Knit v Sew

Welcome back, blogfollowers.
I have been pretty productive the past week and hopefully I will not be a lazy bum and do some posting about what I've been up to.  The other day I baked a delicious blueberry cake AND I made myself a brand new purse.  Then the next day I didn't do anything more inspired than brush my teeth.  Hey, that's how it goes sometimes.  More on the cake later.

I believe that there are two kinds of people in this world, knitters and sewers.  Well, in my world anyway.  Hey, I just noticed that sewer (SOH-er) and sewer (SOO-er) are spelled the same.   Anyway, I have always considered myself a knitter.  I like sitting in front of the tv knitting away at something for weeks (sometimes months).  You can't really sit in the front of the tv and sew (big minus). Still, I've always envied sewers.  Sewing takes a lot more precision and lot more planning.  Sewers must have minds like engineers.  I just don't have that kind of brain.  I like following the "knit 1, purl 2" pattern and seeing a scarf or a sweater develop stitch by stitch.  Sewing patterns scare and intimidate me.  They have weird symbols on them for things like darts, grain line and gathering line.  They are as thin as tissue paper and once opened, can never be folded back again to fit in their paper sleeves.  Sewers have to worry about construction, lining, interfacing.  They use machines.  They have to follow complex directions to the letter.  Sewers need to make a garment fit perfectly because, let's face it, a dress is not going to be as forgiving as a big baggy sweater if the fit is slightly off.  Because of this I've always shied away from sewing, despite my sometimes meticulous nature.  I can handle sewing some trim on a costume or hemming a pair of way too long H&M pants but besides that I don't really sew.  I faux sew. 

Here was my problem.  I wanted a bag.  I wanted it cute.  I wanted it now.  I had done my usual three days of research on Etsy and came up with nada.  Then I remembered that I had bookmarked a page from one of the sewing blogs I read, Sew Mama Sew.  It's a great site with an online store and blog.  They have the coolest fabrics imaginable and on the blog they post all kinds of sewing projects, tutorials and sew-alongs.  They had a little tutorial once of how to make a fat quarter bag.  I thought, I could make that.  Probably. Maybe.  And then I did what I usually do.  I bookmarked it and completely forgot all about it.

So the other day I thought, this is it.  This your time!  I studied the tutorial carefully.  It was not very detailed (for a knitter like me) so I had to read it a dozen times.  I actually set my computer up on the desk where I sew so I could refer to it as I went.  The bag had lining and interfacing.  It had a snap.  I took a deep breath and got going.

I bought two fat quarters from the quilting shop which has conveniently moved right now the street from my house.  Literally.  Walking distance.  Scary.  A fat quarter, for all the sewing neophytes out there like me, is a quarter of a yard that's cut differently than a typical length of fabric.  Here's a handy little diagram I drew up so you can see what I'm talking about. 

 

This is how a typical quarter yard is cut as it comes off the bolt of fabric at the store.  What you end up with is a skinny strip of fabric. 

This is the same yard of fabric, but instead of cutting it in strips, the store takes the yard and cuts it into rectangular quarters.  This means you end up with a fatter, more useful piece of fabric.

The fat quarters were $2.75 each which makes this bag relatively cheap to make.  You can definitely find fat quarters for less at Joann's.  Last time I was there they had them on sale for $.99 each.  This store, however, has the cutest fabric ever so I bought a beautiful red bold print for the outside and a cute green polka dot for the lining.

 Outer fabric

Lining fabric

The lady at the shop recommended fleece interfacing which turned out to have a nice body to it.

I already had some purse handles that I got ages ago with my mom at M&J Trimming in NYC. 

I won't go through step by step because, if you sew, you could probably do this in your sleep (I bow down). Here's the tutorial again if you need it.  After about an hour and a half and no big disasters I came out with this! 

I even added some interior pockets made from scrap fabric.  I hate bags without pockets.

Pocket before being sewn into bag.

I ran a seam down one side of the pocket to make a little pen slot.  Aren't you so impressed?

I am really pleased with the bag and I've gotten quite a few compliments on it.  I was even asked to make one for someone which made me quell with fear.  Quell... what a great word.  Not sure I'm ready for mass production yet.  So, in the end, I feel really good about my purse project.  My first love will always be knitting, but maybe there is hope for the sewer in me.  That's SOH-er, people!

Byeeee.