This weekend I’ll be attending
Hands On Sewing School in Old Town Alexandria. It will be my first time attending something like this. I’m a little nervous attending it alone since none of my friends were able to go with me, but it is so close to home that I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to attend. It will be 3 days (Friday-Sunday) of sewing and embroidery with a combination of classes and hands-on sewing time each day. There is also a welcome reception on Thursday evening that I plan to attend. I decided I would like to make a tote bag to use for the weekend. My friend and I already had a craft day planned this past weekend and I decided to skip my original plan of working on Christmas gifts and make the tote bag instead. (What’s a little procrastination, right? 😂)
 |
Crafting with a friend is "sew" much fun! |
I decided to make the
Strip Tote Bag from Sweet Pea and decided on the 7x12 size design. I used a jelly roll which is a collection of fabric strips that are 2 1/2” wide. The instructions called for 120 strips of fabrics that are 2” wide, but I just used the 2 1/2” strips cut to the right length to save time and it worked out fine. Sewing 120 strips of fabric sounds like a lot of work, but it really went much faster than I expected!
For the decorative stitching that’s on the top of each panel, I used a clear metallic thread (thanks to the suggestion of my friend who also let me use her metallic thread!). It was my first time using a metallic thread. I’ve heard people say they can be hard to work with and I will admit it took a little more attention than working with regular embroidery thread. Coming off the spool holder the thread was getting kinks and breaking a lot. I tried slowing the speed down, but that alone didn't help much. I had read the tip of putting the spool in a coffee cup so I tried that and it was a little better but I still had to watch it closely and it was still getting quite a few breaks. I eventually ended up sitting the coffee cup on the floor with the spool in the mug on it’s side and that seemed to give me the best results. I still had occasional thread breaks, but it was bearable.
 |
Metallic thread in a coffee cup which I eventually
moved to the floor for the best results. |
 |
Decorative stitching being sewn onto
one of the six panels for the bag. |
I added the monogram to one of the panels while I still had it in the hoop so I didn't have to worry about trying to center it later. I used the
Intertwined Vine Interlocking Monogram Font from
itch2stich. I used the 3.5" size for this bag. Once the panels were done, the bag went together pretty easily. I strayed from the directions for making the strap and did mine following
this tutorial from Simplicity (minus the extra stitching down the center of the strap). I love the way the bag turned out and I can't wait to use it! I'm all ready for sewing school now! Stay tuned to hear how it goes.
 |
The finished bag! |
Happy Stitching!
The designs are so pretty and dynamic.This will be one of the best designs
ReplyDeleteembroidery digitizing service
embroidery digitizing services
custom embroidery digitizing
custom embroidery digitizing company
custom embroidery digitizing service
free embroidery digitizing service
cheap embroidery digitizing service
embroidery and printing services
Bright & happy quilt! Nice post
ReplyDelete3d puff digitizing applique
applique digitizing service