I recently visited a friend who is really enjoying making bags at the moment. She inspired me and I decided to make this clamshell bag by SewCanShe. The fabric needed to be quilted before being made into a bag and I must admit I spent a crazy amount of time following the printed shapes on the fabric to quilt it rather than going for straight lines across!
My corners are also less rounded than in the pattern as I'm away from home at the moment and couldn't print the guide so I just winged it with a lid to trace the corners so I guess my bag is a bit less of a "clamshell" than the original pattern.
Taking my time and sewing around all those shells in the fabric
in the sunshiny garden.
I made some piping with the lining fabric
and then sewed it around the zipper piece.
(Sorry evening photo, not so good lighting)
The quilted and piped zipper piece (made of 6 parts)
and the quilted main body piece of the bag ready to put together.
I realised, after cutting my main piece, that I meant to have the shells facing the other way!
Ah well, too late.
They will now go sideways on the front and back of the bag.
TADA! The finished bag which will be used to store all my sewing bits.
A fun and satisfying project.
P.S.: I added a permanent link to the Antique Pattern Library's Tatting Patterns Section as I feel it's such a good resource and I wanted to make sure it's easily available to everyone (and to me!). The link is in the right side bar.
Best wishes,
Frivole
The bag looks terrific and I love how the shells "pop" out!! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Sue! Yes, I felt the effort of sewing all around the shells was worth it in the end as I think it looks nicer than straight lines.
DeleteFabulous bag. I miss my sewing machine like that, which was stolen. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jane - your machine was stolen? How sad (and mean of someone!). Can you believe I bought that machine for only £5 on Ebay several years ago?! It's an absolute gem, in fantastic condition and I love using it. So maybe you could find a replacement for not too much money? I sometimes see them in charity shops too (I also have a German machine which I found in a charity shop for not lots of money either).
DeleteI love your bag and I dont think the shell pattern looks out of place sideways, in fact it looks great, well done
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Margaret! :-)
DeleteBeautiful bag!
ReplyDeleteI already had the occasion to try a lot of needles and threads techniques, but never machine sewing (and not so interested in it for now...) That's why I find that so marvelous and intriguing! You surely know, when you don't know (yet) a technique, and you find that so mysterious and think that it's probably complicated! When you learn it, you lose in some way that "magic" feeling, but yet you are happy to know a new technique!
My last completed project is a knitted pair of simple socks, but made (it was my first time) with yarn that I made from scratch with raw wool and my drop spindle. An idea that was partly inspired by some of your posts! ;)
I know it's hard to find time to post things, but I'm always happy to read your blog :)
Amicalement,
Gilles
Bonjour Gilles, lovely to read your comment (vous parlez français j'imagine avec un nom comme le vôtre?). I'm interested to hear more about your knitted socks with hand-spun wool! I loved my experiments with spinning and hope to get back into it at some point (I always have way too many things I enjoy and never enough hours in a day!).
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