Sewing in the Craft Room

Aloha, all!

     By now you know that Robin's Craft Room isn't all just paper and ink for scrapbooks and cards.  But up until this year the extent of the non-paper crafting projects has been limited to my crocheting projects.  No more, as I'm sure you've noticed as I've begun playing with fabric.  First it was just any fabric cut oh so easily with Sizzix Big Shot dies.  And now that the Stampin' Up! 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog is here, it's Stampin' Up! fabrics and those Sizzix Dies.

    

     This is my latest project – actually our latest project as my friend and neighbor, Deme, brought her fab Huskvarna/Viking sewing machine over to do some real sewing for me!  The bag is on the smallish side – about 10" wide – but a perfect little tote for shopping and such.  The squares on the front of the bag were cut out, 8 at a time, using the brand new Scallop Squares Duo Die, a Stampin' Up! Exclusive Die!  We cut the fabric first into roughly 3-1/2" squares before placing on the die over the larger of the two scallop squares, which is about 3" square.  You can believe I don't want to waste a thread of Stampin' Up!'s gorgeous fabrics!  We cut 4 squares each of two of the fabrics from Stampin' Up!'s Deck the Halls Collection.  We also cut 4 squares each of coordinating solid fabrics I purchased at a local shop.

     The most time consuming part of this whole project was two artistic minds trying to decide how to lay out the various fabrics.  Here's the layout we finally chose.  Hint:  do as we do, and take a picture of the layout before you start sewing.  That way you don't forget!

     Once Deme sewed all the squares together, the next step was to decorate the center of each square with a star.  Here we used three Stampin' Up! products.  After the Deck the Halls Fabric the first was the Big Shot Fabric Adhesive Roll, also a brand new product in the Holiday Mini Catalog, and then the Big Shot Stars #2 die.  The fabric adhesive is one of the greatest inventions ever!  Of course, it's not Stampin' Up!'s invention; but their version of the iron on adhesive for appliques is top notch.  We were totally impressed by (1) how easily it ironed on to the piece of fabric, (2) how easily it went through the Big Shot, and (3) how quickly and easily those stars were ironed on to the bag front.  For the stars, we used the second largest star from the Stars #2 die, which fit perfectly on the 3" squares.  No need to take a photo of this step as we ironed the stars on just as soon as we laid them out!

     We then had to decide which buttons to use to embellish the bag front.  We started off with some of the Big Designer Buttons featured in the Holiday Mini Catalog.  But to use just those really big buttons with these small squares was a bit overwhelming.  So off I went to scrounge up some Designer Buttons from the Regals and Neutrals collections from the 2010-2011 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog.  A perfect mix of the three sets of buttons!  Again, we laid the buttons out and, since we were going to have to remove them to allow me to hand sew them on, we took a photo.

     The construction of this bag is different from those that you may have seen (I shared one here back in the Spring) using the Scallop Square Bigz Clear Die (though we did use this die for the side and back pieces – more in just a second).  This is not quilted at all – just pieced and appliqued.  We also did not make the entire bag out of the squares.  But we still wanted to have the scallop edges showing all around the seams of the bag to keep the "shabby chic" feel to it.  This was a bit on the tricky side.  For the side of the bag, we cut a strip of solid fabric to a measurement twice the height of the bag plus the width, plus an extra inch to allow us some leeway for gathering at the corners.  We folded the strip several times to make the length of the folded piece shorter than the length of the side of the Scallop Square Bigz Clear Die and then just cut one edge of the strip with the die, then the other edge. 

     After sewing on the side of the bag, we remeasured the inside of the bag and cut a piece of contrasting solid fabric 1-1/4" wider and longer than the inside (which was 9-1/4" square at this point).  We then folded the fabric in both directions so that only two parallel sides would be cut by the die.  Once that edge was cut, we cut the other two sides.  That left us with a 9-1/2" square, perfect for sewing onto the sides to make the back of the bag. 

     I hope that you've enjoyed this quick explanation for how we made this delightful project!  When I make the bag using the Candy Cane Christmas fabric, I'll write up a proper tutorial, including all fabric requirements!  Until then, if you'd like to try these projects out, I'll be glad to help you place an order for everything you need and then coach you through the construction – if you're on the Big Island we can do it in person!   Or you can shop 24/7 on my website!  Either way, you'll have the opportunity to make some great holiday gifts!

Have Fun!