Cooling down and firing up again...

It's amazing what a cool change can do. No fear of suffocating in the heat can do wonders for one's inspiration to sew. I opened windows, blasted the air around with fans and sat down to sew (with a fan directly on me). AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED.... I made another Squared Flat Bag, this time in a deco-weight rose print (...the designer's name escaped with the selvage I sent to Jodie!). It has an external pocket with a self-cover button and button loop on the front. You may remember this one from last year was made without the front pocket.

It has medium-light interfacing and light fusible wadding to give structure to the outside of the bag and medium-light interfacing on the lining to help it hold its shape (to the outside of the bag). It closes with a magnetic snap and has a zip pocket and a compartment pocket in the lining.

I also made a Hobo in a super-bright print!! I kept it really simple - straight off the pattern with no variations.

The lining includes a zip pocket and a compartment pocket that has this pleated section for a mobile phone (I hope that you can see it ....it photographs badly in this busy print!)

And the bag closes with a zipper gusset and a button loop.

All in all a fairly productive day. Hopefully with temperatures only (?!) in the mid-30's this week I'll be able to plough into the huge backlog of work that built up last week....

On My Desk

Loose ends.... tying up as many of them as I can before 30th November....

Among other things, I finally finished and photographed this Squared Flat Bag. It was cut out a while ago and has been moved from one pile to another around the cutting table.

It's in Amy Butler deco weight fabric (from GJ's in East Brunswick), with yo-yo flowers , vintage buttons and running stitch "stems". The handles are our bamboo #15 U-Dark.

Inside is a compartment pocket and a zip pocket. The bag closes with a magnetic snap.

Do you wonder why such a simple-looking bag is rated ADVANCED.... Well, you see that split in the seam...? That's what it's all about. You need to be able to be able to sew accurately to get it spot-on (but the instructions will hold your hand while you're learning!). You can omit the split and its a very basic pattern. It also includes a variation with a boxed corner and flat base, which is super-simple.

.

More desks over at Kirsty's...