Friday, May 22, 2015

A Different Kind of Gift Bag

Daughter-dear is a master at fabric gift bags, so when it was her special day, I couldn't resist stitching one up for her. Rather than my typical draw-string bag, I went for the Big Patchwork Tote by Ayumi Mills/Pink Penguin from Krista Hennebury's book,  Make It, Take It: 16 Cute and Clever Projects to Sew with Friends. I had made the Little Patchwork Tote a while back, and knew it wouldn't hold Rachel's gift. But at 21" wide x 13 1/2" tall, I suspected the larger one would, plus I figured it would be very reusable as a tote.

This bag goes together very nicely, and even on the second go-round, the bottom panel came together like magic. I didn't think to get a photo of that, but it's clever construction. One added note, I chose to use Pellon PF101 Shape-Flex interfacing, rather than the fusible fleece or heavy interfacing suggested. Basically, I am just really fond of the woven Shape-Flex, though it obviously made a pretty lightweight, unstructured bag, which I like.


And dare I say, I could hardly go wrong mixing and matching my Cotton + Steel prints. I'm pretty sure Rachel was good with that too.

11 comments:

  1. lucky Rachel! that's one snazzy gift bag.

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  2. So pretty! I do adore pretty much all Cotton and Steel prints. They have got such a fantastic contemporary look. -Letty

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  3. Very cute and love your fabric combo!

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  4. I haven't been such a fan of Cotton and Steel - until I saw this absolutely beautiful tote you made. Okay, so maybe I need to take another look at them, right? And you are not alone - I am positively ADDICTED to Shape Flex. I buy it yards at a time and never let myself run out. I don't know which I would take with me to a desert island, SF-101, automotive headliner, or Wonder Clips - can't live without any of them :) Thanks for sharing your lovely work.

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  5. This turned out beautifully!

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  6. Lovely bag! I love these colours together, i can't get enough of navy at the minute

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  7. Gorgeous bag Debbie - love the colours!

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  8. Great Bag!! I love the 101 as well. I think this book is next on the list! So many great makes!! Happy Day to the Daughter Dear :)

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  9. This bag has been on my must make list for a while. Yours turned out beautiful

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