I have a process to creating a new bag. I am sure every crafter has a process for anything they create. Today I would like to show how inspiration turns into prototypes which turns into an actual usable pattern.
So here we go:
First I find inspiration, this is normally done for me by going on to Flickr and streaming through the numerous handbag groups I am a member of. There is an infanite source of inspiration on Flickr, you just have to go out and look for it. I also like looking and seeing what people are selling on Etsy, I am bummed that you can no longer look at which items have been looked at the most, this always gave me idea at least which items where grabbing peoples attention. So I found this image on Flickr a few days ago:
I loved the shape of the purse but the selling point for me was that the handle came up from the body of the purse with no seam line, something I hadnt done before but this bag gave me the drive to try.
So I went about drafting a pattern (sorry no pictures of this) I basically drafted the pattern using concepts I have learned from doing tutorials online and purse patterns that I have bought. If anyone is interested I will show you the silly way I draft my patterns, trust me it isnt very technical in ANY way.
I created two prototypes from this first pattern. I didnt take a photo of the first because it was a disaster, the bag shape was fine, it was the sewing that left me stumped, I searched online everywhere to try and find a tutorial for what I was trying to accomplish to no sucess. For some reason I was having a hard time wrapping around how I was suppose to turn out the bag. So I took out my hand dandy Japanesse craft books. I have a large collection of these thanks to trips I have taken to see Ken's family (San Diego & Hawaii) so I knew there had to be SOMETHING in there that could help me out and lucky for me there was. So prototype 2 was born (prototype #1 had been seam ripped so many times it was a lost cause to finish, poor prototype).
The bag turned out alright, but on a person it was way to skinny in the body. So I went back to the draft board (read my living room floor) and got to work drawing a new pattern. Make the body taller and a little less wide. Which led me to prototype 3 (drum roll please)
Ta-Da! It is a medium/large bag with the shape that I wanted. Plus thanks to the trials I have got a new skill done. Now I just need to crank out 20 or so of these bags in various vintage fabrics. (wish me luck!)
No post of course around here couldnt be without Leila so she volunteered to model while sharing in my joys of sucess.
And what better way to celebrate then an inpromptu picnic on the bedroom floor.
Happy Tuesday everyone, hopefully you made it to the end of this LONG post!!!
And what better way to celebrate then an inpromptu picnic on the bedroom floor.
This top photo might not show it very well but I am working on more fallish fabrics as well as a whole bunch of purses with corduroy (I love that stuff!) . I am also trying to get even more adventurous with my applique totes.
I know most seamstress have a system of how they get work done. When I am doing large orders I prefer to work like a factory line. I cut every piece at the same time. Sew all of the same parts in groups (outsides, lining, pockets). I always save the straps for last (I hate that part the most). And I finish all of the bags at once. The process is tedious but I like to get instant satisfaction in large amounts so when I finish 20 bags in a day it feels better than doing each one by one and finishing one or two in a day.
So here is hoping by the end of the week I will have large mosaics to share with all of my finished bags as well as shipping them off to the stores that really need them right now. (BTW if my vendors are reading this, thank you so much for all of your understanding, I appreciate it more then I will ever be able to express!)
This may be the last thing I sew for awhile though, it was a nightmare to get my sewing machine to work correctly and since money is tight I may have to wait to get it serviced. Sounds like I may have to pull out my trusty first machine and hope I remember how the settings work!
I recently created a purse for my best friend Katy. She has two little ones and with that comes a lot of baggage (pun completely intended) and she wanted a larger purse when she goes out.
For my workroom that is. As I have noted before I love to collect things and this is my newest thing that I have collected. Old fashion drawings. From what I can tell some of them are original hand drawings and some are hand drawings copied on to other paper. I love these drawings I was only able to get my hands on 6 frames that I plan on painting black this weekend (thank goodness for St. Vincents). I have such a huge stack of photos it was hard to find just 6. I am hoping that by this summer I will be able to have a wall full of these sketches to add as decoration to the sewing room.
anything and have only cut out one purse. Leila has been in a terror of teething lately and is having a hard time taking naps lately. I love her to death but really cant wait for this phase to pass. In the mean time she is crawling up a storm and I am trying to keep two steps ahead of her vacuuming up a storm. If only we could replace the carpet with hardwood floors I would be in heaven.
