So it’s Tuesdayish, right?   I’m a couple days behind, but the patterns are now finished and I can go pick them up at the printer later today.  That means I can ship out patterns for the winners from my last post.  The random number generator selected the following people:

#1 – Ashley – commented  on January 30 at 11:30 a.m.  (Ashely was the first commenter on the post and the first number that the RNG picked – weird right?)

#2 – Kate, commented on January 30 at 5:56 p.m.

#3 – Kiki - commented on Feb 1 at 1:21 p.m.

Please send your shipping addresses to hmulder@wecnet.com.  Thanks to everyone else who commented.  I hope you all know how much I value the feedback and hearing about what aspects of the design that you like.

I have had e-mails and phone calls from people looking for the pattern.  When I posted the photos, it actually hadn’t been released yet, which is why nobody could find it on-line.  I just didn’t want to wait any longer to start posting some photos!  Today the samples are going out to our distributors and a postcard will be mailed to the quilt shops on Friday.  That means the patterns will start shipping out next week and should start appearing online and in shops shortly after that.   For those of you who can’t find it anywhere in your area, you can just drop us an e-mail and we can help you.

Many of you asked about the grommets I used  and if they required any special tools.  Well, some do . .

but they are now making plastic grommets that don’t require any special tools!  It’s so easy, you just snap them together with your fingers.  They are available at a wide range of places.  Many of the quilt shops carry them, as they have been popular for bags and curtains.  You can also find them at craft and hobby stores in the drapery supplies department.  This is the brand I used:

They are available in several sizes and colors.  When I had my test class, some brought pretty colored grommets too.  I liked the colors, but I didn’t think they were as sturdy as the Dritz Home brand.  They were unmarked, so I don’t know what brand they were . . .   I just looked on Checker’s website and they have lots of new grommets that I’d like to try, in lots of fun shapes and colors.   ( They are different than the colored ones from my test class).  As soon as I get a chance to try them out, I will let you know how they work!

I also wanted to show you a little about the process I got through when I refered to the “prototypes”.  These are the first four bags I made -

I started with this little clutch

It’s cute, but the bag needed larger tucks at the bottom to allow for more room within the bag.

My second problem was what to do with the ends of the handles.  I tried to just tuck the ends under.  That turned out to be really difficult and you can see from this picture how bad they looked.

So, after several days of brain storming, this idea came to me -

I liked the look of this much better and it was much easier to sew.  Plus, it’s a chance to show off some really cute buttons!

Here’s the first prototype of the larger size bag and convertible handle.  It’s made using my Wildflowers fabric.

On this prototype, I decided that the bigger tucks helped, but that the fusible fleece wasn’t as permanent as I’d hoped.

I started adding simple quilting, like straight lines or cross hatching.  I found that it not only stabilized the fleece, but it gave a nicer, more finished look to the bag.  This picture shows that simple quilting, and the fact that I haven’t finished this one yet!

After all this trial and error, I was ready to test the bag with quilters.  I teach every year at Lake Beauty Bible Camp, and these gals have helped me out with this several times with testing projects.  It’s great because I get feed back from about 125 quilters.  Here are a few shots from the retreat -

I picked up lots of helpful hints from the gals and it was really fun to see all the different fabric combinations.  Each and every one looked different!

Then the final test was having my Mom make the bag.  She still found a few helpful hints for me!  Very good ones, I might add, and I now felt ready to publish the pattern.

So there you have it!  After lots of tweaks – The Bella Bag!

Here’s a hint for my next post -

It’s Palmer Printing’s van delivering a new book!

Bag and purse patterns seem to have exploded upon the quilters and home sewers the last few years.  I watched from the side lines, as people all over sewed bag after bag.

I read blog posts of people showing the 30 bags that they had made the previous year.

I wondered what all the fuss was about and what did people do with all these bags when they are finished?

In the meantime, I had been collecting large-scale print fabrics.   Most were made into quilts, but I would catch myself thinking, “That print would be perfect for a bag.”  So, eventually I decided to try making a bag myself.   I have to say I had fun making it and was pleased to have a finished product by the end of the evening.   I then set out to tweak the pattern, and after 7 or 8 prototypes, here is what I’ve come up with:

I ended up with so many options in the pattern, that I had to have lots of pictures on the pattern front.  The options include:

1. Three sizes

2.  Four interior pocket options

3.  Multiple handle options and lengths

4.  Grommet and button details that give an up-scale look.

After finally settling on the details for this pattern, I put off publishing it because it would require people on the front cover.  I was used to photographing quilts and props.  That was hard enough for me, but quilts are so much easier to arrange than people.  Plus, what people would willingly volunteer to be on the cover?

I love featuring my nieces and nephews on pattern covers, so I asked if my niece Isabella would be one of my models.  I then begged my sister to hold one of the other bags.  There are three size bags in the pattern, so that left me as the other “model”.  Bella’s momma was left to take the picture for us.

We started with trying to pose, smile for the camera and make Isabella laugh.

This picture would have worked, but why is my hand behind Bella’s head?

Oops.

I liked this photo, where we look a little less posed – more natural.

I shows the three sizes of the bag well.

The large size works well as a knitting bag or large purse.

The medium is the size purse I would run around with while running errands or something.

The small purse works as a clutch size for an adult or as a girl’s purse.

What this picture doesn’t show well enough is the handles and the finishing details.  So, I snapped a few more pictures to show more of the details.

With this shot of the large purse, you can see the chic shaping of the purse, the pleats at the bottom that will give you some space inside the purse, the two long handles, large grommets, and the buttons that attach the straps.  You could also do two short handles, instead of the two long ones.  You can also do four short handles, like this:

But wait, there is yet another handle option -

Here’s another shot of the small purse, showing the convertible handle option.   It can be held like this:

Or thrown over your shoulder like this.  I love this because you don’t have to decide between making a short handle or a long handle – You get them both!!!

By the way, I have an easy technique for making those cute pointed ends on the handle.  And a simple method for making those grommets stay put.

Of all the shots taken that day, I think this is my favorite shot.   Isabella is now six, and though I would like to, she has outgrown the age where I get to pick her up and hold her.  Just for a few minutes that day, I picked her up and we snapped a few pictures.

Her expression soon changed – and I recognized that expression because my kid brother (her dad) spent the first 10 years of his life wearing that mischievous expression.  Before I knew it, I was getting a zerbert.

Let’s just say the “photo shoot” went down hill from there.

So there you have it.  The Bella Bag.

Bella in Italian means beautiful.

Beautiful Bella, Beautiful bag.

So, as usual, I want to share a little of the Bella Bag with you.  I’ll keep the Bella and you can win the Bag pattern.

How does that sound?

Just leave a comment if you want to be entered to win and I’ll draw a few names next Wednesday when the pattern inserts arrive.

~ Ciao Baby!  ~

(please note that this drawing is now closed)

So I have a couple more projects that I finished in December, that I haven’t blogged about yet.  In early December, I happened to be going through my yarn storage box where I keep a lot of scraps, etc. and I came across the front and back for a sweater that I had started years ago.  In fact, I had forgotten that I had nearly completed this much of the sweater.  At that time, I had decided to quit working on the sweater.  I wasn’t loving the yarn and wanted something softer.   A few years time seems to soften my critical eye a bit and I decided to take up the project again.   The cables were calling me. . . .

I decided to forgo the time-consuming sleeves and hood that the pattern calls for and just make it into a vest.  That way I could finish it with minimal time investment, and not let it go to waste.

The only problem was, I didn’t have a pattern for converting the neck into a collar, instead of a hood.  I decided to wing it and I’m happy to have it finished. 

 

I have another knitting project I want to share with you.  It took me less than a week and was so quick and easy.

Have I mentioned I like instant gratification?  

It doesn’t usually go too well with my taste in hand-knit garments, but once in a while my need to do something fun and quick, trumps my love of cables. 

So, here’s the front

 

and here’s the back.

 

The sweater actually looks quite strange when it’s not on a person.  It reminds me of the bottom of a colorful stingray.

Here it is folded in half, with the arm holes at the top on either side, and below that are the only two seams on the entire sweater.  I wish I had taken a picture of it before I folded it in  half and sewed the seams, but hopefully you get the idea.

 

I wanted to share this one because I think it’s a perfect first sweater.  Every time I post a knitting project, I get comments from people saying they haven’t dared to move beyond scarves and dishcloths   So, this happens to be my recommendation of what to try next.  I only takes 4 skeins of Misti Alpaca Grande yarn.  Here is the picture of the pattern:

It’s called the Ribbed Vest for Sarah Punderson (here’s the ravelry link, for those of you who are members.) 

I hope you will give it a try.   It really is fun and you could be wearing it by next week!

I may even have my sister talked into trying it . . .