I have been meaning to make a renowned Sew Together Bag by Sew Demented for a couple of months now. With the holidays gone and minimal deadlines to complete, I figured I had some time to spend on myself and make this bag that I have been lusting after for the past year.
When I did my initial fabric pull, I pulled very low volume fabrics and planned on having the zippers add the pop of color. As I started cutting it out I soon realized that this wasn\’t me, and that I am way too colorful to just go with one solid fabric for the outside. I have been making some good progress on using my scraps and so thought that this could be a great continuation of that resolution. After looking at several different options for the outside of the bag, I stumbled upon this beauty from Three Owls Handmade. OMG. I was sold. Hands down I am making that, right now, no stopping go, no collecting $200. I wish it was my idea, but it wasn\’t all credit goes to Three Owls Handmade.
She outlines the dimensions that you need to do and then points you to this great tutorial on tiny patchwork on the Sew Mama Sew blog by Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson!. I definitely see myself using this technique in the future.
A cutting away I went, rainbow style, my favorite, creating a stack of itty bitty squares to create this wonderous masterpiece. 🙂
The only part that was \”hard\”, more mentally than technique wise, was the pressing open of the seams. So many open seams so close together means very delicate pressing. 🙂 I spent more time pressing than I did making the rest of the entire outside of the bag.
Once I finished the outside of the bag, it went together according to the pattern. I opted to hand stitch the binding down because: 1. I love hand stitching binding and 2. I personally suck at machine binding and personally prefer the look of hand binding.
After an afternoon and the following morning, I had my dream bag complete.
I finished the inside with a low volume print and then added the pop of color in the zipper sections. 🙂
Let\’s just say that I love this bag. I already have my hand sewing zipper section, my EPP zipper section, my business zipper section, my…. I could keep going. Love it. I could certainly see myself making another one but it would be for someone else, as mine fits everything I need in it. 🙂 If you are intimidated by this bag, don\’t be. My machine did not have trouble will the bulk, I just went slow and hand cranked through the super thick parts. It came together without a single visit from the seam ripper, which in my mind is a success. Try it out if you haven\’t already, you would be surprised at what you can create. 🙂
Linking up with:
Crazy Mom Quilts
I like how bright your bag is. And the polka dots. Kudos on working with those itsy bitsy pieces!
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It's very cute but it will be a while before I try to make that bag 🙂 yours is great!Beth
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I love the tiny patchwork!
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That is so cute! This bag is on my 2015 list.
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Oh my goodness! Fabulous!!! Love the low volume with the pops of color in between. So clever!
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LOVE!!!
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Gorgeous bag! Thanks for admitting that there is bulk to deal with. I'm not making one right away, but eventually I'd like to have one….that means making!
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I haven't made this one yet! You did a beautiful job…love it!
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As if the gorgeous piecing wasn't enough…you had to go and add those funky, coordinating colours zippers!!!! What a fantastic bag, and a beautiful job!
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Wow. Those are tiny blocks and the end result is marvelous! The colors are great.
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Simply beautiful!
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What?! I'm on my second STB, and my seam ripper has been my friend. I think my expectations for bag #2 were too high, but I have great faith that bags #3 and #4 will be smooth sailing. I don't believe you did all that teeny-tiny piecing — go, you!
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