V and Co: sewing with ruffle fabric: the carry all tote

 well first off, THANK YOU so much for the warm acceptance and love of my upcoming book. :) i'm excited. and i'm excited to see some of you in houston in october. make sure to say hello. i'll be the one with big DOE eyes trying to hide the fact that i'm about to puke.
OKAY.

so you all saw my first "sewing with ruffle fabric" when i made my skirt (which i think i'm going to be sporting at the Sewing Summit Conference when i'll be trying not to puke in front of people while i talk about "setting up the shot" )
well this time around i made a cute little tote...

 bags are accessories, and are an extension of your outfit, sometimes the bag is what completes the outfit. i like bags like.a.lot.
i wanted to see how this fabric would look as a hand bag and it did not disappoint. i was able to use it ONE day, because katie decided it HAD to be her new "back pack" for school. it caused a little contention between the two of us when i had to take it away from her so we could take pictures with our cute model.
 she does in fact use it for school on occasion, but mainly it is used to tote around dolls and important drawings and books. i'm happy she likes it, but i was kind of wanting to use it too.

okay to make this bag this is what i did:


material needed:
-ruffle fabric (1/2 yard, you will have left over because it comes in 52" wide bolts)
-liner fabric (1/2 yard)
-fusible interfacing (1/2 yard)
-strap fabric (1/2 yard)

**all seam allowances are 1/2" unless otherwise instructed.

 -cut ruffle fabric to 16"x 24" (cut base fabric at least 1/4" from the ruffle, cut on the larger 1/4" measurement) ***you can guess-timate on this measurement but do it a little larger side (as in 1/4" to 1/2" larger to avoid cutting ruffles).  you don't want to cut on the ruffle or too close to the ruffle so when you sew the bag together it doesn't "grab" the ruffle. it will hang slightly different from the lining but it doesn't matter because the fabric is flouncy and lays beautifully after wards.)
-cut liner fabric and interfacing to 16"x 24"

-on the wrong side of the liner fabric, iron on the interfacing as per instructions that come with the interfacing.

-cut out two straps by cutting them from your strap fabric at 6" x 24" (i used the width and length of my cutting ruler, it makes for a really great strap size)

-step1 and 2.- fold in half length wise iron to create a crease
-step 3.- fold in one edge to the middle crease, and iron down.
-step 4.- fold in the other edge to the middle crease, and iron down.

-lastly fold in half again, and press with an iron.

-with matching thread (or close in color) sew a top stitch (close to the edge) of the open side of the strap, and then do the same to the other side.

-now we're going to place your strap on your inside liner fabric (on the right side). on the 16" side of your rectangle place your straps.

-decide where you want your straps to be placed. mine are placed 3"in from the raw edge.

-once the straps are in place where you want them, then pin (right sides together) your lining, straps, and ruffle fabric.
-do the same to the other 16" side of your bag.
-sew both 16" ends

-move your newly sewn ends to match in the middle as the picture shown above, with the lining being on one side and the ruffle fabric on the other side.

-make sure all your ruffles are facing the same way (you want to make sure the ruffles will be hanging "down" when you are done so pay attention to the direction of the ruffles when you start!)

-sew down your two long sides leaving at least a 4" opening in the lining side for easy turning inside out.

-turn inside out.

-push the liner inside the outer ruffle side.

-top stitch around the top of bag. (close to the edge) to give it a finished look.

-done!

want to dress it up? add a flower, or make a ribbon to hang from one of the straps.
grab your cute fall jacket, jeans, and HOT looking shoes...

and enjoy the change in the weather and being out with friends and having a cute accessory bag to go with you.

or in my case, lose to an almost 5 year old who will use it instead for a school back pack and library tote. :)

have a sweet weekend.
we will be having a sponsored giveaway come monday morning. you wont want to miss it!
we'll talk soon.