The Tree Of Life Bag Completed

The bag is finished!! Finally!!

The original bag that I made.
If you would like to see all the posts that go along with this bag, including the knitting instructions you can find them all here, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/search/label/Tree%20Of%20Life%20Bag.
Today I will show you how I finished the bag. Knitting the pieces is one thing, getting it all together is another.

Begin by blocking the finished pieces. Steam them well and make sure they are completely dry before removing the pins.

Once the pieces have been blocked, begin attaching the pieces by sewing in the zipper. I sewed my zipper in by hand with regular sewing thread as you see below. I used a back stitch to sew it in.

The next step will be to sew the bottom together. Sew this together with the right sides facing you and using the same thread that the bag was knitted with.

Now sew the ends to pieces to  the bag. I like to pin mine in place so the my corners are where they should be.

 The bag is together!

Now measure for the lining. I laid my bag flat and measured across,

and then from top to bottom. The top to bottom measurement I doubled as I don't want a seam in the bottom of my bag.

I had originally thought that I would use the leaf pattern I showed you on our last update, but I decided that I would like to do a skirt out of that fabric, so I used the coordinating fabric instead.

I used fusible fleece to back my lining fabric.

It has a nice loft and gives soft structure to the bag.

 Once you have fused the fleece to the fabric. sew the side seams. Then you will pinch in the bottom so that the bottom of your lining is the same measurement as the bottom of your bag.

 Sew across the points as you see below.

 

 Along the top of your bag lining, sew in leaving the same opening as the measurement of your zipper.

 Now, pinch in the sides just as you did for the bottom and sew across.

 Trim the points.

 For the bottom of my bag, I used chip board. Chip board comes in two thicknesses. I used the thickest.

Cut the chip board with a box cutter the same measurements as the bottom of your bag.
Make a sleeve for the chip board and slide it in.

The lining is hand sewn to the zipper opening with regular thread. Insert the covered chip board into the bottom of the bag.

For the handle I used straps made by Clover. I looked on their site and I was not able to find the handles that I used. Another wonderful handle that is leather can be found at the Peacock Pattern site. Her handles are only one inch shorter than the handles I used. I have seen her handles and they are a very nice quality. You can find a link to her handles here.

 To sew the straps to the bag, I fist put a pin where I would like for my handles to be. You can see that they will be sewn at the base of the last Tree of Life pattern.
 Use a double thread as you see below. As I loop the thread around the ring and through the knitted bag, I also make sure that I grab the fleece that is attached to the lining.

Once my bag is finished, I like to stuff it and them steam it well. I will leave the bag sit for a few days so that it will hold its shape.

This one will be a gift. Although, I do love it, but I don't need two!!! The first bag I knitted has gotten quite a workout as I find that it works with so many things. If you decide to give it a try, good luck and if you need any help, let me know and I'll do my best to help.

The Wednesday Showcase

Good Morning from a frosty Chicago! I'm not complaining as I love it, just a little weather report is all!!
So, Wednesday rolls around once again. Before I introduce you to two fabulous ladies, I want to do a quick shout out to Faye of  http://fayessewingadventure.blogspot.com/2012/11/have-yall-met-rhonda-buss.html. She showcased me last week and posted the jacket

I did for last for last week's Fabulous Free Pattern Friday. Thank you, thank you Faye!!
Another shout out goes to Beverly of http://bjsewmuchmore.blogspot.com/2012/11/rhondas-free-pattern-i-want-to-make-this.html. She also did a post about the same little jacket. A big thank you to Beverly as well.

Moving on, first up is a lady with a wonderful sense of style and let me tell you, no grass grows under this woman's feet! She is Pegsewer of http://deconstructaltercreate.blogspot.com/. Here's her description, "Since I was an engineer before retirement, I like to use my skills in sewing. My favorite thing is to see a designer look or complicated pattern and try to copy it." An engineer, no wonder she comes up with such wonderful pieces.

 This is a piece that she did from the book everyone is so crazy about, Pattern Magic.

Peg took this pattern,

 and these scraps of clothing,

 and made this skirt.

 The above skirts were her inspiration

for this skirt that she drafted. 

Not only does Peg sew, but she knits and crochets. She showed this sweater

 and how it can be worn upside down. I really like the upside down version!

She noticed that crochet was big this past summer, on clothing as well as accessories.

 She took a pair of flip flops and used the sole as her base and crocheted the top. Incredible!

And last but not least, Peg's version of Sham's Tablecloth skirt. You can find a link to the skirt tutorial here.
Now this is one fun lady!!

Next up is Mary of http://livingonpinsandneedles.blogspot.com/. She does custom sewing and instruction and is from Sewell, New Jersey.
Mary's hand stitching is beautiful and she goes into a lot of detail on her blog as to how she does what she does.

 This looks like a normal pillow.

 She had this fabric, but it was a bit too small for her pillow. She shows how she did a very interesting stitching technique to "stretch" her fabric.

 The final outcome. The stitching coordinates beautifully with the fabric.

As we all know, it is a very small world. Mary made this copy of a Vionnet dress. I had the opportunity to see the dress before the public did a few years ago. I helped judge a Threads ASDP contest and all of the Vionnet miniature dresses were in an adjoining hotel room waiting to be put on display. What a treat!

 The dresses were showcased in this issue of Threads.

And here's a picture of Mary's creation.

From this picture you can see how tiny the dress is. You can see how she created this dress here.

More stitching that I think you will find interesting. Mary shows how to achieve the True Religion stitching here.

"The Fields" just won Best Picture at it's World Premiere at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival! My first feature film credit, as Assistant Costumer." Congratulations Mary!!! You can find out more about this movie here.

I never cease to be amazed by how creative all of you are. Thank you to everyone who shares their talents and inspires us all.
Wishing you all the loveliest of days!
Rhonda

Slippers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just received this picture from Mary and had to share. She made slippers!!!! Don't they look wonderful?!!
Here's her note,

"Here is my first pair. They were so much fun to make and I can't believe how quick! I plan to make many more. Thank you so much for sharing this pattern. Have a wonderful holiday season."

The pattern will be available for as long as I can send send it out, so if you would like a copy, just shoot off an email to me, sewbussted@yahoo.com and I'll get the pattern out to you as soon as I can.
By the way, I recently received another copy of the catalogue where I originally saw the slippers and they are still selling them for $26.95 each, but you have to buy two pair. Incredible.
If anyone makes up the slippers, send photos, I would love to see your creations!
And if you would like to see the original post and tutorial on the slippers, you can find it here, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2012/09/fabulous-free-pattern-friday_20.html
Thanks Mary for sharing!

Monday Morning Inpsiration

We finished up the Originator Patterns last week so we're back to the Modes Royale Patterns. This week I've posted the patterns from the 1949 Fall catalogue. The pieces are wonderful, in fact, there are a lot of pieces that given the chance, I would wear just as they are. Simply beautiful.

Enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Have a wonderful week.

Rhonda