The Planet Earth Bag

I've started another Koos Bag, Vogue 1311     . This one is for moi. As I started putting together my fabrics and shapes I realized my colors looked like earth from space. That required I put a circle of hand dyed wool on the bag. Now it really looked like Planet Earth. I started to get more excited about the project.

 This bag, like the other, has lots of textures going on. The bias strips are hand dyed rayons and the other hand dyeds are wool. You also see here a home dec brocade and a heavy corduroy. The brown is a poly suiting. All has been interfaced with fusible fleece. You can't see it but there is also some machine quilting happening here as well. Since I did a tutorial on the unique Koos Zipper already I thought this time I would focus on the Koos Buttonholes.

Koos Buttonholes

I followed the directions exactly on these, up to a certain minor point in the construction. My choice of fabric made a nice bias shape so I stayed with the three dimensionality of it all as you will soon see. 

The first requirement of the button instructions is to sew a 3/4 inch hem folded underneath. This did not fit on the bag and still leave room for the zipper. I decided to use a one inch hem and mitered the hem on the BH appliques.

You can see the pressed folds from the first attempt here.  The BH  appliques are placed RS of app to wrong side of the bag after marking. Here is how I marked the holes. The bag straps will eventually come through the BH when done.

 I marked the actual BHs with waxed paper and a serrated wheel. Then I realized it was exactly a quarter inch wide so outcame the 1/4 inch masking tape.

I stitched around the tape. The important thing to remember here is to not start in a corner. Start and end stitching on one of the long lines of stitching instead.

The buttonhole is now cut with a BH chisel and into the corners with the applique scissors. You will have to really push down on the chisel as there are lots of layers here. This is just like a bound BH. I guess we will call it a "faced" BH.

Now the fun part! Turn and press your applique. Pin down the folds as shown on the pattern instruction sheet. Rayon on the bias has a mind of it's own so I went for curved outer edges on one side here. As long as what you do is consistent from BH to BH it will look fine. I discovered I really liked the three dimensionality of this so made a decision to not press it down. Just my personal choice. Once pinned you are ready for topstiching.

The instructions have you not stitch the pleat. I disregarded that and stitched it all down all the way around the applique. It gave a nice tight finish.Here is my version, a totally topstitched, puffy BH:

 

I have a couple more to stitch down and then it will be on to appliqueing the sides of the bag. I need to get a silver paint pen today so I can swish my initials and date somewhere on this. Have you tried Sharpie's metallic paint pens? They are fabulous!

Thank you to everyone for all your kind comments and encouragement while putting together the new dress form who will now be called Tilly from this day forward. You really inspire me to new sewing levels all the time. Thanks so much for that and I treasure all of you......Bunny

Raggy Fabric Flowers

These fabric flowers can be seen everywhere right now, on home dec, garments, handbags, etc. I made this one from the hip and made a second one to show you how. That will end up as a hair ornament for Sophie. There are subtle differences between the two which taught me the best way by the time I was done the second one. Here we go:

Spray starch your fabric if it is limp like this cotton. Draw a circle on your foundation fabric the size of the completed flower.

Cut out with pinking shears. Starting in the middle draw a spiral. This will not show when complete and need not be perfect. Give yourself a healthy 1/4 inch between rows.
Cut a bias strip or strips one inch wide. Stitch together as needed to give yourself about 20 inches. You can simply overlap the strips instead of accurate seaming. You are going for a "shabby chic" look here. Once the strips are cut and sewn iron them in half, BUT, favor one side by about an 1/8th of an inch. I did this with the first flower and it looks much better even with the backside being a different shade.

Now comes the only tricky part. This went swimmingly on the first flower but took three tries on the second. Let me save you the aggravation. It is really important to line up the strip as you see above. Take the folded edge and place it to the right. Put that fold on the beginning of the line at the center of the circle. Take a few anchor stitches. Get yourself out a shishkabob stick, stiletto, or a dental pick like you see here. With the folded edge on the pencil line, stitch the strip down. Every few stitches use the stilleto to force a pleat into the strip as you stitch. This is a bit futzy but the entire flower will only take you minutes to sew. You do not need perfection here. Continue around the spiral until you reach the end. You may or may not use all of your strip. Remember the bigger the flower, the longer the strip you need.
You will be left with a space in the center once it is all stitched. Wad up a piece of the strip, a couple of inches, and just tack it down in the center. You are just filling space here and it needn't look pretty. It will be covered with the floss stamens.

Pick out the color floss you want to use for the stamens. Wrap around two fingers till it looks like the above. Take the loop off your finger and place it in the center of the flower. Stitch it down back and forth a few times, the narrower the better. Once stitched down, cut the loops, trim shorter if needed, and fray out a bit. Take your pinkers and cut back the foundation to the last stitched line of the spiral. Trim  threads. You can do a few things here. Depending on the fabric, you can favor the folded edge not at all or a lot, for different effects. You can trim the edge with pinkers for a different effect. You can combine two fabrics to make your spiral strip, something I have seen in retail, like a linen and and organza of the same shade. These literally take minutes to make and I think are pretty cute and certainly on trend. Have fun!
  I like my first flower better with the favored edge and the straight edges. This will be cute in Sophie's hair, however.

***We will be leaving tomorrow for a trip to Cape Cod to deal with Ern's mom's health issues. She is 84 and experiencing severe dementia and the police found her roaming in the middle of the night last week in her  nightgown and socks at 1:30 in the morning. She was hospitalized with hypothermia and severe dementia and is moving into a nursing facility. The family is rallying around and much needs to be said and done. My heart goes out to any and all of you dealing with these issues. Sad to say we have prior experience with my own Mom when it comes to this. Till next week....Bunny