On a Lark » duck canvas

New Bag Design!

Emily — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:55:34 +0000

So, I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty excited about this new bag design. I used quite a few different bags I had seen around to create this design and I have a few changes that I’d like to make in the future, but I’m happy with the way this one came out. And it’s a good thing too because I made this bag for a very important guest coming to my brother’s wedding NEXT WEEK!

I used a magnetic closure for this bag, and sadly, no giant button. I think it’s better without it. I love this design because it’s so understated from the outside. It goes with everything, but then there’s just a peak of teal that shows through when you’re carrying it. I put in one large zippered pocket and two patch pockets on the inside. In the future, I think I’d like to put pockets on the sides on the outside. I was planning on adding them to this bag, but after I had I always seem to underestimate the amount of time I spend on new projects. Speaking of which, if any of you photographers out there have suggestions for how to photograph new bags, I would LOVE to hear them. Using my white blanket, wooden floor, and white door isn’t really cutting it.

Just outside the window while I worked on this bag, I saw three little robins hatch out of their little eggs and start cheeping. Spring is the best.

Flying the family flag

Emily — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:53:08 +0000

My Dad has worked as a captain for nearly all of his career. Schooners, tugboats, all kinds. But we still don’t have a family burgee. Burgees are flags that represent a family or group, you’ve probably all seen them on boats that belong to yacht clubs. So this last Sunday, as the rain washed out our street-wide yard sale for the second day in a row and with Father’s Day just around the corner, I got to work. Our local canvas shop gave me a bright red scrap of Sunbrella and I used some old sail canvas we had laying around for the letters. The design is simple, but what isn’t shown in these pictures are the two magazines that died in the making of this burgee. It turns out I’m not that great at making symmetrical stars. Who knew?

Now all that’s left are some grommets in the corner to fly it from my parents motorboat. Their golden retriever loves to pose dramatically on the bow next to their current burgee, and I think the red is really going to compliment his lion’s mane:

I can’t wait to get this burgee flying because the Farmer’s Almanac is calling for a hot dry summer in Maine and besides the yard sale wash out, it’s been right on!

Putting that old canvas to use

Emily — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:44:55 +0000

Now that Otto the puppy has come into my life, my sewing time is organized around his nap time. Which, luckily, is often. As it turns out, puppies love fabric…and cutting mats, and thread, and pins. So for now, sleeping Otto is the only Otto allowed near my sewing machine.

In the mean time, I made a new bag for a friend’s girlfriend. He and I had a little conference over the phone and came up with the colors. The cream is a sail canvas, and it has a nice texture to it. We went with navy for the body and a beautiful pink for the lining. The pink fabric was a great find, a Robert Kaufman print from my local quilting shop.

So that’s what I’ve been up to while puppy is sleeping, and when he’s not:

Sunshine comes to Maine

Emily — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:47:54 +0000

Remember this post? I had great plans for the pieces of canvas that I painted on… and then I promptly misplaced them. Turns out they were buried in my basket of fabric. That basket seems like a vortex for all things losable. But it’s not fair to blame a basket.

So I made myself a little zippered bag. Seems about the right size for an overnight toiletry bag.

This project was also a great excuse to use the amazing gift I got over the weekend. I never knew how much I needed one of those clear measuring quilt things until my aunt sent one home with my Mom for me. It is THE BEST.

When I wasn’t sewing, we were all enjoying the lovely weekend here in Maine. And no one enjoyed the weekend more than a certain yellow and black lab. While everyone “did homework” on the lawn, the puppies ran and rolled and chased the cat until the sun went down.

Here they are trying to convince kitty to come play.

And moments before…

What did you do this weekend?

Stress sewing

Emily — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:06:00 +0000

I’m back home after a great time catching up with old friends. It’s always nice to know that even after years apart, it sort of seems like no time has passed at all. But this trip wasn’t all fun, it was also a job searching mission. It’s looking hopeful, which is comforting given the current job market. Still, I’ll be moving away, which is always a little tough. Cue “500 Miles” by Peter, Paul, and Mary .
So I needed a little time to clear my head. And as usual, sewing didn’t let me down. I got working on a new bag, which might look a little familiar. This bag is going to be a surprise for a great lady. And I even got to another chance to test out putting in a zippered pocket.

Pinning the pleats

Zippered pocket success!

It's done!

I think I’ve finally gotten this pattern completely worked out and it finally seems to come together without any fussing. I wrote a hubpage on how to put in a gusset using this bag as an example. So, what do you do when you need some time to think?

Spring Break trip = new clutch required

Emily — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:57:29 +0000

I’m heading down south for a job interview! And I’m also catching up with some college buddies that I haven’t seen for almost TWO YEARS!! If that doesn’t scream “new wallet” then I don’t know what does. I’ve been using this wallet for a while, but I finally got tired of my shady zipper installation and I decided to try a new pattern. I drafted one this morning the dividers and triangles I should have been using for chartwork practice.

I’m a big fan of a bright lining so I used the same pink fabric from this bag. And as always, Piper, the lion/golden retriever, helped out.

Piper doesn’t look too pleased with my design. Oh man, this is going to be a much needed trip. Wish me luck!

Time trial sewing

Emily — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:36:51 +0000

This weekend I tried a new version of the pattern I’ve been working on to see how fast I can make a bag. It ended up taking me a full Saturday morning, including a break for grilled cheese sandwiches. I found a great canvas fabric from J. Caroline Creative and left out the pleats on the exterior. I also had a little “help”:

One grumpy brown dog and one extremely happy yellow dog who loves laying on fabric as soon as you put it on the floor.
I’m still amazed by how terrible a bag can look when you are sewing the final seams, and then you turn it in side out and, as my brother once said, bingo-bango it’s done! I took a series of pictures to show the final (and best) stages of bag construction:

What is this showing? The gusset, which gives the bag some 3-D shape. I’m taking votes on different names for it. Anything would be better than gusset.

And there it is! Ready for a little top stitching and button sewing. I’ve found a few different ways of hiding the seams, like just putting the interior inside the exterior, pinning it carefully on the top and top stitching. This avoids the seam at the bottom of the interior that you have to sew at the end but it’s definitely not as much fun as turning the whole bag in on itself. It’s sort of like magic. So I still haven’t put on the button. Maybe someone will come over and sew it on for me as a surprise. I just set it on top for the final pictures. Close enough for now.

In other news, I got a great suggestion for getting my giant buttons, fimo clay! I picked up some on the way home at the hardware store (who knew?) so that should be an entertaining project for this week. If anyone has an excellent source of abnormally large and amazing buttons, let me know.

Duck canvas = the answer to interfacing woes

Emily — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:21:55 +0000

So, my Mom’s birthday is coming up! For those of you who know her, she is a great lady and has some excellent fashion (some of which she may or may not have liberated from my closet). So, for her birthday present, she picked out some fabrics that she liked and I got to work.
On the other bags I have made, I was never completely happy with the interfacing on the exterior. (Interfacing is an iron-on stiffening layer). When I made the pleats, as soon as I pressed a pleat lightly, the crease was almost impossible to remove. Answer? Duck canvas! I got mine from Joann’s on sale, but it’s available all over, especially at fabric warehouse type places. So, for Mom’s bag, I drafted about a 2/3 size from the pattern I used from my charcoal and teal bag. I’m still perfecting my pattern making skills. At the moment, this mostly involves brown wrapping paper, a ruler, and scissors. There must be a better way. Here are all the pieces ready to go:

Anyhow, I used a dark red canvas for the exterior. The handle has two layers of fusible fleece and is made from home decorator weight fabric that I got at The Fabric Warehouse in Auburn, ME. If you’re in the area, they are amazing. Great prices and very helpful staff. The interior is the same design fabric but light blue. I made two pockets, one divided to hold cell phones etc., and one with a pen holder. And of course, a giant button. I wish I could find bigger buttons. Any suggestions are welcome. Because they are great.
Here’s the finished product! I’m going to make one for myself this weekend, so stay tuned.

Using myself as a guinea pig

Emily — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:07:50 +0000

After one successful attempt at handbag sewing, I decided to make one for myself to figure out potential kinks in the patterns. I used quite a bit of the Amy Butler pattern. Charcoal and that teal color is my favorite color combination. Even though my favorite color is red. And my favorite season is spring. More Emily trivia to come haha. Here is it:

And here’s the button. Oh man I love big buttons:

Here’s a picture of the interior:

What I learned from this version:
-I need more padding in the handle: when you have a laptop inside it’s a little thin
-I’m switching to duck canvas without interfacing for the main exterior panels because the interfacing doesn’t seem to hold up as well over time and I think the duck canvas will be better/faster.