Bag Edeavor Update

We've had quite a few students make progress on their Amy Butler Bags from the Style Stitches book, so I thought I would share a few more photos.

The top image and following photos are pictures of the Miss Maven ruffled handbag. My daughter Emma and I worked on it while we were visiting friends in Portland Oregon.

It took several days and lots of fusing. Fusing, fusing and more fusing, but lots of sewing fun. Well worth all the fuss.


Here is Nancy's version of the Flight bag. She is really coming along and I can't wait to see it finished. All that piping around the petals is hard work.














Stitching down the piping.




The strap alongside the top piece with the zipper.












The strap to the Tear Drop Bag.













Madhu working on the bag's "hip" that reinforces the side near the strap.


Madhu's bag is almost complete.

The Bag Endeavor

This is the beginning of a long story. My affair with Amy Bulter and the ultimate Bag Endeavor.
I started off by purchasing Amy Butler's Style Stitches: 12 Easy Ways to 26 Wonderful Bags by Amy Butler - Yet another irresistible craft book with wonderful photography and a set of patterns in the back.

It seemed so economical, as patterns usually cost between $10-$30 each. The only problem with these gorgeous books is that I usually buy them, look at them and file them on my shelf. I am determined not to do that again!

On the insistence of Madhu, one of my ever loyal and encouraging sewing students, it's my plan to make every bag in this book. It will take several months, even with my students pitching in to do their part. It really hasn't been that hard to convince them to take up a bag project of their own. These bags are gorgeous and totally challenging.

The tote pictured above is called: . I made it for my friend Kristen. This was the first bag I started and it took me a couple of months, working on it a couple of hours each week.

Each bag is a complex project of it's own. They make wonderful gifts, but it will be hard to part with once you finish.

To the left, pictured is the flight bag. Nancy is making this out of an old Ikea Curtain with an awesome print.

The first step is cutting out all the pattern pieces out of the main fabric, inside fabric, applique fabric. This will take a couple of hours. I try to keep them with the pattern pieces. There are a lot of rectangles in Amy Butler's work, so don't forget to label your pieces, as it gets confusing really fast.



Nancy keeps on cutting....and we haven't even gotten to the complex system of interfacing.


The next project pictured is the _____clutch. It comes in two sizes. I decided to do the small version. This small bag looks simple, but don't be fooled. it has a very complicated pocket system on the inside. While it's difficult to complete, the pockets are a great asset to this bag once it's finished.

After cutting out all the pattern pieces and interfacing, I started putting it all together. You will start with the main body of the bag. There is a whole technique Amy Butler uses with interfacing and Peltex, where the Peltex (stiffer interfacing) is cut smaller than the fusible interfacing, and placed on the wrong side of the fabric, positioned very carefully. The fusible is then placed over the Peltex and fused to the fabric/Peltex. It allows the seam allowances to be less bulky while keeping the body of the bag reinforced.

The main bag and flap are then sewn separately.

The magnetic snaps positioned and secured.




The handle finished and stitched to the flap.











The inside card pocket completed.








The lining (with zipper pocket!) completed.

Then you get to stitch it all together! Eventually the inside card pocket gets sewn to the lining and the lining gets placed and sewn delicately into the main bag. It's done! This one took me about a month to finish and I topped it off with a great Broach that came from the Alameda Antique Fair.

Lots of Fun and lots of Work. This one took me about a month, working on it a few hours each week.

Good luck with your projects and I'll be posting more progress soon!

Getting Gorgeous for Alameda Patch

Recently, I started writing a style column with my friend Debbie Chapman for our local on-line newspaper - Alameda Patch. We create our own assignments and go forth to expose the style of and on our island. It's a little silly and a lot of fun. Our February theme is "Getting Gorgeous”. It comes just in time for Valentine's Day. We had the pleasure of visiting Spank - a salon here in town, ripe with talented stylists, aestheticians and make-up artists.

I had the idea that we should do a piece on lips. All the magazines profess that if you do nothing else, throw on some lipstick before you leave the house. This is a bit of a stretch for some of my friends who are moms that wear very little or no make-up at all. I asked Spank make-up artist Deidre Alexander for some tips and maybe a little instruction. Little did I know I would get a full makeover. Wow, it was fantastic and the pretty lips were only the icing on the cake. Deidre started with a tinted moisturizer by being True. She applied the tint with a makeup brush, which was a new experience for me. It worked great and provided a super smooth finish. Next, for the concealer under my eyes. This added a couple of hours of sleep that I missed the night before - who new? Then she dusted my face with a being True triple milled mineral makeup. Blush on my cheeks and then on to...Lips! "What, lips next" you ask? Yes, it was a shock for me too. Usually I move onto eyes, brows and then finish with lips. Well, apparently the philosophy is that you do your lips first, in case you have to run out the door. You will look more finished and balanced with good lips than you would with eyes done up and no lips.... go figure - she has a point. First, Deidre applied a lip treatment balm to add moisture. Then she penciled the outer edge of my lips starting with an "x" at the center of my top lip to define the shape. Next, she filled in my lips with the pencil. This gives your lips color after the outer layer of color or gloss wears off. Out came a lip brush and my lips were coated with crème in a gorgeously neutral shade of rose called Protagonist and then a light layer of gloss in the color, Intuitive. I love cosmetic names!

Next for my eyes! And Wow did that change my look entirely. She brushed a soft, light color, Shell, over my entire lid, then defined the crease with a color called Rosewood, accenting the crease with a neutral brown - Lotus. Deidre finished the shadow with a shimmery pink on the inside corner of my lid. The look was very soft and reflective.


With the finest of liner brushes, my eyes lids were dabbed with a very smooth and narrow line of Lapis (navy blue) liner, and then finished off with mascara.
Brows were last, starting with a waxy base color and
finishing with a colored powder.






















This is my finished look!

Needless to say, I'm very impressed. I've had my make-up done before but not like this. I looked great but not overdone. I'm going to practice my lips because that really did make a difference. Thanks so much Deidre!

Sewing at the Library

In August I had the opportunity to visit the Noe Valley Branch of the San Francisco Public Library. My dear friend Jean Sweeney is the librarian in the children's room. She had me come out and teach a short sewing program to young children.

It was super fun!











We worked with felt embroidery floss and jewels to create little pouches. It's a great quick project that packs a punch. I had 4 students and 1 helper Student (Aka - Emma my daughter!) aged between 4 and 9.

Each child picked their favorite color felt, folded over, like an envelope and stitched the sides up using embroidery floss.


Afterwards the boys and girls got to decorate with glitter, jewels and sequins.

My daughter feels pretty lucky because she not only got to make one, but got to keep the example that I made too.

Check out all the lovely designs the children came up with.

All the while we were joined by our favorite American Girl, Kaya. Kaya loves to join in on the fun!

Pickling with Mona!

Mona Personius of Mona's Table here in Alameda, gave a terrific class today on pickling! We pickled cucumbers, asparagus, cauliflower, carrots, and all sorts of veggies. I felt so old-fashioned and domestic. It was great! Mona led the brigade through the process (no pun intended) and we had a great time.

The veggies were cleaned, sliced and prepped. Mona prepared the brine, which was a combination of vinegar, water, herbs and spices. And, for sweeter pickles she added a little sugar.

Preparing the brine:

I made a jardiniere batch with cauliflower, corn, onions, celery and carrots. The one Mona had for us to sample was amazing! (I kept at the jar the whole time. Yummm!!)

After preparing the brine, we blanched the vegetables that needed to be blanched, in the brine, then stuffed the previously sterilized jars.

The sterilizing of the jars, lids and bands is a crucial step to ensure no "funkiness" happens and to keep it all safe.

After the jars are filled, then we poured more brine into the jars and capped them off with lids and bands. The jars are then "processed" in a boiling pot of water. We were told that they needed to be on an even surface and then left undisturbed for a while afterwards in order to make sure they are properly sealed. I think I'm writing all this down to keep it properly stored in my own memory as well as sharing the experience with friends. There is a lot to remember!

While all this was going on, Christina from

the Alameda Point Collaborative, was cooking up some blueberry syrup. (Pictured with Michelle, who is helping her out).

On the outskirts of all this action, Mark Hardwick, our fearless Slow Food Alameda leader, plodded away, filling his jars with green tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos and curry parsley.

When she wasn't helping Christina, Mona's friend Michelle filled her own jars with gorgeous tiny vegetables. She used both a savory brine as well as a brine made with lavender (wow!).

Rick & Julien

from the Feel Good Bakery were on hand to help and put together jars of bread and butter pickles, dill pickles and cucumber Kim Chi.

What a great day! Thanks Mona!