Fabric Friday

Yeah, for another edition of Fabric Friday.  Today's project is.... another tote.  Haha.  I think I'm developing a tote fetish.

This fabric is from the Summer Smooches suite.

I didn't use my Big Shot to cut the squares this time.  I wanted the squares to be a bit bigger.  Oh,  my inspiration bag is from Sandy.  Here's a note, more to myself than anyone else, READ what she said closely.  She used the Big Shot Scallop Square die... I cut my squares bigger.  So my bag dimension is not the same as Sandy's.  Two, after making this bag, I realized the importance of precise cutting and lining up the seams between the squares.  Or maybe if I knew how to sew better, I'm sure there's ways to compensate for my shortcomings.  Oh well, just realize I am a novice sewer and what I make is only to make myself happy. :)

When I saw Sandy's bag, I just LOVE the ruffles on top.  I know ruffles are not easy to do.  But I just had to try it.  I found THIS VIDEO online and thought it seemed easy enough.  I found that on my machine, I had to do 2 stitches in order to draw up the bobbin thread.  You may just have to play with your machine to figure it out.  That was the toughest part of the whole thing.  Then, just make sure you set your machine to the widest and longest zig zag stitch and go slow.  Oh, #3, another note to self, make sure the piece of fabric for gathering is minimum 2" when folded.  Do the gathering stitch about 1/2" in; then sew onto bag about another 1/4" further in.

This bag turned out to be reversible, so I made sure to have a pocket on the inside, too.

The whole figuring out how to pin each layer and where to place each element/layer was a bit confusing.  I think I had to rip out seams at least twice.  Definitely much harder than making cards.  In another Fabric Friday, I will show you another bag with a pictorial of how to put each layer together.