Ribbon Hand-bag Tutorial

This new tutorial was written by my lovely and talented sister Rebekah. I'm so happy to have her post on here and I hope she decides to make it a habit. She made one of these little handbags for my daughter and it turned into quite the accessory.

I'm one of Caroline's sisters and I'm guest posting on this blog to share my easy "Handmade Bag" pattern. This pattern is so versatile! You can easily modify the size and shape to fit your creativity or functional needs. I started with a goal to only use materials that I had on hand...no running to the craft store, (I'm on a budget ALL the time now, not just in spurts:)

I started out with one of my husband's old white shirts.

I cut out 2 identical pieces about 10 inches wide and 12 inches in length.

I used some quilt batting between the two layers to give some texture (sometimes I use muslin).

I decorated the fabric with ribbon because....I recently acquired a TON of ribbon:)

I stitched both sides of the pink ribbon. I wanted to use light pink thread....but I didn't have any and wasn't going to run to the craft store...so I used white and it didn't stick out at all:)

Then I folded the bag, right sides together and sewed the sides together.

With right side still together, I cornered off the two bottom corners into triangles, marked it with a straight line, and stitched (always reinforcing my stitch). This gives the bag a flat bottom to stand up and a little style:)

Next I used some white satin to make a lining for the bag....exact pattern as the bag itself...BUT leave a 3inch hole on one side to turn the bag inside out through. Don't make the hole on a bottom corner, your going to corner off and stitch a triangle on the lining too.

I also sewed some Velcro in the lining to close the bag...a pocket is optional too!

Turn the bag right-side out and slip it into the lining, which is inside out...you want the right-side of the lining touching the right-side of the bag....or right-sides together.

Carefully pin the bag and lining together. I sewed a doubled-up piece of ribbon together and lined it up with an end seam to make a little handle.

The next step is to turn the bag right side out through the little opening that was left in the side of the lining.

Make sure you stitch up the hole:)

I always pin the top seam carefully to get it straight and then use a stitch very close to the edge to secure it. I also find an unnoticeable place to secure the lining to the bottom of the bag. Either by hand or machine.

There you go! I used lots of pictures to show each step, but it really was quick and easy.

Winners!

Okay, so the "True Random Number Generator" on Random.org gave me the numbers 1 and 11. That means that Chris and mapleRose are the lucky winners of Bloom volumes 1 and 3!!! Watch your email over the next couple days, girls. I'll send your addresses to theDIYdish now.

Thanks for following my blog and have a great day!

a lovely giveaway...

Comments on this post have been closed. Congrats to the lucky winners :)

In case I never mentioned it, I am a huge fan of theDIYdish.com and it's sister site youcanmakethis.com. 

Kim and Kris who make the DIY dish episodes are a couple of the cutest, most down to earth women I have seen. And something in me likes them more because they're sisters. Maybe because I admire and adore my own sisters so much. So I am so excited that they emailed and offered to let me host this giveaway. I love fabric flowers and each volume teaches you how to make two different ones. These ebooks look sooo lovely that I can't wait to get my hands on them. Yes I am automatically a winner (thank you Kim and Kris!) and I get to pick two OTHER winners any way I want. Each winner will get BOTH Bloom volumes so this is a super prize.

Here's how it will go down... leave me a comment- tell me something: your favorite color; the flower you will make first; how old you were when you learned to sew; anything. That's one entry. If you want another one, 'follow' my blog and then comment again saying you did (if you already follow you're a sweetie, tell me so for your second entry). Be sure to include your email address so they can send you your ebooks. At the end I'll count up the comments and pick 2 numbers using random.org. I have to end this contest and send them names and email addresses by the end of the month, so I'm going to close comments on the morning of February 28th. Yes, whenever I can tear myself away from my little homeschooler and open up the internet the comments will be closed, so be warned.

On a side note, I am so tempted to enter THEIR contest:

I would sooo love to meet these gals and hang out with them.  I'm sure I would make a complete fool of myself by hanging on their every word hoping that their creativity would rub off on me. I would also love to hear  how they came to do what they do - together no less.

But you have to submit a video entry and I am terribly camera shy. Point in fact: my one minute movie doesn't include me (ok, only my hand a little by mistake :) ). Anyone have any suggestions? If I win you'll be invited to the party...

Woo hoo! I can't wait to get the books. I wonder if any of those flowers can be made using ribbon... 

Ribbon stash.

I finally caught the virus that's been tormenting the kids lately (and the adults since we don't get any sleep). Now I know why they screamed that their head hurt and just wanted to lie on the couch all day. That was how I was feeling until the doorbell rang and I got a big surprise. 

Look at those boxes just bursting at the seams. Ribbon. A belated birthday present from my sister Rebekah.

Opening box 1.

Shock and awe.

Opening box 2.

Testing (or tasting) it.

Tying up the boys (who named this kind 'Pirate Ribbon').

Sorting...

Sorting...

Sorted! That shoe rack that didn't hold shoes very well is great for ribbon. It looks like we will have to think up some projects involving this beautiful stash.

Thank you Rebekah!!!

(If you're wondering where this came from, she found a ribbon factory not far from her house in West Virginia and got this dirt cheap. Wish I were so lucky.)

Indy's new collar.

Santa brought us another child this past Christmas. The puppy kind. And like it was when all the other children came along, I have had lots more work to do. But I can also sew for this new child, I have discovered. Just this past week he outgrew his first collar. Poor baby, see how uncomfortable that must have been?

And now, isn't that cute (and manly)?

I didn't take pictures while I went along, so I'll just have to describe how it did it. It was really so easy that I don't know why everyone doesn't sew their own dog collars :).

First I cut a piece of fabric 4" wide and about 30" long. I was just guessing about the length and I ended up cutting some off later. This fabric was kind of thin, so I cut a piece of matching fusible interfacing which I ironed to the wrong side. Then I folded the fabric in half the long skinny way and pressed, and then opened it out and pressed the edges in. Finally I folded it back along the first fold and pressed, making a 1" strip kind of like super wide bias trim (except not cut on the bias). Then I stitched along both sides, close to the edges.

The "hardware" was not hard to find. I had a leftover 1" D ring from an earlier project which I used, and at Hobby Lobby (my new favorite store), I found this buckle:

And this strap adjuster: 

(2 came in the package, but I only needed one)

Then I sat down with the old collar:

And fiddled around with my components until it looked like I had the new parts assembled the same way as the old. At this point, the pieces were only pinned together. Then I very carefully tried the new collar on Indy (our new child) so as not to poke him. I had to make several attempts so that it would fit him perfectly at the new collar's smallest setting. It should be able to grow with him and extend quite a bit.

Viola! Now I'm thinking of making a matching leash.

Tutu cute.

This week my little sister came to visit me and we have been having way too much fun. We both love to sew, so of course we found a project. One night we stayed up until midnight sewing, chatting, teasing my husband, and watching the movie Knight and Day. The end result was these petal-filled tutus for our three little princesses.

This very cute tutorial was our start, but we decided to make three layers (only one filled) and we just put on ribbon bows instead of flowers. (And we used 3 yard lengths of tulle for each layer instead of 2 1/2 if you decide to try it.)

I got to show my baby sister how to use a serger and I think she's going to start looking for one too :).