to the back side of the lining piece.  I sewed down the center to divide the pocket. 

Have a great day!

Rebecca Bag

Here is another bag from the book "Bags:The Modern Classics."  This one is the Rebecca Bag. 

I used home decor fabric.  I also added the piping around the edges of the bag.  It made my life more difficult because 1) I didn't put cording inside the piping and  2)  often when trying to attach a circle (such as this bag's zipper/bottom piece sewn together in a circle) and the front/back of this bag it can be tricky to get them to fit together.  This is made even more difficult by adding something, such as piping, that shows if something isn't fitting together perfectly.  Needless to say, I did lots of seam ripping to get it to look decent. 

Here are some other projects I've made from the patterns in this book here and here.

I know I've said this before about this book, but I really can't find where it states what the seam allowance should be on most of the projects.  If I am missing this somewhere please let me know.
 
For this bag, I also tried to copy the pattern by taking paper and holding it up on the window to trace.  It didn't go so well for me.  I do believe that I do better by using white tissue paper to trace the pattern.  So, my problem with getting the zipper/bottom pieces to fit to the front/back of the bag could be any combination of issues I had such as tracing the pattern, not using the correct seam allowance, and me being me.   To get the zipper/bottom piece to fit to the front/back piece I ended up using a 1/4" seam allowance when sewing the zipper sections to the bottom piece.  I used a 5/8" seam allowance on most of the other seams.  I had to do this to get my pieces to fit together. 

Inside with added pockets

I added pockets to both sides of the inside.  I just used the same pocket pattern and instructions used on the front of the bag.  I sewed down the center of the inside pockets. 
I also sewed my handles to the front of the bag without having the lining fabric underneath. 

Back of Rebecca Bag

Sunglasses Case

Well, I'm slowly getting settled in after moving across country.  I'm slowly finding my life again.  I quickly made these sunglasses cases before all my crafting supplies were packed up.  I again used a pattern from the "Bags The Modern Classics" book by Sue Kim. 
It is a very quick and easy project.  I did run into some issues with the floral (blue/brown) case.  I decided to use fleece on the inside of that one...to make it soft and non-scratchy.  It (the fleece) was not very friendly to use.  Also, I'm not exactly sure why, but it turned out smaller than the black velvet case.  I'm guessing I used a different seam allowance?

  The instructions and illustrations were great.  However, copying/tracing the pattern is a bit of a pain.  This pattern is a fun way to use scraps...and co-ordinate with the bags I make. 
Click here to see another project from this book.

Lovely Clarissa Bag

Since I made this doll for my daughter's student teacher, I thought I should prob. make something for her classroom teacher.  I decided to make her the 'Lovely Clarissa Bag' from the book "Bags The Modern Classics" by Sue Kim.  Oh, there are some great bags in this book.  Her web site has great things as well www.ithinksew.com . 
No, you are not seeing double.  I decided that I should just go ahead and cut out 2 bags.  I just got this book and was itching to make something from it.  Knowing myself like I do, I knew that I most likely wouldn't want to give this bag away.  So,  I made two.  :)  Boy, I was soooo right about myself!
The instructions and illustrations are excellent.  The only small thing I couldn't find was the seam allowance.  There are lots of instructions at the front of  the book that can apply to all the patterns...and I only glanced through those sections.  It is possible that I overlooked this information.  But I did glance though it trying to find the seam allowance a couple of times.  I went ahead and used a common 1/2 inch seam allowance. 
One other complaint is that the patterns given are printed double sided and overlapping on two tear out poster sized sheets.  What a MESS!  I used white tissue paper to trace the pattern.  I don't like tissue paper patterns much.  At the beginning of the book it did say to tape pieces of paper together and put them and the tear out sheet in the window to trace the pattern.  Still it is such a MESS!  Although, from what I can tell each pattern marking is labeled with the name of the bag.  It does still get confusing with all the lines crossing and dots here and there. 
All that being said, I am very happy with the purchase of this book.  The patterns are "Classic".

 I created and added the flower myself.

 Inside one bag I used a larger slip pocket on one side and a zippered pocket on the other.

 On the other bag I used the instructions found in the front of the book to make a pocket.

I also finally remembered to create a label for my bag.  I stamped it with Paper Trey Ink Stamps.  I sewed it into the side of the pocket.