Anodyne Design » Totes

More New Bags!

Shannon — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:00:15 +0000

I made a few more tote bags.

I took SciFi Man’s advice and added a few interior pockets. He was right, they do make the bag better. And I think they look cute.

And then I listed them in the shop, to share the goodness. They are so perfect for spring, which seems like it might finally be settling in to stay.

A New Bag

Shannon — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:41:41 +0000

I made myself a new tote today. It’s a fairly simple design, with three pockets across the front. SciFi man tells me I ought to put a zippered pocket inside, too. That’s probably a good idea, and one I’ll try in the next draft. But for now, I’m happy with this little bag. What do you think?

And while we’re at it, here’s a gratuitous picture of a kitty soaking up the afternoon sun. Aww.

A New Machine and a Finished Project

Shannon — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:06:35 +0000

What happened to this morning’s post? It was delayed, because I was happily sewing away on my fancy new sewing machine! It was time to retire my good old generic home ec machine and bring in the new Baby Lock Creative Pro. So far, I’m loving it.

This afternoon I finished up a tote bag for a friend. She’s giving it as a baby shower gift, which I think is the perfect thing to do with a bag like this. The bag has large pockets for everything baby needs, and best of all, it can be unfolded and unzipped into a soft, flannel blanket for baby to rest or play on. My friend picked out the fabrics. She chose a gorgeous blue paisley for the exterior and, to keep Dad happy, a pale blue camouflage flannel for the interior. I hope they love it.

I’ve got a little bit of the paisley fabric left over, so expect to see it in my next project.

Custom Order Finished

Shannon — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:00:13 +0000

I just finished a custom laptop/overnight bag for a friend. It’s nice and roomy, with a zippered inside pocket and a smaller, non-zippered inside pocket. The exterior has a large pocket across the front. The bag has handles and an adjustable strap, and just to make sure nothing falls out, the whole thing stays shut with velcro. I hope she likes it.

We went shopping together to pick out the fabric, and I think she really chose some wonderfully matched colors and patterns. The lining of the bag is the cream fabric with small blue stars, which matches nicely with the blue body of the bag and multi-color blue and tan stripe. I really love when someone I live near asks me to make them a bag and we can pick the fabric out together. I’ve had the pleasure of doing this with a few friends, and I’m always so pleased with the colors and patterns they choose. So far, they have never been the ones I would have chosen but they always work together just right and they reflect something about the person who will be carrying that bag. What could be better?

Zippered Pockets

Shannon — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:00:12 +0000

I started working on a new tote bag tonight. I’ve been thinking about this particular bag for awhile, and I finally decided it was time to actually make it. I’ve still got to make the handle and put the pieces together, but most of the work is done. It’s a simple tote bag, but it does have a zippered pocket inside it. I know zippers can be scary, and zippered pockets daunting, but they really aren’t that difficult, as long as you’ve got a zipper foot for your sewing machine.

If you want to give zippered pockets a try on your own, I’ve found a few great tutorials to gently guide you through the process. Sew, Mama, Sew! has a great tutorial for zippered pockets (with bonus slip pocket and magnetic snap tutorials at the end). There’s also a very nice zippered pocket tutorial on Craftster, and this is actually the one I followed the first time I tried one of these pockets. Both of these tutorials involve cutting a slit into your lining fabric and having the actual pocket dangle between the lining and exterior of your bag. Another clever take on the zippered pocket, also available Craftster, involves attaching the pocket to the inside of the lining and then hiding the edges with strips of fabric, bias tape, or ribbon. I haven’t tried this method yet, but it definitely looks nice and I’ll probably give it a try soon.

Good luck installing your zippered pockets! I will probably finish up my new tote today, so I’ll be sharing it soon.

Roo Claims the Tote Bag

Shannon — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:00:10 +0000

Roo likes to crawl into anything that can be crawled into. While attempting to take a nice photo of the finished Charm Party Tote I was working on over the weekend I glanced away for a moment, and when I looked back, Roo had lodged himself inside the bag. It turned out the be my best photo.

Machine Quilting: Some Basics

Shannon — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:00:24 +0000

Last night I got started on putting together a tote bag. A friend of mine bought a kit to make the tote and, not being a seamstress, had some trouble with the directions. I think the finished product is going to be very cute. It’s a patchwork design with some large interior pockets and a cute envelope-style pocket on the outside. The finished tote is quilted, and since quilting is still new for me, I thought some research on machine quilting was in order.

Machine Quilting: Tips and Designs

AllPeopleQuilt.com has all sorts of clear tips to take you through the entire quilting process. In the article Machine Quilting Like a Pro, they provide direct suggestions for the best needle to use when quilting and ways to make the actual work of quilting go more smoothly. While tips are great, I wanted to know more about different quilting designs. Being a general quilting resource, AllPeopleQuilt also listed the common quilting designs:

Stitching in the Ditch: This involves stitching just inside the seam line, and results in stitches that are less noticeable.
Outline Quilting (also called echo quilting): stitching 1/4″ from a seam line, this type results in more visible stitches.
Stipple Quilting: Stitching in a random pattern. Specific shapes, such as flowers or stars, can be added into a stipple design.

Stipple quilting is most appealing to me, as it seems like the most “artistic” approach to quilting. I know many of the quilts I have admired have been stipple quilted. Of course, it also seems like the most challenging quilt design, as there’s no safe straight lines to rely on. Since this tote isn’t for me, I think I’ll resist my urge to experiment with stipple quilting and stick with outline quilting. With a patchwork design, it should be fairly easily to outline the squares.

Helpful Basic Quilting Links

Compass Rose Handbag

Shannon — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 21:24:45 +0000

I’ve finished up another new purse. There’s so many things I want to make, I have a hard time sticking to old styles. So these new on is in a style I haven’t offered in my shop before. It’s a handbag sized tote, big enough to carry all you need plus some, but not overly huge. I think it turned out really nicely. The body and handles are made with twill cotton and the outside pockets (all six of them) and lining are a great blue fabric with a print that makes me think of a compass rose–combined with the blue, it’s rather nautical. Maybe a good bag to carry to the beach? It’s got a zippered top to keep things you want in and things you don’t want out. I’ll be adding it to the shop later today. I’ve got a bit of the blue fabric left, so I may put together a matching wallet next.

My New Reversible Tote

Shannon — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 22:18:57 +0000

I finished up a new tote that I liked so much I’m keeping it for myself. It’s reversible, so it’s like two totes in one! (Although, I think I’m probably going to be favoring the side shown here a little.) The green fabric is, again, from the Tracy Porter line at JoAnn Fabrics. It is actually the leftover material from my quilt backing (and featured in this blog’s banner). I just love this fabric! The other fabric is a great blue and white diamond pattern with small gold dots on it. I bound the edges of the tote with turquoise bias tape, which was a first for me. I was actually inspired to use the bias tape after reading about it on several other blogs and tutorial sites.

Martha Stewart gives bias tapes instructions and ideas in Bias Toward the Pretty. There’s also a great Bias Tape Tote Tutorial over at Belle Epoque. And, Posie Gets Cozy talks about bias binding in her post, “How I Get My Jollies.” With all this talk and information about bias tape, who was I not to try it?

The bottom of the bag has a little body thanks to some darts. It’s lined with firm decor bond interfacing, so it keeps its shape, but it’s not so firm that it can stand up on it’s own, especially with the curved bottom the darts give it. (I may try another with a more squared-off bottom and see what I like better.) The tote seems to be just the right size for me–roomy without being huge–and although it is lined with a firm interfacing, it’s soft and rests nicely flat at my side.

Because it is a cool reversible tote, and because of the placement of the handle, there’s no closure at the top of this bag. To make up for that, I made up a small (7×4 inches) zippered pouch in matching fabric to hold important items in the tote. It’s got a great, kiwi green zipper, but I think it would look fabulous with a turquoise zipper, too. The pouch has triangular sides with a depth at the bottom of 2 1/2 inches, so it can hold quite a bit of important stuff. If I added a strap, the pouch could probably pass as a small wristlet. And it would definitely make a nice cosmetics bag. Even though the pouch isn’t interfaced, it holds its shape fairly well and can stand up on its own.

Hooray for new totes!

Self-Awareness Through Sewing

Shannon — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 00:59:00 +0000

I just finished this tote bag I’ve been working on for a couple days, and the process, I’ve learned something about myself. I get all excited about whatever I’m making, and by the time I’m finished, I want to keep it. This becomes a problem, because I really don’t need that many bags. So with a twinge of sadness, I’ve released it into the wild.

Make that two things I’ve learned. I also learned that I really enjoy adding pockets and snaps and flaps and all sorts of fanciness.

And finally, after I posted the bag, I noticed someone else had recently posted a new item, and it was hilarious. Four note cards, lovingly imprinted with the message, “suck it up cupcake.” I feel like I need these.