Sunday, November 3, 2013

Did You Miss Me? And A Free Bag Pattern for Everyone

I've been away for two weeks. Did you miss me? Did you even notice I was gone? I sure missed all of you. Some of you will know where I've been others won't. No I wasn't on a cruise or soaking up the sun on a desert island. I was offline because I changed my internet provider. No internet for 2 weeks. When I went to the office to sign the form that I no longer required their services I must admit I hesitated and nearly had a panic attack. The thought of not being in touch with the rest of the world for two weeks was more than I could bare but sign the form I did and now I'm with a new company.

Two weeks with no internet meant only one thing, more sewing time and although I did get quite a lot done it still wasn't as much as I had hoped. The tv was to blame. I sat watching films as a substitute for surfing the web but at least my hands were free to do necessary hand stitching.

Rather than bombard you with everything in one post I'll do several posts over the next few days.

First of all I want to say a big thank you to all who sent me birthday wishes. I couldn't for the life of me work out where you all found out when it was. I thought I'd been hacked and then I came across this post 'In honor of YOU' by my dear friend Samantha from At home with Mrs H. Isn't she the sweetest and it also explains where everyone found out from.

Ok, moving on now, I want to tell you about the Kennedy Bag I tested for Sara at Sew Sweetness. Finished just in time before I went offline. Guess what, this is a free pattern and you can download it here at SewMamaSew.

Finished Size:  14” long x 11” tall x 5” deep


I couldn't get hold of the buckles that Sara used on her bag so I bought these instead.


I used upholstery fabric for the main part of the bag which I quilted to keep the batting in place as I couldn't use fusible batting on this fabric.

 
Inside there are two slip pockets and a large zipper pocket.
 








Next post I'll show you the kind of weather we've been having. Perfect for sewing days.

~ Maria ~

14 comments:

  1. I like the bag, a lot! I will have to explore your blog. I found your blog through the Sew Many Ways link up. Thanks for sharing the photos. I can understand the going without internet for a couple weeks. Good to read you have it going again.

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  2. Happy (belated) Birthday Maria!!!! I hope you had a wonderful day and treated yourself to something special on your birthday.
    I saw your Kennedy bag along with all the other bag testers and I downloaded the pattern for it. In fact I cut all the pieces out yesterday to make mine. I am going to make a few changes though to my bag. I love how yours is quilted and that darker accent fabric looks like leather! Fantastic work as usual my friend! I will be spending the day working on my bag. I hope it looks half as good as yours does, lol.

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  3. Happy Belated Maria! I have also been off the internet more than usual due to some travelling.. does feel strange! Welcome back! Love your bag!

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  4. Welcome back friend!! As you can see, I'm good with secrets ;)

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  5. As usual your bag turned out very professional. No one will believe is home made. Being off line for a bit every now and then is good I think; even if it makes us anxious. We get more time to sew!!

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  6. I saw the free pattern on another site and did not care for it But wow - when I saw it made up in the fabrics you chose, I could not believe the difference. I definitely LOVE this bag.

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  7. I missed you! LOVE your version of this bag Maria but then I think I am starting to sound like a broken record.....LOLLLL

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  8. Oh, so glad you are back Maria!
    And BELATED BIRTHDAYWISHES!
    Happy new week,
    Hugs
    Claudia

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  9. This bag is beautiful--I've admired your work from afar, but now I am venturing in to say "hello"!

    I'm fairly new to the bag-sewing world, and I'm enjoying it a lot--even the hunts for the right hardware.

    I have a question for you--you said that you quilted the fabric and batting because you couldn't use the fusible kind (the quilting is a wonderful design detail!); why is that? Is it because the upholstery fabric can't be pressed? I am interested to know!

    I'm looking forward to viewing more of your projects for inspiration!

    Krista

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    1. Hi Krista
      First of all let me tell you that you are on no reply so I couldn't answer your email personally. Hopefully you will check back and see this reply.
      Thanks for stopping by and venturing in to say hello. You guessed right, this particular upholstery fabric can't be ironed. If I did it would shrink unevenly. Some other upholstery fabrics are fine, it's a case of experimenting by ironing small pieces of fabrics to see how they react to heat. Since I use upholstery fabrics a lot I have come to recognize which ones can and can't be ironed but when in doubt I test a piece.
      Hope you'll pop back often. I love receiving comments.

      Maria

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    2. Thank you, Maria, for your reply! I have not worked with that many types of upholstery fabric enough to know that some could not be ironed. That was interesting to learn. I picked up a skirt at a thrift store recently that I plan on turning into a bag--the skirt fabric colors are similar to the fabric you've used here, so I know this bag pattern could be a possibility based on your version. :)

      I appreciate you letting me know that I'm on "no reply", but I have to admit I'm not sure what to do to change that. I'll look into it! Thanks again!

      Krista

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    3. Krista my bloggy friend Marisa did a post about no reply comments if you go to her blog http://passionetcouture.blogspot.com/p/blogging-ips.html you will find a link there that will help you sort out the problem. Btw I'd love to see your bag when you've made it.

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  10. Welcome back - I figured you were getting lots of sewing done, and I bet you did! Happy belated birthday, too - I hope you had a great day - did you get to do something nice?

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  11. Hi Maria!!!!! How happy I am to be catching up with messages, I can't read the messages every day, but today I decided to sit down with my computer and spend a few hours visiting my favorite blogs! This bag you have donne is just " beautiful", I like the colors and I like the design. Thanks for letting us know it's a free pattern... from here I'm going to look for that pattern. Nice job Maria, I like how you combined the fabrics!!!!. Congratulations for having survived two weeks without internet ... I do not know how I would have done :)
    Marisa from http://passionetcouture.blogspot.ca/

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Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Your comments mean so much to me and inspire me to create.
~Maria~