sewingnotions

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Wow!

I can't believe it, but I was named one of the winners in the SewMamaSew sewing tutorial contest with my little hobo lunch bag! So exciting!! I bring my lunch to work in mine every day so I can attest to the fact that they are very functional and a cute way to get to see your favourite fabric every day. Enjoy.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Square(ish) Bottomed Hobo Lunchbag Tutorial

Necessity being the mother of invention, I first made this bag because I wanted something that would have all the features of a plastic bag, except I wouldn’t want to throw it out. The features I really wanted were: ability to hold a square container in an upright position, tie-able, light, washable and squishable. Also cute. And so the Square(ish) Bottomed Hobo Lunchbag was born.

Materials Needed:
- Pattern paper
- Ruler
- 1/2 yard outer fabric
- 1/2 yard lining fabric
- matching thread

Step One:

Cut paper pattern, 14” bottom, 8” sides, cut a freehand curve for about 5.5” to the handle, which is 3.5” wide and 4” high.

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Step Two:

Select scrumptious, easy to wash, fabrics for your lovely lunch bag.

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Step Three:

Fold lining fabric in half carefully and pin pattern to both layers.

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Cut around pattern. Repeat with outer fabric. You should now have four pieces that resemble little schoolhouses.

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Step Four:

Pin lining pieces together, right sides facing in. Sew down both 8” sides and across the bottom using a 1/2” seam allowance. Leave a gap of 2-3” on the bottom seam. DON’T FORGET the gap, picking this out later is a real pain! Remove pins. Trim thread.

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My sewing machine had a delightful little thread implosion meltdown here. No project ever goes smoothly. * Note to self: do not adjust tension while sewing.

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Step Five:

Repeat step 4 with outer fabric, sewing across entire bottom.

Step Six:

Now we make the squared bottom. (feel free to giggle, I am immature enough to think ‘squared bottom’ is funny too!) Fold the corner into a triangle with a seam running down the middle. Measure the preferred width for your bottom. :o) I chose 6” because that fits the square containers I always use for my lunches.

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Mark the width all the way across with a marking pencil, then sew along the line.
Do this for all four corners.

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Step Seven:
Trim off the little elf hats to make a straight line across. About 1/2-3/4” is good.

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Step Eight:

Turn the bag lining inside out and tuck it into the outer bag so that right sides are facing.

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Pin together around all the rough edges.

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Sew around the whole perimeter of the bag. You can clip the curvy bits if you’d like. (I forgot on this bag-oops!)

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Step Nine:

Remove pins and prepare yourself for the best part of bag making! Turn the bag right side out through the hole in the lining. Poke out the handle tips with a pointy object like scissors or a pencil. Sew hole shut by hand or use the lazygal method of topstitching as I do.

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Step Ten:

Topstitch around the outside of your lunch bag. (not strictly necessary)

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And VOILA! (as we say here in Canada…also I suppose in parts of Europe and Africa. And French Guyana.)

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A nifty, easy to wash plastic bag substitute. Lunchtime!

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And this is my dog with the tennis ball he chewed up while I was making this tutorial.

Gizmo

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Slowly but Surely

The memory on my computer at home is so packed that I don't even have space for pictures to put on my blog- tragic but true. Time for a new one. That said, when I have a quick moment at work, it's blogging time!

Here are a couple of projects I've finished in the last little while...there is also a Rainbow Brite sheet repurpose on its way and a cute lunchbox pattern that just might be my first ever tutorial a-brewing...

A delightful (post)Christmas gift for my patient roomie of a u-handbag curved gusset shopping bag (tutorial here) made with superbuzzy fabric.

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I also made a cute little portfolio for other roomie's birthday from Amy Butler's lovely free pattern.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Actual Projects!

Yes, the rumours are true. I have actually managed to both start and finish some crafty projects. Here are a couple, there is more excitement on the way!

Giz
My pup enjoying his comfy new winter fleece bed.
Steve
The brother relaxing with his comfy new crochet hat.