Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The Bag to End All Bagmaking (So I Vowed)

Some time ago I promised to write about a handbag I made in July. I'm finally ready to do it. I'm not sure what it is about my procrastination in blogging. I do my best writing with a really clear head, which I don't always have. So I put it off. Going forward, I'm going to try to blog during the process of making things, so things are fresher and quicker in getting onto the page. But I'm usually sewing full-tilt when I'm making something, so my head won't be clear... I don't know what the answer is. Any recommendations or thoughts from you readers are welcome!

Anyway, here it is, The Bag to End All Bag Making:


I started out with the desire to make a sturdy canvas bag to schelp all of my stuff to work - normal handbag items plus lunch and a water bottle. The natural colored canvas I painted with a wash didn't thrill me, but the pieces of linen I had painted with silk screen images did. So I switched to black duck, and was going to make "windows" in it and stitch the linen pieces in behind. Ever try to make a clean, flat window in duck? Not a chance. That's when Marcy Tilton's Vogue 8173 popped out of my pattern cabinet.


(Yes, I own a retro Butterick cabinet, gifted from an acquaintance who purchased it from a store that went out of business decades ago. It holds my pattern stash and much, much more.) But I digress.

The pattern is out of print, and I purchased it years ago because it incorporated silk screening. In fact, it's one of the patterns that nudged me into learning to paint fabric. I had never made it, and I had all of these images painted onto colorful fabric, and I had some gray silk dupioni and gray silk organza, and steam a seam lite, and batting, and Craf-Tex, and hardware, so I dove into the project. And it consumed me. For days. Weeks. For, maybe, 60 to 80 hours. Waaaaay too much time. But it was only time, and I was having fun, so it was all good.

Why did it take so much time? Cutting was partly to blame. I was very careful to cut the dupioni on grain, so I didn't double layer it. The various interfacings were stiff and bulky, so I cut them in one layer. All together, from the outside to the lining, there are 9 layers.
Interfacings, Steam a Seam, batting, and stiff
paperboard to stabilize the bottom.
Also, I cut out all of the images painted on the linen. Scissors worked best, but it took a lot of time. Sewing took a long time, too, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Materials for the exterior, and templates for
cutting the images into shapes.
The exterior of the bag is constructed in several layers. The first step is to paint the Steam a Seam Lite. In this photo, you'll notice dark coral rectangles toward the top of the bag. (Click on the photo for a larger image.)



These, along with dark gray squares across the center and dark teal rectangles along the bottom, were painted on the Steam a Seam. After they dried, I fused them to the two outer pieces of the bag. Peeling away the paper, I had a nice, tacky surface to lay the linen pieces and ribbon on. Then I fused the silk organza on top. The Steam a Seam melted into the dupioni, but also held the organza in place.

Quilting was the next step, and it took a long time. Probably 4 to 5 hours for each side. I used two colorways of variegated thread, outlining each piece and tying the ends on the back side of the fabric. This added a big Wow factor, bringing the linen pieces into focus behind the organza. 


I love how the many layers give so much depth. You can see the texture in the dupioni, the painting on the Steam a Seam, the linen pieces, the organza, and finally the stitching. The light batting gives the linen fragments some dimension.




I didn't have enough aqua/turquoise linen for the lining, so I used a stretch cotton satin from Sawyer Brook. I applied a non-stretch fusible interfacing to keep it from stretching, which worked very well.

Marcy included a zippered pocket in the pattern. I made it slightly deeper, and changed the technique a bit. She used the top zipper tape as the top edge of the pocket. I chose to cut a strip of fabric for the top instead. I love the contrast of the zipper with the gray dupioni.


I wanted more pockets, so I created a double pocket that is tucked to make pouch shapes. I couldn't resist using a painted linen remnant for the lining.


I love trimming interior pockets with ribbon. It adds a little detail that makes me smile when I see it.


These pockets are perfect for my glasses case and phone. I added a magnetic snap at the center above the pockets, to hold the bag closed.


I thought the shirred handles shown in the pattern photo looked dated, so I made stiff ones. I cut them a few inches shorter, as I don't carry bags on my shoulders. The handles are made with the technique I described in my previous post. I love how rigid the Craf-Tex makes them. They don't crumble in my hand!

Before assembling the outer bag, I cut pieces of heavy Craf-Tex the size of the sides of the bag. The corner edges of the bag are edgestitched, which holds the Craf-Tex in place. Craf-Tex is a very stiff product that gives the bag the rigidness and stability I like. I didn't use it on the ends, because I wanted them to fold in.



Applying the binding was the point at which this became The Bag to End All Bag Making. I vowed to never make another handbag again, ever. I recall begging the Universe to save me from myself. Sewing through all of the layers and getting the binding even were very demanding tasks, and tried my patience. it was quite crazy making!


In hindsight, I should have used the lite Craf-Tex, as the heavy was very difficult to stitch through, especially with 8 other layers involved. It was a real struggle for my machine, and I had to hand stitch the ring tabs in place on the inside, as my Pfaff just couldn't handle it.


Surprise, surprise - the Universe did not save me from myself. (Does it ever?) Two weeks later, I made another bag. With Craf-Tex only in the handles. And lots of paint, lots of color, and lots of play. It was a blast. So was this one, actually. I really enjoyed the process, enjoyed seeing what the bag became as I worked on it. And now I enjoy carrying it. It's not a canvas tote, but my handbag necessities fit inside, and I can even squeeze a sandwich into it!



31 comments:

  1. OMG, Dixie...this is incredibly fabulous! You should go in the business...no, I really mean it. Wonderful!

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    1. Margy, you've given me great encouragement. I've been considering making bags for years. The only drawback with them is the time involved in making them. I have a large stash of remnants, and I feel like making more bags, so I think I'll give it a try!

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  2. Wow, Dixie. What perseverance! A beautiful bag, but what a process!!

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    1. Hi Shams! It was worth it all, as I really like the bag and get many compliments on it.

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  3. How utterly FUN! And FABulous! But omegosh the work that goes into making a bag....ANY bag, but especially this one...wow.

    Regarding blogging, I'm finding that if I spend a bit of time just jotting down notes midproject - not when I'm fresh; just the opposite, in fact - and I take pictures along the way & start a Picasa album for that project - then it's kind of all there when I'm actually ready to write my blog post. I don't always do it that way, but for a long project, it really helps.

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  4. That's a very cool bag. VERY cool!

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    1. Thank you, Gwen. And thanks for supporting my blog!

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  5. Wow. Simply Wow. This is absolutely fabulous. My first thought when I saw the photo was "she made that Marcy Tilton bag". I have that pattern too, but it is extremely unlikely I will ever produced something as fabulous as this.

    You are an artiste!

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    1. Hi Elle - You are an artiste, too, and you can make a great looking bag. You have it in you; you just have to look for it!

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  6. What a lot of work, but so worth the effort. Great bag!

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    1. Thank you, Rhonda. I'm carrying this bag every day, and really enjoying it. So it was worth every minute of effort!

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  7. Wow, Dixie, your creativity never ceases to amaze me! Sometimes the most challenging products are the most rewarding. (And sometimes they are just a PITA!)

    Re blogging: Theoretically, I keep a notebook with notes, pattern changes, dates, fabric swatches, etc, which help me remember when I am writing a post. This summer I haven't been good about keeping up my notebook, partly because a bomb went off in my studio. (The bomb's name being Andrea, who in a fit of "organization" reduced the studio to a hot, hot mess.) When I keep it up, it's most helpful!

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    1. Hi Andrea! Thanks for your comment and your tip. I, too, keep a record as I construct. I seem to just collapse after the project is finished. When it's done, I'm done. I think that's why it's so hard for me to blog about things after they're made. Which is another reason I'm going to try to do it as I make the item. We'll see!

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  8. That is one amazing bag. Congratulations on having the wonderful ideas and the stamina to finish it off. I know what bag-making anxiety is like...I've just done Amy Butler's Weekender. I almost had a nervous breakdown. But the end result, just like yours, is worth it!
    I love it. :)

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    1. Hi Alison! Thanks for your compliments. I need to go check out your bag now. Making a bag is both fun and painstaking, but the rewards are great!

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  9. For me a project isn't DONE until I've finished the notes! I keep a binder with my final write-up with photos, swatches, scraps, etc. And I also try to get that final write-up on the blog at the same time, though sometimes the blog post comes first and sometimes the paper version. The trick is to do it very soon before I forget the all details.

    The bag is really fabulous, Dixie, and a tour-de-force of your surface design talents!

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    1. Thank you, Louisa, for your praise and your hint. Your binder idea is a good one, although I probably won't ever be that organized!

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  10. Dixie - that bag is absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful Bag. Thanks for the details.
    Marciae

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    1. Hi Marciae - Thanks for stopping by my blog, and for your kind words.

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  11. What a rollicking bag! I need to take a nap after just reading what you did to produce this marvel.

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    1. Rollicking - yes! It was indeed a lot of work, but so much fun. I worked on it 2 to 4 days a week, for a couple of weeks, so it wasn't just day after day of sewing it. That made the process a lot more enjoyable.

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  12. Dixie, you are such a talented artist, and your work is also quite precise. This bag is just a little treasure of ideas and surprises. What I especially appreciate is the fact that your pics are clickable to enlarge. It saddens me when so many details are lost to those of us over a certain age. This post was a treat!

    Karendee

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  13. Karendee, thank you for your praise. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the photos. I, too, get frustrated when I can't see details in someone's work. My sister gave me a professional camera, and it takes great close-ups, so I try to show as much detail as I can.

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  14. I am in awe of your bag making skill! Whilst I would agree that you could sell these - could you actually get a price that justifies the effort you put in? It would have to be high end to make it worth your time.

    I have had 'bag' on my wish list of things to make for ages. I can't decide if you have raised it a few notches or scared me into sending it to the bottom as I can't come close to yours!

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  15. Hello Material Lady, and thanks for stopping by. I would never try to sell a bag constructed like this one because of the enormous amount of time involved in making it. But I am currently making the first two of a collection of bags which I hope to sell. I'm watching the clock and attempting to streamline the cutting, pressing, and sewing processes. And I'm using fabric remnants from my stash, so it's only costing me my time.
    The prices will be high, and I think they can be because they are one-of-a-kind and each will have painting or some other artistic embellishment.
    I've wanted to make bags to sell for about 15 years. I've decided it's time to give it a go! I'll never know if I don't try. A bit scary, but also very rewarding in the creative arena.

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  16. A gorgeous bag, the quilting does indeed add a Wow! factor. I'm glad you got around to posting the details :)

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  17. Awesome job on this bag! I've had this pattern in my stash for, like, EVAR - and haven't gotten up enough nerve to put in what I knew would be an enormous amount of time to make it a reality. You've given me courage, so thanks! Give making the bags a go - you have all the skills in your arsenal to do it - I recently bought the book "Handbags 101" which has template type patterns for you to use as a springboard for your own designs - the samples they photographed are done in plain canvas so that you don't get caught in the "oh I have to make it like theirs" mind-trap. You already know how to add and implement your own ideas so I'll bet you would do well if you make the plunge into making to sell!

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  18. P.S. - I have the same problems with photographing and taking notes while in the midst of a project. It's hard to be left-brained & right-brained at the same time!!! I usually end up with a bunch of random, untagged photos and no idea how to write things up, which has made my blogging slow down a lot this summer. Some of your readers' ideas are awesome and I think I'll try out a few of them!

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  19. Thank you, Carolyn, Eileen and Diana, for your comments. I appreciate them!

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