Over the past few years, my eldest has expanded her collection of "favorite" toys. These are the toys that are invited into her inner sanctum: they sleep in her arms at night. The first to join the collection was a spotted Dalmatian puppy purchased during a memorable visit with my grandparents (which involved an exciting cross-country train ride). The second animal came over a year later as a gift from Grampy: a furry kitten. Then, in close succession, came a dog from her Easter basket and a "found" cat. Four in all at this point.
Prior to our trip to Portland, my eldest expressed interest in making a carrier for all her special ones so they can safely come along on the trip. Needless to say, I was not able to finish it on time (bummer!).
Having just recently gotten a copy of Patchwork Style through inter-library loan, I was interested in trying the quilting technique explained in the book. While it would have been easiest to just follow one of the patterns straight from the book, that of course wouldn't work for my eldest who had very specific requirements for "her bag."
As I typically do, I started the conversation with her sitting down to a tablet of paper so she could draw me what she imagined the bag to look like. Her first go at it was to have a backpack carrier with the animals lying flat (along their longest sides) stuffed into pockets. When I got the yardstick to measure how wide this backpack would be, I knew that idea wouldn't work, and I tried to gently show her why (i.e. her backpack would barely fit through a doorway!).
We focused in on the specific details she wanted her bag to include: ideally, the bag would have dividers between the animals; if I had the time/patience, she would love each spot to have the animals name embroidered in place; she wanted the bag to have a flap over the top to protect her animals. Simple enough.
I explained to her that I wanted to try this quilting technique, and we went through the book to find a bag that looked kinda like the one she would be interested in. She picked one, but then changed so much about it that the end result ended up looking nothing like the bag in the book. She didn't want the sides to be slanted, we needed to add a gusset, so the animals would all fit properly in the bag, and of course, there had to be a flap over the top.
We had a good look at my fabric stash and she picked out the fabrics she wanted me to use. Oh my! I never would have chosen these to go together. Totally NOT matching color and pattern schemes! But then again, this wasn't going to be my bag.
The next step was the line up the animals and do some measurements to figure out how large the bag needed to be. Simple rectangles, one taller than the other (for the flap), and a very long rectangle for the gusset. I added a bit of shaping to the gusset so it would narrow as it got to the top of the bag.
If you've read the Patchwork Style book, you know the "trick" to the quilting in the book is to use batting and place your quilting fabrics on top, one piece at a time, and quilt them down before adding another piece. What a great concept. I ran across another idea online (forgot to keep a link to it) of adding simple fabric to the back for a bit more added stiffness (I used basic muslin).
So what I did was cut out batting to the exact size I wanted the bag to be (without seam allowance). I figured it would decrease the bulkiness along the seams as I stitched them all together (which ended up working beautifully for me). I asked my eldest to decide on what order she wanted the fabrics placed on the bag, and then stitched them down as requested. We both decided on one of the fabrics for the gusset, handle and lining.
It was so much fun to figure out how to put the bag together. In the week I took to complete the bag, my mind was constantly working on the steps I would take to finish the bag. Those steps were:
- cut quilting fabric into 3 inch strips (long enough for the back side of the bag, with flap)
- cut out batting (front and back of bag, gusset, and handle)
- quilt front and back of bag with batting and muslin backing, leaving seam allowance along the edge of the batting
- quilt strap (after cutting out fabric to twice width of handle plus seam allowance. I folded the fabric in half lengthwise and ironed flat, then put the batting inside, folded over the seam allowance, ironed that in place, then folded the other to match, ironed, pinned, and quilted that)
- cut out interior fabric to match front, back and gusset sizing PLUS seam allowances
- stitch front and back lining to gusset (ensuring the right side of fabric is on the inside of the bag)
- cut out 6 tapered rectangles for dividers (I stitched these together like I would a pillow, right sides facing, leaving a hole to turn out, pressing flat and top stitching around the edge, so that the divider was two layers thick and pretty on both sides)
- hand whip-stitch these dividers into place on lining
- sew the flap portion of the lining to the flap of the quilted bag (right sides together, then turning right side out) - pressed this flat and pinned in place for later top-stitching
- tack stitched the four corners of the lining to the inside seams of the quilted outer bag (to prevent the lining from being pulled out when my daughter removes the toys from her bag)
- pressed the quilted bag and lining seams flat and pinned
- pinned the quilted strap in place
- top stitched along the flap, across the straps and around the edge of the bag to close it all up
- stitched button-holes and added the buttons
My Dear Hubby was even impressed and insists that I should promptly try to whip up some more bags to keep my creative juices flowing. I already have a few ideas for bags I want to try with this quilting technique. I hope to have some of those to share with you soon.
Here are some more photos that show some details of the bag:
Lessons Learned
- It's all about order when stitching together a bag, and I've done so few that I'm sure there must be better ways out there to overcome some of the technical obstacles in putting together a finished looking bag. I guess practice and a bit of research will help me with that.
- I really didn't like the extra thick strap I ended up creating for the bag, but both my daughter and husband thought it was a really cool design aspect. I'm curious, what do you all think?
- If this was going to be a general bag, I think I would try adding snap closures at the top of the gusset sides, so the bag would taper even more towards the top but have the option of billowing out when it is fuller.
