Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Tutorial: She Carries Flowers

Hi all! I am participating Purse week over at Lemon Squeezy Home today, I hope you will enjoy my tutorial. :)

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I talked to you about my love of basket style handbags before, well, here’s where it all started. I was at Joann's one day and saw some woolen tweed fabric. There is something about the fabric, as I was touching it, I started thinking of what I could make with this... When I held one corner of the fabric sideways, the herringbone pattern on the fabric reminded me of a basket. Then an idea popped in my head to make a "flower basket" inspired bag for the upcoming seasons.



Yap, it might sound funny to you but that's how my brain works. :) I will share the tutorial with you today.

{You will need}

Wool, or wool like tweed fabric 1/2"yd
100 cotton fabric for lining 1yd
Fusible fleece enough to put them on the back of the lining
Fusible interfacing (thick) 2 pieces of 2 1/2" x 19 1/2"
Matching thread
Magnet closure

For flowers on the bag...you will need various fabrics, wools and buttons

{How to}

{Assembling for the bag}

1. Before cutting the fabrics, fuse the fusible fleece on the fabric for lining. That way you don't have to measure and cut twice. It saves time and is so much easier.

From the tweed fabric cut....2 - 14" x 20", 2 - 3"x 20", from fused lining, cut 2- 14"x 20", 1 - 6" x 8 1/2".


2. Make pocket. First treat the edge with zigzag stitch and fold the corner. Second, fold the sides and the bottom to make a mitered corner. Then, fold the top twice and sew.


3. Mark the middle on one of the linings and 2 1/2 " from the top. Pin the pocket onto the fabric and sew.


4. Mark onto the fabric from the right; 2 1/2", 4", 1 1/4" to divide the pocket. I like it this way so have separate pockets for pens, phone, and such.


5. Mark " from the top in the middle, and use the parts of the magnetic closure to mark. Cut the marked line open, and install the magnet parts according to the instruction on the package.


6. Put lining right sides together. Sew the sides and the bottom using 1/2" seam.


7. To make a boxed bottom, pinch the corner, and line up the sides and the bottom seam. Pin it and draw a line at 3" mark from the tip. Sew on the line, clip the excess.


8. Take the tweed fabric, and repeat the step no.6 and 7.

9. To make the handles, I fused hard interfacing onto the 3" x 20" strips. Fold the both sides toward the middle and folded in half. Sew around the edge with 1/8" seam.


10. Measure 5" from the edges from both sides of the bag. Insert the bag handle to between the tweed fabric and the lining, line the handle to the " mark. Pin all around the bags opening.


11. Sew around the top. Make sure to leave a 5" to 6" opening for turning the fabric inside out.


12. Turn the fabric out. Fold the opening nicely and pin it. Top stitch the opening and stitch the bottom of the handles to secure them.


13. To make the insert for the bottom, cut 2 - 6" x 14 1/2" from the lining fabric, sew around it with a 1/4" seam. Insert 5" x 13 1/2" plastic mesh and slip stich to close the opening. Put it in the bottom of the bag.


{How to make flowers and Yo-yo's}

*Folded fabric flower
1. I cut two different sizes for two different flowers. 8- 3", and 9- 4".


2. Fold the fabrics according to the picture.


3. Using two strands of threads, put through each petal to the thread, don't forget to cut off the excess.

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4. Tie the ends to form a circle, to make a flower. I like to sew each petal to each other to secure them.


*leaves
Cut 1" x 2" rectangle first, and trim them so they look like leaves. They don't have to be perfectly unified.


*Flat flowers

Cut 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" square and trim it so that it will have four petals. Cut small circles for the middle.

*Felt flower (purple)
1. Cut 7 - 1" x 2". Trim them so that they have pointy top.


2. Fold the bottom in half, and fold the edges outward. Pull them through the thread to make a flower. I stitched them together several times to secure them better.


*Felt flower (muted pink)


1. Cut 6 - 1" x 1 1/4" rectangles, trim them so that they will have a rounded top.
2. Using the same method from step 2 on felt flower (purple), make the flower.
3. Cut a circle for the middle and sew.
4. Sew yo-yo on top of the small felt circle

*Yo-yo

I used 3" and 2" circles to make yo-yo's. Smaller ones on the felt flowers are made with 1 1/4" circles. If you need to see how to make yo-yo, you can go to my tutorial.

{Assemble}


In my opinion, this is the most fun part. Just lay down the bag and lay down the flowers and yo-yo's to see what you can come up with! It is better to deiced where you want the bigger pieces to go first then decide on the smaller ones.

Pin them to see if you like the lay out. If you do, it is time to stitch them onto the bag.


I used some DMC floss to do fun stitches on the flowers and leaves. I did lots of slip stitches around the yo-yo's.

After you are all done with the above, you can add buttons and such.

Time to enjoy the bag...





I love how it turned out! I feel like I can always carry a bit of spring and summer even under the gloomy sky of fall and winter.

60 comments :

  1. Beautiful bag and the most beautiful Tutorial.Thanks you.
    I follow your site for some time but the language is a barrier for comment, read English fairly well but writing is more difficult, helped me with the google translator.
    Kiss for you from Europe-Santander a citty in the north of Spain

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  2. More than beautiful! Thank you so much for the extensive tutorial!

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  3. WOW!!! i love it , it's very nice , this bag is chic in her simplicity!!
    Manu

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  4. What a great bag Sachiko! Those flowers are so great, thanks for sharing!

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  5. Hi everyone, thank you for your comments.

    Maria-

    I know exactly how you feel! It is not easy for me to do blogging or to leave comments on other people's blogs either, since English is not my native language.

    I appreciate your comment for me. :)

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  6. wow, it's so beautiful! and all the work on the flowers really paid off. :)

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  7. Thanks again SO much, Sachiko. So beautiful! Also, your hair looks GREAT! So pretty.

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  8. Oh my, this is really beautiful! Great job!Thanks so much for the tuto! Love it!

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  9. I love it! I've seen this in my head and now you put it in logical print - thank you!!! Your directions are so clear I can adjust the size to work for me ... just a little smaller. TOO CUTE!

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  10. I LOVE this bag! I hope you win! And thanks for sharing the contest, I added a couple of my bags, too.

    Blessings,
    Malaika.
    http://handmedowndesigns.com

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  11. this is so pretty sachiko! great idea!

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  12. I LOVE your bag! Thanks for sharing the instructions, those flowers are beautiful!

    And thanks for sharing the contest, I've entered a couple of my bags, too. :-)

    Blessings,
    Malaika
    http://handmedowndesigns.com

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  13. I'm in love with your bag! great tutorial! Thanks!

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  14. Now THAT is an amazing tutorial! Thank you so much!!!

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  15. That is the cutest bag ever! I love the flowers:) You are so talented!!

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  16. Gorgeous. Very, very well done- professional finish and I'm all about the perfect finish. I might even make on myself.

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  17. What a beautiful bag!!! Thanks for the great tutorial.

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  18. This is just so lovely. Tweed and flowers. Love that combo!

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  19. I love this bag! Wonderful tutorial. I truly enjoy reading this blog.

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  20. oh my gosh! love the bag and the flowers totally make it! hope all is going well in your world! miss you tons. :)

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  21. Just lovely! PS your ponytail is so pretty. :)

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  22. It is beautiful! and looks so 'you'!
    thank you for tha amazing tutorial ;-)

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  23. Absolutely stunning!
    Greetings from Loch Ness
    Shippy

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  24. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this bag. All of the different flowers just makes it look fantastic!

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  25. this is wonderful! I am so excited to make one--a great fall/winter bag. thanks for this fabulous post!

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  26. This is so cute. Thanks for the tutorial. I found a red tweed purse at Goodwill, but it's kinda plain, so I'm going to embellish it with some of the flowers from your tutorial!

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  27. This is so cute! Thanks for your tutorial. I actually found a red tweed purse today at Goodwill, but it is kinda plain. I think I will embellish it with some of the flowers from your tutorial!

    I hope you're feeling better soon!

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  28. That is a beautiful bag! How sweet of you to post the tutorial, too. Thank you!

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  29. You did a great job with this tutorial and the bag is stunning! Love it, love it! Thanks for sharing! :)

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  30. This is one of the best bag tutorials!! I love how it turned out... now I desperately want a tweed bag!! :)

    Cecilia

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  31. !!!!que lindo bolso¡¡¡ y las flores... me encantaron gracias por la explicaciòn para hacerlas, esta muy fàcil de entender.
    Saludos desde Santiago de Chile.

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  32. I love your bag. Congratulations from Spain.

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  33. Sachiko,
    That bag is gorgeous! You always make intricately crafted, beautiful things. Thank you for taking the time to create a tutorial for the flowers and petals. I hope you are recovering well!
    Jenny
    www.seaminglysmitten.blogspot.com

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  34. i have completed the main part of the tote--now for the FUN part--the flowers!! :) I used a brown pin - striped suiting fabric that has a faint blue tick and the inside is a fun amy butler large print cotton. I am very excited for my bag--thanks again for such a great tutorial--it was super easy to follow along!

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  35. Thank you for a great tutorial. The bag is amazingly beautiful. What a great inspiration!

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  36. Very beautiful bag! It is perfect.

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  37. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BAG!!! GORGEOUS!!! I FOUND YOU ACCIDENTALLY AND FROM NOW ON I AM ONE OF YOUR FANATIC READERS!!! HAVE A NICE WEEK!!!

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  38. Found you via Sew Mama Sew. This is such a beautiful bag. I'm a sewing novice, but I'm going to give this a try. Thanks for the clear tutorial.

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  39. Hi.

    My name is Serena, and i'm writing from Italy. I read your blog quite often, and when I saw this bag I literally fell in love with it! So, after a while I finally decided to follow your tutorial and create one. I have to say that the tutorial helped me a lot, and made the work very easy even for me that am a beginner (this was my first bag!). I'd like you to see the bag, to have some advice for the next! If you want, my blog is at http://mypinkscraplife.altervista.org/2011/11/18/una-borsa/

    Thank you very much

    Serena

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  40. That is so cute and creative! Thanks for the great tutorial; it is so easy to follow! Great post!

    http://mvausbinder15.edublogs.org/

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  41. The Flower bags in this blog is to cute. I love it.

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  42. Thanks for posting the directions for your beautiful bag! My bag for work is starting to fall apart and needs replacing. Will try to make something like this!

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  43. So beautiful!!! You are extremely talented.Thank you so much for the extensive tutorial!

    Send gifts to pakistan

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  44. Hello Sachiko, i love, it's very nice c'est vraiment magnifique, bravo

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  45. So beautiful the flowers make me smile . Thanks for sharing .

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  46. I love your bag, it's beautiful, especially the flowers,thanks for sharing the techniques for the flowers :-)

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  47. I tried making this for my mom, had troubles with arranging the flowers, but I hope she'd like it! Thank you for the inspiration! :)

    One question, how do u get ideas for decoration for bags, apparels you are making?

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  48. Wonderful, how do you get this idea ? Definitely want to have one like this diy bag.

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  49. I have just joined your site and it's amazing. I love sewing and after looking at your projects I want to get started right away. I am so pleased that I found your site, you do many wonderful items, even on items that your viewers all ready have that are boring to wear and just need a refresh.So Thank you Sachiko I am so pleased to have found you're site and I now have a renewed attention for the sewing I once loved and through seeing your work it's brought it back out in me again, so thank you for that. Many blessings to you and your family as you deserve it.

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