"Plaid & Patent" begins, Noriko ends

 

This Noriko bag from Lazy Girl designs was a joy to make. It is only four pieces. You cut four of the shell and four of the lining. Stitch, press, leave a hole to turn, put on the beads and button, turn and done! I made the whole thing in one day minus cutting, but cutting only took minutes the night before. This is truly a quick gift and I think cute as can be.

Here you can see the unique shape of the bag.  This is a small bag appx 9 inches tall. I downloaded the pattern but added  1/2 inch around the entire shape. The pattern also recommends 1/4 inch seams. If you are using dupioni, go bigger. The pattern also does not call for interfacing but I fused fusible fleece to the back of the shell pieces. Another small change was hand picking the top. So between using dupioni, and not topstitching thru the handles as instructed, this will be a "fancy" bag only. My next efforts will be a little more durably made. I think this would be darling in one of the Pendleton wools with some wooden beads and that  may jump up in the queue. If you have a day to make a gift, this will do it.

I have started working on the "Plaid and Patent" bag. First effort was to experiment with topstitching the patent leather. I expected a nightmare but it went beautifully. You can see my final decision here in the lower row of stitching. I thought for sure there would be some tension issues but the last row lay really smooth after adjustment. Maybe you can read my shorthand but if not, the thread was Coats XP Heavy Duty, on the beige spools. The stitch on my old Pfaff was 04, a triple stitch, each thread being restitched a couple more times before jumping to the next stitch. Stitch length was 4.0. Tension was on the dot, normal. The foot was Pfaff OA. The needle, very important, was a 12/80 Metafil needle. It has a very big eye to accommodate this heavy thread. Now that this is worked out I am on to construction. I have decided to interface the shell with hair canvas as directed. Ima gave mr tons and tons. But I will also interface the lining, maybe with Decor Bond. We shall see.

Sophie and I passed yesterday afternoon making clothespin dolls together. I told her I would show her dollies on the blog. We have Rapunzel, Papa Ernie (grand dad), and more. We had a ball and she was so intense while making these I just know she has the makings of a super sewist. Hope you all had as wonderful a holiday.....Bunny

Oooooo, if you have trouble downloading the Noriko bag, try this or this. On the second link just scroll down to the free download link. I just love this bag.