My First Enigma Pouch

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And there will be more to come!

Every couple of years, designer Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness designs a collection of bags and pouches that are relatively easy to sew and comparatively less expensive due to a minimum of hardware. Yes, the bundle is pricey, but always worth the expenditure, in my opinion. There are typically twelve or thirteen patterns in the bundle and they make great gifts.

And a gift is just what I needed. My elder son, who lives in the D/FW Mid-Cities, has a lady friend now, after a long spell with no special person in his life. He is the happiest I recall ever seeing. The new partner and I haven’t met in real life yet, and may not before we meet in Seattle a year from today to cruise the Inside Passage to Alaska. But, in communications with them, I keep reiterating how happy I am that they have met.

So, in my position, what does a bagmaker do? Why, this bagmaker makes a bag!

Meet the Enigma Pouch, from Minikins 4. Based on her fabric choices in the illustrated bag, I believe Sara has envisaged it being used by crafters and sewists to corral their most frequently used notions. In my perfect world, I would use it for make-up or hair supplies when traveling.

I vacillated about inserting the zippered pocket across the interior. I was concerned that at about 7″ wide and only 3″ tall, it wouldn’t be very useful. But I finally decided to go with it. When I make one for myself (soon!), I can compare mine with this one and see which I prefer.

For this first go-round, I chose two coordinating fabrics from Tula Pink’s True Colors collection: Hexy Rainbow in Ink for the exterior, and Mineral in Agate for the lining. I gave Son’s Partner the choice of the Agate (pink) or Topaz (pale blue) and she chose the first. Then, having decided to change the branding of my work, I attached the first of the new JanBags labels. I believe I got that zipper from Zipper Valley. It is “Black – #5 Rainbow Nylon Coil Zipper Tape.” If you make bags and haven’t tried zippers-by-the-yard yet, what are you waiting for? They’re so easy to work with! I can’t identify the pulls, but the finish is gunmetal. By the way, I always waterproof my bags, inside and out, with ScotchGard. Any stains should be able to be removed with a damp cloth.

It’s a pretty straightforward bag to make. I goofed up on attaching the side to the bottom, but it was my own damned fault—I wasn’t paying attention and was hurrying to finish the bag before leaving on vacation. If you are a visual learner, as I am, there’s a video that walks you through the complete construction of the bag.

This was shipped off to Texas the day before we left for a week in Northern Michigan. When we get back, I’ll finish cutting out all the pieces and sewing the second bag, which will go to my almost-14yo granddaughter who just graduated this week from 8th grade in Traverse City. Then I’ll make one for myself.

So, for now, bye from Northern Michigan.

A Tote for a New Baby

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I love the excitement that enthuses a family when a new baby is on the way. I first learned about this Little One shortly after her grandmother-to-be did, and have felt a special kinship because of that serendipity. So it’s natural that I would want to sew something to welcome the babe. I decided to make a bag that would benefit the grandma, the mom, and the babe. Since the grandmother and the mother work together, I chose a tote bag the mom could use when Little One was being transported to grandma—something that would carry all those baby necessities that are required to make all parties comfortable and happy.

I turned to my favorite pattern designer, Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness Patterns. She has a free pattern that she uses as incentive when new followers sign up for her email list. It’s the Oslo Craft Tote. Sara’s intention was to hold a sewist’s tools when going for a play date with another sewist, or when heading to a class to learn something new.

This tote has pockets galore. The front has three small pockets, each side has a pocket with a snap flap that closes the pocket. The back has a long slip pocket, and the interior is divided into three equal sections.

That divided interior section caused me the most trouble. Somehow, when cutting out the eight pieces that become the divider, I cut two extras. I made the pocket pieces that comprise the pockets on each end of the lining. But as I assembled that divider insert, I grabbed those two extra pieces and left off the end pockets. Oy! Jack the Ripper got some exercise before I finished the insert.

The rest of the bag components were fairly easy to assemble, although time-consuming. Each completed step made me smile. I loved the way this bag looked. Absolute love.

I wanted to tuck some sort of gift inside the bag. I searched several sites for baby blankets and found this Crane baby blanket in a shade of green that went beautifully with this bag. It was not available in any store near me, but Amazon carries the Crane blankets, so I was all set. Amazon link.

I delivered the bag to the grandma a couple of days after the babe made her surprise early arrival. She loved the bag and delivered it to her daughter shortly thereafter. A few weeks later, I received the most beautiful thank you note I’ve ever received in my life. I have since met this beautiful little girl. She’s healthy and happy, and the whole family is in love with her.

And I’m feeling very lucky to be able to bring happiness like this.





Legacy

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If you’ve read my blog posts over time, you know that I derive much pleasure and peace from my sewing activities. The knowledge that my grandchildren share some of that love with me makes me very happy. So imagine my joy when my grandson, known as Co, texted me last week to tell me he wanted to get a sewing machine, and asking if I had any ideas.

Co is two months short of 21, and a junior at the College of Wooster in Ohio. He is a lover of all things artistic, including especially dance, musical theatre, and photography, and of helping people who are struggling in one way or another.

I helped him make a t-shirt about 10 years ago, and he’s been helping out in the costume shop at Wooster, so this sewing machine discussion was not just a statement from nowhere. He had been trying different things with fabric and using glue to “sew” it together – wondered what that garment piece would be like actually sewn. When I told my partner about this conversation, he suggested I give my grandson one of my machines. WHAT?!

Co doesn’t like to ask me for things. I knew, when he asked, that he was figuring he would pay for this machine himself, and was thinking maybe he could get a machine for around $125. (I started saving for his education when he was born, and he frequently expresses his gratitude for the college tuition payments and the fact that he will graduate in a year with no debt. So he tries not to ask for more.)

I called him yesterday to ask if there was any space in his schedule to meet me in Cuyahoga Falls at Barnes Sewing Center to look at sewing machines.

When the owner, Chris, was free of customers, we started walking around the store and talking. I bought my second Juki and a Baby Lock coverstitch machine from him a year ago. I told him I was thinking of Juki or Baby Lock or maybe Bernette. When I said I wasn’t so sure about Bernina anymore, he said the Bernettes were made by Janome. I liked that the Baby Locks I was looking at were small and lightweight – perfect for a dorm room. He told me they were made by Brother, and we walked over to the Brother table, where Co fell in love with the Pacesetter Innov-ís PS500. We ended up getting the machine, extra bobbins, decent sewing shears, five spools of thread, a small purple Oliso iron and and ironing/cutting surface, three packs of needles (11, 14, and denim), and a marking pen, along with a trolley case that he can store everything in, in his room. I hope/believe that once he is properly equipped, he will fall as deeply in love with sewing as I have. I think I’ll make up a couple of bag kits out of my stash to see if he also falls in love with bagmaking.

When I was a child, and it was time to add another musical instrument to my skillset, my parents would get a good, new instrument. When my children were young, I would do the same for them. When Tyler started playing drums and asked for a drum set, I traded in my 30-year old clarinet and oboe to buy a new drum set for him. I didn’t want Co to be learning on a used machine and then have to drive many miles to get the machine adjusted or repaired. I’ve never bought a used car. I buy new and take very good care of my purchases, making them last as long as possible. That’s just the way I was raised. May this new Brother sewing machine last Co for 30 years of contented stitching.

The love of sewing, passed from my mother to me, and down to Co and Celeste, continues.

A Hostess Gift

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We have a sextet of friends who dine together most Sunday nights at a Mexican restaurant that’s midway between our homes. In the week leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, Mary Lou suggested she cook dinner on Sunday evening and we eat at their lovely new condo so we could escape the noise of the restaurant as people cheered and screamed over the game. (A lot of local football fans are partial to the San Francisco team, as the owner is from Youngstown. And other diners are just passionate about football, no matter who is playing. That much passion adds up to noise.) When MaryLou emailed the invitations, she included the directive that we didn’t need to bring anything, unless we wanted something other than wine or beer to drink with dinner. Well, we Southern Belles have a code we live by concerning walking into someone’s home empty-handed. I couldn’t ignore that code.

Mary Lou is a contemporary quilter who uses her hand-dyed fabrics to make fabulous quilts. Every so often, she will pass along to me scraps of her hand-dyes that didn’t make it into a quilt. I stash them away, then occasionally use them in my bag making.

So what better hostess gift for a quilter than something created from her own skilled work?

Are you familiar with the Japanese practice of Kintsugi? It involves mending broken things with gold or precious metals. A number of years back, Mary Lou incorporated the technique into her hand dyed fabrics and the result was magical. I inherited a few pieces of this “mended” fabric. While looking through my stash for suitable fabrics for a hostess gift, I found a soft blue embellished with silver. Then I remembered I had some silver vinyl that would go well with the blue and silver to make a Sew Sweetness Cotton Candy Pouch. That was the pattern I used for granddaughter Caroline’s purple bag while I was in Michigan.

I didn’t get the bag finished in time to walk in carrying it on Sunday evening, but I finished it Monday night and will drive up to her house to drop it off as soon as I finish this post.

The exterior fabric is high quality cotton. If you want to try dyeing fabric, look for an unbleached cotton that’s marked PFD—Prepared For Dyeing. The Procion dyes and other required chemicals can be purchased online from Dharma Trading Co., located in San Rafael, California. I sometimes purchase from Pro Chemical and Dye, located in Fall River, Massachusetts. My favorite books that offer a good intro to fabric dyeing are “Color by Accident: Low-Water Immersion Dyeing” and “Color by Design: Paint and Print with Dye,” both by Ann Johnston. My other recommendation, if you’re thinking of diving into this art form, is “Exploring Fiber Reactive Dyes ,” by Claire Benn.

The lining fabric has a gray background with white printing and some little metallic silver dots. I thought it was the perfect complement to the blue and silver. The collection is “Heavy on the Metal,” and the print is “Play on Words” by Jamie Fingal for RJR Fabrics.

The little fabric pull on the exterior zipper is detailed in the free pattern “Zipper Pulls” from By Annie. Thanks to Annie Unrein for her creativity and generosity.

The Cotton Candy Pouch is part of the Minikins Season One 12-Pattern Bundle from the brilliant bag pattern designer Sara Lawson, who owns Sew Sweetness.com.

If you’d like to see some of Mary Lou’s stunning quilts, go visit her website.

And a Second Granddaughter Pouch

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Took off for Northern Michigan after packing the car with—I thought—everything I would need for a visit of indeterminate length. And I left the new bag for my granddaughter on the dining table. Argh!

Fortunately, I had packaged enough projects to keep me busy, including another pouch for the granddaughter. And I was able to complete it before she left on her class trip to Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL; and Montgomery, AL.

Here’s her new JanBag (her term, not mine ) to carry her makeup. Pink and purple are her favorite colors. So now she has a new Cotton Candy Pouch, size Large. Tula Pink True Colors Fairy Dust in Daydream for exterior and in Whisper for lining.

I love the “Handmade” zipper pull. I believe I purchased them from My Handmade Space, but Zipper Valley also carries a similar pull. I love including special little touches like this to my bags.

A Granddaughter Pouch

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My younger DGD said to her mom the other day that she needed another “JanBag.” So I decided this ByAnnie Clam Up zippered pouch I made before heading out on vacation on January 1st will become a new JanBag for her.

I love this bag pattern. The pattern gives five sizes and I made the size Large. The fabric I used was from Tula Pink’s “Evergreen” collection. Again, I used the “Good Hair Day” print, only this time in the color Karma. For the lining, I used the same Neon Tent Stripe in Spirit that I used on Harper’s Packing Cube in the previous post. I quilted the exterior and lining together, making a sandwich with ByAnnie’s Soft & Stable foam stabilizer, and using the stripes to guide my quilting. Love!

Note: My phone colors are not coming out the same as the actual colors of the fabrics. I know Harper’s bag (previous post) was a much lighter turquoise/teal than it showed in the photos. Sorry about that.

As my workload is lighter this semester than last, I’m thinking I’ll do some stashbusting and make a whole set of these Clam Shells. I love how the empty pouches nest inside each other, and I love how handy these little pouches are. I hope you think so, too.

Vacation Packing Cubes for Two Sweet Little Girls

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In late November, my talked to my sister, who lives in Mt. Pleasant, SC, about my flying over to spend a few days with her as soon as I was done with my final Christmas show. She told me about her plans, and who all would be coming to visit her, and the fact that her granddaughter, Casey—whose family started the move of the extended family to South Carolina—and her two young daughters would be flying to Boston to visit friends from their time living there before the move. She also mentioned that this would be the first airplane rise for the little girls. Of course my sewist’s brain started whirling.

Note: The colors in these photos are not true to the color of the fabrics. You might look online at Etsy or google the fabric names to see truer colors done with by a more practiced photographer!

I’ve made several of designer Sara Lawson’s Sew Sweetness Vacation Packing Cubes, from her Minikins 2 collection, for myself and my younger granddaughter. I love these cubes and use them each time I travel. For the cruises we love, I put undies and PJs in the small size, t-shirts in the medium size, and pants in the large size. I have the Tetris game of fitting those three cubes into my check-in bag, along with shoes and toiletries, down to a science. Wouldn’t these make sweet little bags for these sweet little girls?

When fabric designer Tula Pink’s “Evergreen” collection was announced in Spring 2023, I immediately ordered a set of fat quarters to use for bagmaking. I thought those prints would be wonderful for Harper and Taylor. My sister told me Harper like pale turquoise and Taylor likes yellow. So I flipped through this pack of fabrics and chose the print “My Hippos Don’t Lie” in the colorway Spirit for the exterior and Tula’s “Tent Stripe” in Spirit Green lining. I had purchased some matching zippers and chose the turquoise with black teeth, and the turquoise mash fabric from ByAnnie for the front panel that zips open.

For the first time in many years, I printed labels on my HP inkjet printer. The labels said, “Commemorating Harper’s First Airplane Ride, Decdember 2023, With love from Great-Auntie Jan” and “Commemorating Taylor’s …”. Harper’s label was on a piece of the exterior fabric. Taylor’s was on a cream colored quilting weight fabric.

Back of bag. Handle made from lining fabric.

 

Interior of Harper’s bag.

None of the fabrics in the collection had much yellow in them, so I chose the lion print, “Good Hair Day” in colorway Lunar Orange for the exterior of Taylor’s bag. There was a little yellow in the print, and I hoped that would be enough for her to love the bag. The lining was Tula’s “Neon Tent Stripe” in color Nova. I used the exterior fabric for the handle on Taylor’s bag. I see these pictures don’t show the handle. I had to look back at the pictures Casey sent me from the airport to see Tay holding the bag by the handle.

I’m pretty sure the little girls didn’t pack their own suitcases. So they used the Packing Cubes as any youngsters would: They packed their favorite stuffed animals to take along on the flight.

Back of Taylor’s bag.

 

Inside of Taylor’s bag.

I shipped the package to my sister’s house. She took it to their home for Christmas eve dinner. I’m told the girls loved them.

Ready to board. Casey told me the counter agent complimented the girls on their bags. #happyauntie

The Longest Commission in History

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Setting the Stage: I have a cousin on my mother’s side whom I like very much. He has a lovely wife whom I also like very much, and with whom I share a love of theatre—she has had a long and successful career in theatre education and production; I am a collaborative pianist who works as a rehearsal accompanist for theatre productions at my local university.

She texted me over two years ago saying she had found some remnants of two pieces of cotton fabric that she and her parents bought when traveling in Egypt in the 1960s. She wondered if I might take the fabric and make some bags from it for herself and her sisters. Of course I said, “Yes,” but I didn’t realize how intimidated I would feel about cutting into this precious fabric.

I still work outside the home, and was overwhelmed with music to learn in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years. When I paired that workload with my feeling of need to find the most perfect bag patterns to use, I chewed up a whole lot of time before turning out a bag or two.

Now I’m down to the Very. Last. Bag.

I’ll show you the final six bags. At the end of this segment, I’ll give you the links to the patterns I tested and the bags I already delivered. I hope you enjoy walking through my struggle and my enjoyment with me.

I decided to make the Paladin Pouch, from brilliant designer Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness. [Link to Paladin pattern.] The pattern is designed with a wristlet strap; in the past I’ve also made it with two D-rings so it can be worn as a crossbody bag. I’ve made this bag several times—type ‘Paladin’ into the search bar on my home page to see all the posts I’ve written about its construction. It has a couple of tricky steps, but what a nice bag! Three pockets under one zipper—who could ask for anything more?!

This is the first one I made for this group. I chose the lining fabrics for all of these five bags from the colors in the beautiful print. The lining on this first bag is from RJR Fabrics, designed by Jamie Fingal. The collection is “Hopscotch,” the pattern is “Intertwining Puddles,” and the color is Sunshine. The trickiest part of the construction is twofold: to create the middle phone pocket and to sew the two exterior pockets together without screwing it up. When you buy the pattern from Sew Sweetness, you can order it with or without the video tutorial. BUY THE TUTORIAL! If you have the video to watch, you can just sew along with Sara as she demonstrates how to make the bag. You will skip all the confusion I’ve previously subjected myself to while thinking I was an advanced enough bagmaker to zip through making this bag.

I used the video, and got this great bag out. Number 1 of the final five completed—yay!

So, I started in on number two. One of the two exterior sections has a zippered pocket on the lining. It’s easy to do. I’ve done that zipper insertion many times. But I wasn’t looking at the video on this step. Bad, bad! There was something about the way the pattern pieces were identified on the written instructions that made me pick up an exterior piece rather than a lining piece in which to make the pocket. Shit!

When I turned the pocket and pressed the edges prior to sewing the zipper in place, I realized I had the exterior piece—not the lining!—and had cut the heads off all the Egyptians! Now, how could I right this wrong?

I remembered seeing some bags posted somewhere in my scrolling that had a horizontal piece of fabric covering the zipper opening. It’s a nice look for an exterior pocket. I didn’t have a pattern that showed that construction, so I just dug around in my experienced-bagmaker brain and figured out how to measure the fabric to achieve the desired end result.

I knew I couldn’t use the Paladin pattern, but thought the Metro Double-Zip Pouch, which I had also made many times, could work with the Paladin exterior pieces. Link to post of multiple Metros. I realized I could just skip the front pocket, use the exterior piece with the Headless Egyptians as the front, and the existing back as the back of the Metro. I added an interior zippered pocket to the back lining. Using these exterior and lining pieces that had already been cut out would make this Metro hack just a little larger than the Metro in Size Large. Then I could cut the bottom corners of the four pieces to make a boxed corner, and I would have a quite nice bag. Lemonade from lemons!!

Et voila! Number 2 of the Final Five was complete. I went back to my cutting table to see if I had enough of the vintage fabric to cut another Paladin half. But the more I looked, the more I realized I couldn’t make a bag of the same dimension as Number 1. The remaining fabric was too narrow. I needed to cut the exterior pieces narrower than the pieces I cut for the Paladin, and add some of the lining fabric to the sides to make it work.

I knew I could do it, but was in the mood to start sewing the next one rather than cutting, so I went back to put another zippered pocket in. Damn, damn, damn. I used the wrong piece and cut off the heads again. I might need to go talk to an appropriate medical professional to see if I should be diagnosed as ADHD. I was so annoyed. Well, I’d just make another half a Metro.

I added the extra lining strips to the exterior panels, and moved on to the zipper insertion. And with a snap of my fingers, I inserted the zipper opening into the wrong panel. Again! Sometimes my brilliance amazes even myself!

I moved ahead and finished the second Metro Double-Zipper Pouch. And now three bags were done.

I must elucidate here that this was not one continuous block of time that allowed me to produce these bags. It was an hour here. Fifteen minutes there. Every minute counts!

On to the second [legitimate, not hacked into another pattern] Paladin.

Moving deliberately and carefully, I was able to finish the second Paladin Pouch. I made it with two D-rings rather than one, and ordered a narrow purple adjustable crossbody strap so the user would be able to wear it multiple ways. And it’s ready to go.

I moved some things off my cutting table and gathered all the scraps of the bright Egyptian fabric and folded them before placing into a small plastic bag. It would go into the shipping box with all the pouches to go to Virginia.

While I was straightening out my cutting table, I realized I had a couple scraps remaining of the other fabric. I could make a couple of small pouches to tuck into the box before shipping.

I have become enamored lately of the bag patterns by Svetlana Sotak, a sewist and bag designer who lives in the Netherlands. If you’re interested in learnin how to make some simple bags, follow her on Instagram. She posts lots of reels there showing how simple some of her bags are.

One of the simplest is the Elliott Pouch. I looked at the dimensions of the three sizes of this bag, and then at the dimensions of the two scraps of fabric that I had, and cut four 7½” squares. I dug through my gold and orange remnants to find a coordinating fabric I liked for the lining. And very soon I had two small pouches that the bag owner could fill with bits and bobs to keep together inside a tote bag or purse.

And just like that (and the passing of over two years), and simple assignment—that I overthought into a very long and laborious project—was complete. Already I’m pondering what project I want to dive into next. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be one of three wall hanging quilts that I promised Jas I would make for our newly renovated bathroom, with was finished in the spring of 2021. Or for the wall over our bed. That room was also repainted in 2021.

At least I’m consistent!

Here are links to the test bags I made while trying to decide on a pattern, followed by links to the stories of the earlier bags I made and sent to Diane, about this time last year.

The first test bag is at the end of this linked page: Link

Test bag number two: Link

Test bag number three: Link

Test bag number four: Link

Test bag number five: Link

Test bag number six: Link

Test bag number seven: Link

Test bag number eight: Link

First two tote bags delivered: Link

Third tote bag delivered: Link

All the remaining bags are detailed in the body of this post, above.
Hurray for finishing!!