Scrapbusting Typography

While awaiting the release of Jess's Typography fabrics and some yardage of them, I decided to use what scraps I had left here to make what I could to go with the announcement when it was ready for sale. First I made this little Circle Zip Earbud Pouch from the Specimen print. The pattern was by Erin (Erickson) Gilbey, and it went together very quickly.

Then I had just enough of the Helvetica print to make this Essential Wristlet, paired with some more of the faux leather that I love. That pattern was also by Erin Gilbey.

Knowing the release date was getting closer but we had no yardage yet, Jess sent me the little 6"x6" samples she had so that I could make this ever-so-cute Rainbow Clutch from Anna Graham (a.k.a. Noodlehead)'s book, Handmade Style, which can be purchased from Amazon, among other places.

I haven't looked at the details of any of the other patterns in the book, but for this one I would say it'd be helpful to have a little bag-making under your belt, because I think a few things are taken for granted that you should already know. I did have a couple of issues while making it, the first being some short-lived confusion when she interchanged the terms "flap" and "tab" when telling how to make the flap. There are also zipper tabs, so thus the confusion. And she doesn't mention fusing the second piece of interfacing to the second flap piece... for a little more confusion. The biggest thing I had a problem with, though, was that the snap parts don't line up right. There just wasn't enough room on the pieced pocket to fit the snap part in the right place. The flap could've perhaps been just a bit longer. And it wasn't just my sewing... I looked at other Rainbow Clutches on Instagram, and I could see where some of them obviously had the same problem... and others may have had the problem but didn't fasten the snap for their photos, like I didn't. ;)

One more thing... the pattern calls for quilting cotton, with only Pellon SF101 woven interfacing. To me, that seemed like it would make for a somewhat wimpy clutch, so I decided to use foam interfacing in mine instead. It made for a little bit more work, basting and later trimming the foam, but I'm really glad I used it. It gave the clutch some nice body.

So things like that are the reasons I was glad I knew something about bag-making, so that I could have a better outcome (well, except for the snap).

One good thing I learned from using the pattern is paper-piecing (I hear you cheering, Kris)! I had never done it before and knew nothing about it. The pattern doesn't cover it in detail, and in fact says to google it for tutorials or videos showing how. I knew better than that, though - I texted my friend Cindy from Live a Colorful Life and asked her about it, because she is one heckuva good quilter! She gave me some tips, one of which was to go to her tutorial here where she explains how to use freezer paper to help with odd-angle paper-piecing. I found it extremely helpful, and thus I was able to end up with a lovely paper-pieced pocket on my clutch. (I even found it kind of fun, once I got the hang of it... but don't get your hopes up, Kris. Ha.)

I also used my favorite tutorial for setting in a welt pocket zipper, found here. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Another thing I did, because I didn't want the lining fabric showing AT ALL around that zipper to mess up the look of the lovely linen... I swapped out that part of the pocket lining fabric for a piece of the linen (I just seamed them together). In other words, I faced it. I'm REALLY glad I did that! Some of the other clutch pics I saw had pocket lining fabric sticking out, and it looks pretty tacky like that when it's not intended to show.

The linings for all the bags in this post are the same, Lorem Ipsum from Typography. I seemed to have plenty of that left.

Here are the bags all together, for a bit of size reference.

Oh, and lest I forget... Typography has now been released and is available for purchase!! Finally. :) I know Hawthorne Threads has the whole line. You can check the Cloud9 website for where to buy from other places.

More good news that I'm even happier about... Jess's latest barkcloth fabrics are in the works, the samples are out, and some of each is being shipped to me! Woohoo! I so love the barkcloth! This line is called In Theory, and you can get a peek at it here. So over Christmas, Jess and I can plot projects. ;) It is supposed to be released for sale in January or February.

Speaking of Christmas, it's coming FAST. So much to do... so little time! So I'm out of here until after next weekend. Here's wishing you all a blessed Christmas with family and friends! I'll try to be a little more consistent with the blogging in 2016. Try. ;)