The first step was to create the Meringue Clutch: The idea for this bag was for it to have cute gathers in the outside fabric, but I had other ideas. The big reason was my fabric. Because this is a clutch I wanted it to be 'fancy' and to that end I found this amazing gold fabric (already backed no less) in the remnant pile at Joanns. I knew this fabric would take well to gathering and since it already had an awesome texture to it, I left that part of the instructions off. Also, to bring back the 'puffy' look that would have been provided by the gathers I used fusible fleece inside instead of just the shapeflex and deco-bond that was called for. The results... I LOVE IT!
The lining, contrast and handle are all from a heavy duty shirting (almost feels like ultra-suede) I had left over from one of my husband's shirts, and yes, it's a little large for a 'clutch' but honestly it's a great size for actually carrying stuff! I want to make more of these as they made up rather quickly. I may even try scaling the pattern down slightly by printing it smaller and see how it turns out. The only thing I think I would do differently is to just attach the handle to the zipper. I own other clutches that are set up that way and it not only works well to keep the thing closed ( the weight of the bag hanging from your arm keeps it zipped shut, but the handle makes a good zipper pull as well.
Next was the wonderland bag
This is one of the nice barrel bags and I decided to make mine out of Red and Blue striped upholstery fabric from the 1/2 off flat folds section at Beverly's Fabric and blue piping. I have to admit I LOVE THIS BAG!
It's seriously HUGE (as one of my friends said - looks like it's the size of a mailbox) and just so cute! My son's girlfriend fell in LOVE with it and I thought may try to take it :D. This is certainly going to take it's place as my every day bag... as soon as I figure out the zipper. The zipper I used is way way way too small to effectively use this bag and the process of trying to fix it when the bag is already assembled is vexing me. But this bag is worth figuring it out.
And lastly we come to this month's bag. The "Bee Sweet" Bag. for this I used another upholstery fabric for the body and a leather like vinyl for the flap. for the lining I used a gold satin. This bag challenged me but more because of the fabrics I chose then anything. The upholstery fabric frayed if I so much as looked at it and the satin I had picked up out of the remnant bin did the same. the vinyl + fabric + fleece lining were so bulky in the flap that I jammed my machine a few times and combined they all make a fap that doesn't want to close :-\ (though I've decided to try closing it with velcro) and frankly I think it's a little small for the bags opening. Had I to do it over I would leave out the scallops on the edge - as they were added to leave room for the handles wich I didn't add anyway because I only wanted the one long strap. Despite all my issues, I think it's a rather handsome bag and I've started using it right way as my new laptop bag (it's a great size for it and all the fleece in the bag's body makes it perfect padded for the job).
And that's it for the May Bag roundup - I'll be back with a little to say about the actual clothes I made this month :D
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