And Sometimes More Is Less

Yesterday's weather reports were completely unhelpful. One site said it would be sunny all day and another one said it would be cloudy and overcast until ten in the morning and then rain for the rest of the day. It's supposed to rain for most of the next two weeks and knowing that I needed to move some rocks off the driveway before they upset the neighbours, I went out to the yard first thing and worked for a couple hours before going to the studio. As I'm writing this, it's eleven o'clock (yesterday morning), the sky is overcast, and it's windy but not raining. Hmm... 

I call this The Butterfly Bag because the exterior fabric was taken from an abandoned quilt top that gave the impression of a butterfly's wing. With the original piece, my skills were rusty and it showed and the rustiness carried over into this bag. I didn't like it for most of the project which is probably why it took so incredibly long to finish. It felt less than best and now I think it's quite cute which reminds me to keep going past ugly. 

 

Here's a trick for satin stitching with a dark thread over a lighter fabric - a felt pen. If you look at the left side of the striped fabric in the left image above, you can see more white in the seam allowance than at right where it's darker. At right, I used a permanent felt pen to colour in the seam allowance before stitching over it with a tighter satin stitch as you see in the right hand picture. Paint works well too. 

As much as I am able, I am using supplies from my stash for these projects. It's financially wise and creatively challenging which are both good. The snap was recycled from a very worn out purse I bought at the thrift store quite a while ago. The only good parts left were the hardware so I'm glad I rescued them. The pearl cotton was from my stash, a small box full with thankfully enough colour choices for this project. I explored different ways of making marks and...

... my favourite is stitches made perpendicular to the satin stitching. The D rings were also recycled. They are silver and the clasp is bronze and I don't think it really matters. They aren't side by side and the clasp isn't even visible most of the time. 

There are several ways to add a flap to a bag. One is with a grown on flap drafted as part of the back pattern piece, another is inserting the flap into the seam allowance between the exterior and the lining fabrics, and the other is sewn on like this one. I liked how it allowed me to add the black and white striped fabric to the back of the bag as well as the front. Looking at it now, I wonder does it need some yellow stripes like...

... the front. My favourite form of balance is tension where there is a focal point and a secondary focal point of almost equal interest. The three yellow stripes do that. They are satin stitched by hand with pearl cotton. In fact, there is quite a lot of handwork on this piece which is not normal for me and is something I want to explore more. As I age, I find that my stitching is slowing down and I want to be with the developing piece longer. 

The lining is striped. I should have bought the entire bolt when I saw this fabric but you never know it's going to be a favourite until later. I did buy enough for a pair of pants and have been using the remnants for all sorts of projects. The pants are now too big for me so they will probably get cut up and refashioned next time I clean my closet.

Inside are the green zipper pocket and the pink double welt pocket that I talked about in an earlier post. I have been researching starting a YouTube channel and one of the topics would be techniques like these. I'm a curious creative, constantly researching different ways to do things, and often my resulting technique is a mix of several others. That would be fun to share. What do you think?

Another topic would be the importance of exploring ideas to see what's possible even if they don't end up happening in that project because no matter what, the learning will go forward. Above, I mixed colours to get the same yellow-orange as the focal button and painted two wooden buttons to match. The colour was perfect only when I sewed them onto the strap ends, they distracted from rather than added to the finished look. Gone!

Things aren't always as they seem. That's certainly true with colour. This is a medium turquoise fabric on a black background that is machine stitched with purple thread. The thread outlining the shape is a bright yellow and the hand stitching is in a bright lime green. This image looks brown and dull. So interesting. 

One thing that's come up with my research into bag making is an attempt by designers to have as few pieces or seams as possible. Another is making it more complicated than necessary to turn the bag right side out by birthing the entire bag through the pocket bag just to avoid a visible seam on the inside lining that wouldn't actually be visible if neatly stitched and hidden under your stuff but it would be far easier to construct and especially to turn. Less can be more... and sometimes more is less... as in more pieces and more seams equals less stress, less difficulty, and less complications.

My favourite type of lining is a drop in lining like the one I used with this bag. It is held in place by binding around the top opening. To complete it, I dropped the lining in place, pinned the layers, and then basted them together by machine. After that, I pinned and stitched the binding in place by machine. Most bag makers would have done this in one go. Next, I turned the folded edge of the binding to the wrong side, pinned it aligned to the stitching line, and slip stitched it in place by hand before top stitching by machine. Most would have eliminated the hand stitching.

I find taking the time to do these steps individually is less stressful, there is less opportunity for mistakes, and the finished product is more professional PLUS... I'm not in a hurry. I'm here for the process, the learning, the experience, and not just to quickly whip up another bag. I need a creative journey far more than another purse. I think that we - the creative community - need a regular dose of the healing nature of less stressful making, of slow stitching - whether it's by hand or by machine - whenever possible. My morning hour is my daily dose. 

There was a moment of sunshine yesterday where I could open the garage doors and paint some canvas. It was beige originally and I'd already dyed it denim blue. Over that, I added white, then green, yellow, and bronze to create layers. Once it dries, I'll set the colours and decide what's next. I'm not sure yet if I'll choose the pattern now and build within that shape or continue painting the fabric first and respond to what's there. 

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - progress on the book and the bags