The Bag of the Month Club - June "The Penny Inn" by Chris W Designs. Review

A happy/sad post tonight. Happy as I get to share my thoughts on the June pattern for the Bag of the Month Club, The Penny Inn by Chris W Designs and sad because it is the last pattern for the 2015 Club.

I was thrilled to help out with some testing on this pattern.As I have tested for Christine before and made several of her other patterns, I knew this would be up to her usual high standard. Well I wasn't disappointed! It is an excellent pattern and you end up with a professional looking wallet that will have everyone who sees it asking where did you get that? - in fact I was asked that question twice today!

I will say upfront that this is an advanced pattern, but with some patience and careful reading of the pattern you will be rewarded with an excellent bag for your efforts in the end.

Like all Christine's patterns there are very detailed step by step instructions and lots of pictures to refer to help you along the way, as well as helpful tips and references back to more detailed instructions on her blog for certain steps. I highly recommend that you read the pattern carefully a couple of times before you jump in so you can get your head around all the requirements. There is a lot of cutting and interfacing required, so you might be best to step making this bag out over a few days.

Also note to self : using the green half square triangle pattern fabric probably wasn't the smartest choice as it is a pain to keep the pattern straight and matching. I gave up and went with the quirkiness of uneven pattern in my card slots as the green looks awesome with the orange!

I have been using my wallet for a few weeks now and I completely love it. There are more than enough pockets and slots and spaces than I will ever need, but I am sure I will find a way to fill them all up! I also love that it has two strap options. I keep the wrist strap on for everyday use when it is a purse in a bigger bag; but I can see that the cross body strap will come in handy in the future when I want to use it as a stand alone bag.

What an awesome way to finish up the 2015 Bag of the Month Club. I am already looking forward to next year and to finishing off the two bags I haven't quite got to yet.

Don't forget to link up your finished bags to the Flickr pool for the chance to win some awesome prizes!

Simone

Bag of the Month Club -April The Manhattan Bag from Emmaline Bags

I was so pleased to be asked by Janelle of Emmaline Bags to test her Manhattan Bag for the Bag of the month Club. 

Janelle is such a rock-star designer and all round sweetheart, who I had the pleasure of meeting earlier this year at a sewing retreat in New South Wales. There was lots of sewing, learning new skills, met a bunch of awesome girls from all over Australia, including the awesome Christine Welsh  - designer extraordinaire of Chris W Designs. There may have been some drinks or two or three and some late night Singstar shenanigans, but what goes on retreat stays on retreat as they say! 

The Manhattan Bag is a great pattern that comes in two sizes the Mama and the Miss and the Mama also has a cute little sunglasses case stowed away in the clever zipped pocket flap.

Well I can say completely truthfully that I love this pattern so much I have made four versions already! I mostly love that it is handbag sized and shaped and the zipped flap is something that I had always wanted to try.

My first tester was made based on an early version of the test pattern, the released pattern has improvements made to the construction of the front pocket, but I still love this first bag, which I made using pleather, faux fur and duchess satin and I called it the Mama Luxe. Nothing like sewing a test pattern with tricky fabrics to test your sanity in the wee small hours! The result however is a lush looking bag that more than a few people have admired and want to know where I bought it.

My second and third bags were variations of the 

Miss sized pattern option.

I omitted the slip pocket in both as these are destined as gifts for younger children, and I squared the flap off on the bag for my preschool aged boy to give it a more masculine feel. The kids loved their bags. 

I named the squared flap version the Manhattan Master.

My fourth bag was finished today and its the first version I have made with the final pattern. It has turned out perfectly and I love the new front pocket construction.

If you haven't already joined up with all the Bag of the Month fun, its not too late. Check out Sew Sweetness for all the information.

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Bag Stats - Manhattan Mama Luxe
The Manhattan Bag - by Emmaline Bags
Outer Fabric - Pleather from Spotlight 
Flap Fabric - Faux Fur from Spotlight
Inner Fabric - Duchess Satin from Spotlight
Bag Stats - Manhattan Miss
The Manhattan Bag - by Emmaline Bags
Outer Fabric - Denim from Spotlight
Flap Fabric - Hello Kitty Drill from Spotlight
Inner Fabric - Hello Kitty Drill from Spotlight
Bag Stats - Manhattan Master
The Manhattan Bag - by Emmaline Bags
Outer Fabric - Denim from Spotlight
Flap Fabric - TMNT Quilting Cotton from Spotlight
Inner Fabric -TMNT Quilting Cottonl from Spotlight
Bag Stats - Manhattan Mama 
The Manhattan Bag - by Emmaline Bags
Outer Fabric - Tiger on the Bower Echino by Etsuko Furuya for Kokka
Inner Fabric - Brushed Cotton from Spotlight in bag and flap lining

Selfish Sewing - Open Wide Zippered Pouches

A little selfish (and to be honest super easy) sewing over the last few days, Work and life have been crazy busy so I haven't had much time or energy to commit to much this week so far.

I love these open wide zippered pouch by Anna of Noodlehead. They are so useful and a nice easy sew.

I used some of my Umbrella prints stash to make this trio of pouches. They will be used for all my notions and threads for an upcoming sewing retreat.

And because I couldn't stop at just three and there was just the right size of Kokka scraps in my scrap bin, I love these little sheep.

Happy days!

2015 FAL Q1 Goals - some easy goals and a couple of challenges

I've never linked up to a Finish Along (FAL) before, but seeing as I love lists and ticking off achievements, and I seem to have a lot of starts and not many finishes I decided to join Adrienne at On the Windy Side this year for extra motivation.

I decided to start Q1 with a few almost finished projects to help the ticking off achievements feeling,which will hopefully inspire me to tackling and finishing the other projects this quarter.

1. Love mini quilt. 

Gee I have been a bit slack with this one,  Just needs to be pressed and bound. No excuses now.


















2. String Heart Mini. 

First I need to decide if it will be a mini or a cushion. Then press, quilt and bind.












3. Equilateral Triangle Cushion.

This needs a little more work. I am not happy with the quilting due to some of the piecing going askew so it will need to be unpicked and fixed before I can finish. This was a learning curve with triangles.










4. Catvent Mini

This has been sitting as a UFO for far too long. Time to quilt it and enjoy it.













5.City Slicker bag for Suse.

On my to do list for a shamefully long time now. Luckily I have an understanding friend and the FAL to kick my butt into gear. City Slicker pattern by Chris W Designs.











6. Library Bag for Jack 

My boy starts preschool at the end of January and needs a library bag. Where does the time go? A preschooler already! He chose this Alexander Henry dinosaur fabric and I will be modifying the DUMD Bigger on the Inside pattern.










7. Tula Pink Parisville Big Mini

Half square triangles will be arranged in an off centre diamond style.













8. Cushions for Bekk

A large European style cushion and a smaller square cushion. Just need a simple envelope backing.











9. Hazel Hedgehog Batik Mini

This lovely batik charm pack was received in a handmade swap a couple of years ago. I don't usually work in batiks, but this could be a fun mini. Will team it up with some greys and oranges.












Hmmm nine projects might be ambitious, but a few are quick finishes, others have deadlines and there is enough variety to not get too bored.

Wish me luck!

Linking up for the first time to the 2015 Finish Along.

The Companion Carpet Bag - Larger Version

After testing Samantha's awesome Companion Carpet Bag in the smaller version late last year, I couldn't wait for 1 January to roll around so I could get the pattern for the larger 12 inch frame version.

And it was worth the wait. I love how roomy this bag is, I think I could almost fit the kitchen sink in it. I see a few more Companion Carpet Bags in my future, as I think they will make the perfect gift and they are a pretty quick sew, one night to cut out and interface and one night to sew it up.

 I used pleather for the first time and was kicking myself that I had been a bit afraid of sewing with it previously. It looks kinda awesome and was actually easy to sew. I even managed it without a leather sewing foot, turns out a bit of sellotape on the bottom of your normal presser foot is a great hack!

I modified the pattern slightly to create two large slip pockets spanning the width of the bag. They ended up a bit gappy so next time I will elasticise the tops so that the contents will stay put in them.

This bag is also big enough to take some serious bag bling. I am loving this fantastic Hand Made medallion from Emmaline Bags and at 2.25 inches diameter you really need a large bag to get the bag to bling proportion right.

And a side by side comparison of the 8.5inch tube bag and the 12 inch tube bag.

If you haven't already joined up with all the Bag of the Month fun, its not too late. Check out Sew Sweetness for all the information.

Simone

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Bag Stats
The Companion Carpet Bag 12" Frame size by At Home with Mrs H
Outer Fabric - IKEA Botanical Print - Upholstery weight
Inner Fabric - Marmalade by Bonnie and Camille
Frame Channel - Pleather from Spotlight
Bag Bling - Emmaline Bags

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The Companion Carpet Bag - Bag of the Month Club - January 2015

Well it's January and that means Bag of the Month 2015 has kicked off.

I was thrilled to be asked by Samantha to test the January bag and of course jumped at the chance. I did some testing for Samantha of her Nappy Bag last year  and also I won second prize for my version of her Convertible Bag in last years inaugural Bag of the Month Club, so Mrs H's patterns are some of my favourites.

As with all of the Mrs H patterns, the instructions are clear and easy to follow and includes the use of interior zip and slip pockets as well as external slip and magnetic catch pockets.

I loved the challenge of using new to me hardware - an internal tubular frame and hand stitched handles. Actually the installation of the new hardware was very simple, except for the operator error on my part of initally putting the frame together back to front.

The bag comes together really quickly as well, I was able to sew it all together in one night, which is a big plus for me as I only get to sew at night these days.

The bag I tested was the 8.5 inch small frame size and for a small bag you can fit a surprising amount of stuff in it. I emptied the contents of my current daily bag, which is significantly larger into it and it all fitted.

 For scale and context the contents are:

600ml stainless steel water bottle
A5 hardcover diary
Hardcover glasses case
Necessary Clutch Wallet
Packet of Asprin
Samsung Galaxy Phone
Bank Deposit Book
Keys
Pen
LipBalm
The Incredible Hulk
Leonardo - Ninja Turtle
Matchbox plane
Dinosaur (no idea which one sorry)








And they all fitted, not too snug although there isn't a lot of rummaging room.

And yes I have a 4 year old son, these are not my toys, promise!







And after all that the bag also closed - winner!

I highly recommend all of Samantha's patterns and rate this suitable for a confident beginner.

Come and join all the fun of the Bag of the Month Club. For $40 US for 6 patterns from 6 of the most fabulous bag designers right now, its an absolute bargain.

Simone

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Bag Stats
The Companion Carpet Bag
8.5" Small Frame size
Outer Fabric - Sebastian Ghastlie by Alexander Henry Fabric
Inner Fabrics - Basic Dots Fabrics from Spotlight
Bag Bling from Emmaline Bags