Next up, I have some product information and recommendations for use with our new Maggie pattern introduced last week. Maggie is a bit of a scavenger project, great for using up left overs from other projects and purchases. Remember, you can print a nice version of our blog posts by clicking on the ‘Print This Lazy Post’ below my name at the end. Print this post and tuck it inside your Maggie pattern bag to keep this info handy.

Large and small Maggie shown with optional purse hardware and Handy Tabs.

Ribbon (optional):
Handy Tabs (Lazy Girl Designs), Item # 701-710 (ten colors available), pack of 4 tabs.
Grosgrain ribbon – any color, 1/4″ – 1″ wide is a good size range.

You can add a hanging option to Maggie if you want to – it’s completely optional and depends on how you plan to use her. A short ribbon and a clip are nice to hang Maggie from your purse handle. A longer ribbon might be nice for a wrist strap. And with a long ribbon and a clip, you can feed the clip through a belt loop and clip it to the ribbon creating a loop. Our Handy Tabs are finished on all edges and ready to sew into place.

Purse Hardware (optional):
Hooks (1/2″), Rings and Chains- Silver (pack of 2 ea), Leisure Arts #28401.
Hooks (1/2″), Rings and Chains – Gold (pack of 2 ea), Leisure Arts #28400.
Brass 1″ Swivel Clasps, Leisure Arts #28343.
Silver 1″ Swivel Clasps, Leisure Arts #28342.

I love the first set of hardware listed above. At around $3 for the six pieces, it’s a good buy. Comes in either silver or gold. Match it to your purse hardware if possible. Those little swivel clasps are 1/2″. Perfect for either size Maggie.

Clips and other purse hardware are embellishments. Just like a small button might be too small for a project, a small clip might be too small. The 1″ size is great for coordinating Maggie with a larger project like a Miranda Day Bag.

Fusible Interfacings:
Pellon #809 – Decor Bond Heavy Fusible.
Pellon #SF101 Stacey Shape Flex (white, black).
Bosal #334 – Fusible All Purpose Non Woven.

The small Maggie is made using interfacing. I’ve tried all of the ones listed above and they are all super on our new Girl. New to me recently is the Stacey Shape Flex from Pellon. Shape flex is a thin and lightweight woven product. When fused in place it adds almost no thickness to the project, but it does add support and shape. The result is similar to spray starch. The ‘flex’ part of its name must be because the end product is still flexible and pliable. It feels very nice in the hand. Give it a try and see what you think.

The other two, Decor Bond and Bosal’s All Purpose, add a stiffness that I like quite a bit. Remember those old rubber coin holder thingies that opened when you pinched the sides toward the middle and a slit opened revealing your coins? You can do the same thing with small Maggie when you use these stiffer interfacings. Open Maggie, pinch it together just below the flap at the side seams and Miss Maggie opens wide.

Battings:
Pellon #987F – Pellon Fusible Fleece.
Bosal #325 – Fusible Batting.

I like to work with fusible battings for many of my projects. These two are staples for me. For a non-fusible, keep it thin so it doesn’t add much bulk to the project. You can quilt Maggie, but she’s so small that you do not need to.

Velcro
Fusion fusible Velcro
Sew-in Velcro

Velcro makes a fusible Velcro which works quite well with most fabrics. More about Fusion Velcro in my blog post here. For sew-in Velcro, you’ll be able to use your machine to stitch one half to the flap. But, because Maggie is so small, you will not be able to use your machine to sew the other half in place and will have to stitch that by hand. Thus, I highly recommend giving the fusible Fusion Velcro a try.

Template Sheet Plastic
Item# 50 – Inglis Publications

Yep, the dreaded ‘T’ word – template! Maggie has an unusual figure and a template is the best chance for accuracy and ease of construction. Make it once and use it forever. And, if you have a Layer Cake handy, use the 10″ square of card stock to make a sturdy template.

You’ll need to make one ‘T’ (ack!) for each of the two Maggie sizes. The Maggie pattern is printed with permission to copy the templates for your personal use if you choose. If you do, copy it onto heavy weight paper if possible for a more sturdy template.

Pattern Cover Fabrics:
‘Cherish Nature’ by Deb Strain for Moda.

Click to enlarge the pattern back.

Enjoy!
Joan

Tags: layer cake, purse hardware, purse accessories, lazy girl designs

Maggies are little bags for little things. Use for a camera or cell phone case and still carry by its leash. The small size is perfect for giving gift cards or carrying business cards. Add ribbon and a clip to hang Maggies from a favorite purse. Stow, tuck, hang, clip either size anywhere you need a little bag.

Maggie from Lazy Girl Designs, #LGD126

Layer Cake Friendly
Both sizes of Maggies can be made from 10” squares! They are Layer Cake (pre-cuts from Moda Fabrics) friendly! See the back of the pattern below.

Grab a 10″ square for lining fabric, trace one large or two small Maggies, then stack, stitch and finish. That’s it – Maggies are quick, quick, quick. All of the fabrics shown today are ‘Cherish Nature’ by Deb Strain for Moda.

Maggie offer two sizes: large 4 1/2” x 5”, small 3 1/4” x 4”

Large and small Maggie Bags

Large Maggies
As a general rule of thumb, the large Maggie will fit things that are about the size of the palm of your hand: cell phone, small digital camera, tea bags. Here, I’ve tucked my camera inside and I can still carry it by the leash.

Large size Maggie Bags

Small Maggies
The small Maggie will fit things about the size of three fingers: credit cards, gift cards, business cards, a dollar folded in fourths, a few pieces of hard candy or loose coins. Works beautifully for loose change inside my Miranda Day Bag.

Business or credit card sized.

Think about all of those frequent shopper cards overflowing your Wonder Wallet – transfer them to a small Maggie!

Clip, Hook, Hang
As an option, add ribbon and some purse hardware to either size Maggie. Here are a few ideas. I added a Dark Chocolate Brown Handy Tab and an ‘O’ ring.

Here I’ve attached a swivel clasp, great for clipping a Maggie to the handle or strap of a purse. That’s a great way to add a cell phone case to the outside of your favorite purse or bag. A Handy Tab is a quick way to add a hanging loop.

Maggie Supplies
Click on the images below to enlarge.

Where To Order and When Will Maggie Be Here????!!!!!
Order Maggie from your favorite local quilt shop! I hear from my printer that Maggie goes on the presses this week and will be here shortly. She should be here in time for last-minute sewing for holiday gifting.

Next Week – More Maggie info.

Enjoy!
Joan

Tags: bag pattern, purse pattern, sewing pattern, layer cake, purse hardware, lazy girl designs

Lazy Girl Designs City Bag #112 shown in Kiwi from Timeless Treasures.

City Bag #112
Next, our City Bag pattern. I saw this beautiful ‘Kiwi’ fabric collection by Alice Kennedy for Timeless Treasures and had to have some. You know that feeling. Well, I simply went wild over the color and print and it screamed City Bag to me. Actually, it screamed several projects, but I started with City.

Here’s the cover for City and we’ve already started shipping. Give it a little time to make it to your favorite quilt shop.

Let’s Meet City
The City Bag is my briefcase or work bag.  She’s a zip-top girl, loaded with inside and outside pockets. I love the big functional all-purpose pocket on the back. It fits file folders or magazines and is just handy for stow and go. Oh, and it has my favorite comfy shoulder strap. Love that strap.

Finished Size: City measures 13″ across the bottom, 11″ high, and 4″ deep.

City is loaded with inside pockets to keep all your goodies safe and sound. Shown here with black pockets and a fabulous limey green covered Bag-E-Bottom size C (LGD502). ‘C’ for ‘City’. The zipper construction and bag design allow City to open nice and wide – love it.

The City Bag does not include directions to make a case for a laptop. This pattern came out before laptops became popular – can you remember back that far? So, I slip my laptop into a quilted sleeve (like a big quilted placemat folded in half then stitch the sides), and put that in the City Bag.

Zipper Time!
City uses our original ’No-Fear’ zipper technique that works with any standard zipper. We use this same technique on our Towne Purse, Chelsea Tote, My Favorite Duffle Bag, and Take Along Bags patterns. The technique adds fabric to the zipper, then sews the whole thing to the bag. I used the same fun and funky fabric from the back pocket to frame the zipper. See how the zipper goes together in our Chelsea Tote video demo here.

Here’s a close-up of the ends of the zipper, adorned with a few strands of ribbon for the pull and some handy, sharp-looking buttons. These black buttons serve two purposes, decoration and function. I grab the buttons between my thumb and finger to hold the bag as I zip and unzip. Zippers are great, but ya gotta hold the bag with one hand and zip with the other. Ugh, so much work! These buttons keep everything looking nice and clean and keep the area from getting soiled.

Button Love
You know I love a great button! I found this simple and cool black and white beauty for the flap of the front pocket. I used green floss wound through the holes to add some color. Then I stitched it in place with black thread.

City is very similar in construction to our all-time best seller the Towne Purse. The bag is constructed of a finished front half and finished back half, rather than an inside and an outside like Miranda or Claire. The seams get quite bulky during final construction, so use a size 90/14 needle and your walking foot.

Next Week
More details about Miss Maggie Maggie Moo, ahem, I mean Maggie Bags. (I’ve already given her a nickname – must be love.)

Enjoy!
Joan

Here’s Jo
Last April I made the Lazy Girl “Miranda” bag and a friend liked it so much that I made one for her birthday recently.

For the new bag I used some scrumptious Benartex Batiks that I bought at Bernina University in June – “Rainforest Triple-Dyed Balis”

You can’t go wrong when you start with beautiful fabrics.

I made the bag following the included instructions – except: Instead of quilting the main fabrics I used free-motion bobbin work to hold the layers together.

First I hand-wound several bobbins with YLI Multis in a tan/olive colorway, and threaded the needle with regular cotton thread.

Wind bobbins by hand.

Rich and robust tread work from the bobbin.

I used the Black Latch Bobbincase with my Artista 630 – this is a special bobbin case on which I can easily loosen the tension without messing with my regular bobbin case.

I got out my Machingers for the free-motion work – these are rubber-covered fabric gloves that create a great “grip” on the fabric while still letting your hands “breathe.”

Stitch with the batting on the top, fabric on the bottom.

I used Teardrop Embroidery Foot #26 for my stitching, but could also have used the Bernina Stitch Regulator.

Here’s what the fabric looked like when I was finished stitching. It’s subtle, but pretty.

Another change I made was to use purchased handles, which I attached with Lazy Girl’s Handy Tabs – little lengths of ribbon that are the perfect size for attaching handles. They’d also make great little labels.

Stitch ends in place.

Flip handles to cover stitching and stitch again.

I also used Lazy Girl’s Bag-E-Bottom size D to stabilizer the bottom of the bag – it keeps everything nice and sturdy.

Here’s the basic process for attaching the handles. Slip the Handy Tab through the loop at the end of the handle, then stitch it in place – upside down – where you want the handle to be. There’s no need to finish the raw ends. Careful – keeping the handle out of the way can be a little tricky.

Turn the handle up, then topstitch the Handy Tab in place. Again, it can be a bit tricky keeping the handle out of the way – you might want to enlist the help of an assistant for these steps.

Just like on my previous Miranda bag, I couched some cord (more YLI Multis) around the flap/tab instead of topstitching it.

And here’s the finished bag! It should get to the birthday girl sometime this week – can’t wait to hear how she likes it!

Next: I just got some fabric to make the new Lazy Girl “Claire” pattern – but haven’t decided yet what sort of embellishments I’m going to use. When I figure it out, watch for another Lazy Girl project on our blog!

Thanks Jo! Read more about Jo Leichte here, and follow her at the Bernina Blog here. Here is Jo’s original post about this project.

Enjoy!
Joan

I fussy cut a border print shown in white and green so the front and back would match at the side seams. I love how the stripes wrap around the bag. And look at that big juicy beet inside the bottom of the bag below. Too fun!

‘Georgia’ Claire Handbag
Claire Handbag adorned in ‘Georgia’ by Pat Sloan for P&B Textiles. Pat’s collection is full of beautiful Fall colors. The flowers, polka dots and textured blenders work well together on Claire. That polka dot print had me at ‘hello’. Love that golden yellow!

Two inside views. One from the bag above, the other from a sample that didn’t make it to the show this weekend. A peek inside this beauty shows a flowered lining and a splash of green for the pockets. One more flower explosion to cover the Bag-E-Bottom is the perfect finishing touch for this Girl. That green is just so warm and festive. Oh, and there are those polka dots again!

‘Liliana’ Claire
I finished a second Liliana Claire. This time with the optional flap closure and no front pocket. Shown next to the Liliana we saw last week which did go to Market. Liliana is by Gail Kessler for Andover Fabrics.

‘Happy Campers’ Claire
Claire Handbag in Happy Campers by American Jane for Moda. This little cutie didn’t make it to Quilt Market this time. She was an unfinished project from earlier this summer. Moda’s website lists this fabric line as being available Sept ‘09. Has anyone seen it in the stores yet?

Claire is perfect for featuring a design element. In this case, I fussy cut the red fabric to showcase the tent in the picture below. That plaid is a good time.

And the lining is great in a lively flower print, combined with a basket weave, (yes basket weave!) brown for the pockets.

That’s it for market samples.  If you missed any, check the last two blog posts here and here.

Enjoy!
Joan

‘Lily’ Miranda Day Bag
‘Lily’ by Alice Kennedy for Timeless Treasures is just as beautiful and graphic in person as it is in these samples. This is the kind of collection that I want yards of. Yards! There are more prints available than I used in these samples.

I used four fabrics for the outside of Miranda. The Miranda pattern calls for two. I thought these graphic beauties would be better showcased by using one fabric for each of the four quilted panels that make up the front of Miranda. I did the same thing on the back.

Above is another ‘Lily’ Miranda, but I used my fav 13″ black faux leather handles on this little cutie. Look at what a difference fashion handles make on the same bag. I like both fabric and fashion handles. Each gives the final product a different personality. Below is an inside peek. Love those stripes.

‘Lilliana’ Claire Handbag
I think Gail Kessler of Andover Fabrics designed her beautiful ‘Lilliana’ collection just for me. It’s absolutely perfect for my designs. I’ll go into more detail about this in a future post. What goes with black and white? Just about any accent color you can think of. In this case, a warm burst of golden yellow.

I love plaids and stripes on Claire. In the picture below, you can see that the plaid pattern matches up perfectly across the bag.  They match because of how the bag goes together. Cut one piece for the back, then cut the center out.

Finally, a glimpse of the inside. I added a yellow fabric for the pockets and another fun print to cover the Bag-E-Bottom purse base. Look at that – it’s just a good time in there!

New fabrics inspire me
I love dressing up my designs in new fabrics. Seeing new fabrics is an inspiration for me. New fabrics follow seasonal color trends, styles of prints, and can even evoke a mood or feeling. The fabrics showcased this week and last week, will debut at Market this week and be available in a few month. They have clear and crisp colorings. They are cheery, strong and contemporary. Modern, upbeat, and warm.

These are confident feel-good fabrics. Wouldn’t you love to browse through bolt after bolt of fabrics that evoke such positive and bright feelings? Next time you are looking for some inspiration, make a point to stop by your local quilt shop (in person or online) and give yourself a fabric high. Remember to sign up for quilt shop e-newsletters, too. Nothing Lazier than arranging for someone to send you emails with pretty pics of new fabrics!

Next week
I’ll have a few more creations to share next week. And I may post them at our Lazy Girl Facebook page before then. Here’s where the Lazies are hangin’ out at Facebook: www.facebook.com/LazyGirl. Love to have you join us there.

Enjoy!
Joan

‘Freebird’ Claire Handbag
First up, this scrumptious orange and brown cutie is a Claire Handbag all dressed up in ‘Freebird’ by MoMo from Moda.  My goodness, every piece of this collection warrants drooling.

Remember, on Claire, the front and back play the ole’ switcheroo with the two main fabrics so the back view is different. And the inside is a feast of fabrics. I love the orange/brown/green mix and including the cool, crisp blue is a snappy addition to this palette. The collection is not posted online yet, but you can peruse Moda’s fabrics here.

Back and inside views of ‘Freebird’ Claire Handbag.

‘Metro Mirage’ Miranda
Next up is a Miranda Day Bag all dolled up in ‘Metro Mirage’ from Marcus Fabrics. It’s a beautiful festival of fall colors centered around the Jacobean style print on the light background. You can see the whole collection here.

Optical Delusion
Not that it matters a lick, but when I was putting this beauty together, I thought of it as a white bag due to the main print. However, the green plaid at the bottom of the bag makes it feel like a green bag. Early on in my quilting adventures, it was explained to me that what ever color I choose for the inner border around the main part of a quilt is probably the ‘color’ I’d think of the quilt as being. In other words, it’s a defining element. That same thinking seems to apply here with the placement of green. Although there is more of the main print, the green defines the bag for me. What about you? Do you think of it as white or green?

Here’s an inside view. I used the feature fabric for the Bag-E-Bottom sleeve to tie the inside and outside together. Aren’t those diagonal stripes fun? And the warmth of the pocket fabric makes me want to go play in a pile of leaves. I guess I’ve got Fall Fever.

Wardrobe Rescue Challenge
I’m hosting a Wardrobe Rescue challenge in my Yahoo group. Love to have you join us there or simply play along on your own.

The challenge
Rescue a garment from your closet or mending pile and refashioning it for use in a purse.

Buttons and button holes, pockets, finished seams and hems, collars and cuffs – all could be incorporated into bag designs as the finished details they already are.

When – now through the end of October.
Where – officially in our Lazy Girl Designs Yahoo group only.
Rules – use what you have for part of the project, tell us about it, post a pic at the Yahoo group.
Lazy – use Lazy Girl patterns or not.
Prizes – winners determined by me, prizes include patterns and fabric.

I hope to share some entries here on the blog after the challenge. As for me – I already know that the orange sherbet colored linen top in the repair heap has been there so long that it’s out of style. It’s begging for a life as a Lazy. And goodness, it’s long sleeved – plenty of fabric to work with!

Enjoy!
Joan

Here’s the Claire Handbag design (LGD125) shown in the fuchsia color way of City Blooms fabric from Benartex. We saw the blue/green colorway last week on Cathy’s Claire.

Going in the wrong direction
My goal for this Claire was to have the mini striped fabric cut on the horizontal, not the vertical. This is a minor issue, but I feel the overall final project would be more visually interesting if that mini stripe went side to side, rather than up an down.

Shortcut = wrongcut
How did I make this mistake – I took a shortcut and it didn’t pay off in the end. I simply did not think through the cutting of my fabric. Shhhh, don’t tell.

Here’s what I did
I was working with fat quarter cuts. I  stacked the wide stripe on top of the mini stripe and cut the two pieces needed for the front/back covers of Claire. Remember, we stack, chop, and swap these two fabrics in this project. More about that here.

When I stacked the two fat quarters, I simply matched all of their edges and cut. As it turns out, the stripes on both fabrics were going the same way. I should have rotated the mini stripe the other way, or simply cut each fabric separately. I didn’t think it through before cutting.

Why it makes a difference on this project
The two main fabrics in this project are stripes. It would have been more interesting if they went in different directions on the final project. The mini stripe would have been much more dramatic on the back if it was horizontal. And it would have flowed better with the handle.

Here’s a peek at the inside of the bag.

New blog feature
You can now easily print our blog posts using the ‘Print This Lazy Post’ link at the end of each post. See it below my name? Simply click that link and the post will refresh in your browser, stripping away all the stuff you don’t want to print. Then click on ‘Click here to print’ at the bottom right of that screen. And, it’s retroactive – you can go back to any post and print.

Enjoy!
Joan

Shown above, Cathy’s collection includes a Claire Handbag and Wonder Wallet from Lazy Girl as well as a cell phone and glasses cases from other sources.Together, these four pieces make a smart collection.

Here’s Cathy to tell us more:

Joan, I love your patterns and have enjoyed reading your blogs – they have given me a lot of inspiration. The City Blooms purse and accessories were made for my younger sister Suzy’s birthday. My first Claire was done in black and red, shown below.

I initially made the red/black collection for Suzy, but then I decided I wanted to keep it for myself and make a different one for her, with some personalization. The monogram was just a simple one, but added just the right touch to make it hers.

This was only the second wallet I made from your pattern – now I’m hooked – every purse gets a wallet!

The cell phone case was an embroidery design done entirely in the hoop from DigiStiches. The glasses case was an easy project from Ready Set Serge by Georgie Melot. All this thanks to your inspiration!

Thanks again for selecting my project from all the other wonderful ones posted! Please keep those patterns coming!

Lazy Notes
Take a look at how Cathy used fabrics for these ensembles. Cathy chose four fabrics for each group. The fabrics are a terrific combination of strong graphic designs which are different in scale but relate quite nicely to each other. For instance, in the red/black collection, the wavy striped fabric is used for the Wonder Wallet cover, glasses case lining as well as the lining of Claire. Did you notice that ‘X’s in the black and white fabric are set in wavy lines, too? It’s a perfect tie in. The small floral print at the center of Claire is the feature fabric for this ensemble, yet we see the least of it. I consider it the feature because it ties all of the pieces together and has all of the colors from all fabrics.

In the green/blue ensemble, we can see that Cathy fussy cut the strong circle print for Claire and the cell phone case. On Claire, the cut circles are symmetrical at the seams in on the front of the bag. One big circle is perfect for the cell phone case. Great job, Cathy!

Home for Cathy is Eagle River, Alaska (just north of Anchorage). She grew up in Alexandria, VA but has lived in AK for 25 years. She says that if you get a chance, you need to visit this beautiful state. Here’s a photo of a moose right outside her bedroom window!

Thanks to Cathy for sharing her beautiful creations with us! Cathy, there are thousands of us who would like to be your gift-receiving sisters.

If you have questions/comments for Cathy, please comment here at the blog for her.

Enjoy!
Joan

With my seemingly ever-shrinking attention span and dwindling memory, I better give myself some guardrails for keeping everything organized as I muscle through these three projects over the course of several sewing stints. Yes, I know myself that well, I need guardrails.

Choosing fabrics
After you’ve selected your projects, we move on to fabrics. Most of our designs use fabric groupings the same way. A single fabric for each element of the design. A couple of fabrics total, little to no piecing, very few embellishments.

Plan on using your primary or feature fabric for an important part of each project. That will help tie all of the pieces together. Mix it up and use different coordinates for the remaining elements of each project.

How much fabric to buy
Gather the supply lists for your planned projects. Identify which part of each project you’ll make with the feature fabric. Add those yardage requirements together. Chances are that in doing so, you’ll have more fabric than you need. Most pattern designers, myself included, allow for a little extra fabric in the yardage requirements. But don’t be afraid to buy a little extra than you’ve calculated just to be sure.

How many different fabrics do I need
- Miranda uses four fabrics, between 1/3 and 2/3 yd cuts.
- Sassy uses three fabrics, all three are fat quarters.
- Wonder uses one fabric, a fat quarter.

Read over the cutting directions and see how big the pieces are and give yourself an idea of what you’ll need for the rest of the projects. For instance, the smallest cut on the Wonder Wallet can come from a sizable scrap. The largest pieces of the Miranda Day Bag need larger cuts like fat quarters or half yards.

Total fabric
In total, I needed at least four fabrics and enough total yardage for all projects. Buying a little extra of each of the four fabrics for Miranda would allow enough for all three projects.

Accessories
Coordinate all of the accessories needed for all three projects when you get your fabrics together. For this grouping I used:
- 13″ black handle pair by Leisure Arts (love these handles)
- black Velcro
- zipper in coordinating color
- warm toned zipper pull added to the existing zipper pull.

Start with the biggest
Make one project at a time, start to finish, and begin with the largest design. You’ll be able to concentrate better working from one pattern start to finish. Set the other patterns and supplies aside and keep them together. Starting with the largest design will make sure you have what you need for the biggest project and biggest cuts. Then move to the next largest project and cuts, and finally the smallest project can be made from left overs and scraps.

More guardrails
- I keep a small notepad, pen and pins at my cutting area. I pin notes to fabric pieces as I cut them in order to keep things organized.

- Use a plastic storage bin or other container to keep supplies together. Put the patterns, fabric, and accessories in the bin, along with any notes to yourself. Everything will be in one place when you are ready to play.

- Take a few minutes to make notes at the end of your work session for your next sewing session. This might be where you are in the project. The step or page of the pattern. Or perhaps a list of additional supplies or notions needed.

- I keep a gallon of distilled water at my pressing area for my iron. I pick up a gallon once in a while when I’m at the grocery store. I keep forgetting to put it on the list, so I pick them up at random.

- Choose one thread color that works with all of the project in the ensemble.

- Wind extra bobbins, place them in the project bin.

Lazies, what are your favorite sewing room tips?

Enjoy!
Joan