Houses Bag And 2 Rejects

Last week I was feeling very tired and achy most likely triggered by the weather change. This week I was quite determined to be more productive and I did the most unlikely thing.

But before that, I had been eating rather sweet food for breakfast and would usually end up with a sugar crash. And that would mean I ended up napping for a good half hour wherever I happened to be, usually in front of my monitor. I don't look good waking up from a sugar crash induced nap. Guilty, horribly achy, numb because I'm not in a sleeping position plus I'm covered in drool.

So this week, I wanted to stop eating sweet food for breakfast and I ate peanut butter with bananas on multi-grain bread!! My friend, Vivian introduced this mind-boggling concoction to me years ago and I had tried it then but never quite stuck to it. I'm a typical Chinese in the sense that I don't eat fruits for breakfast. And seriously, the idea of peanut butter with bananas is quite gross. But I wanted to get energized so I could do some serious sewing instead of just lethargying around all day. And it worked! Tastes pretty good too plus bananas give it a little sweetness so I'm not like deprived.

So I felt pretty good for the past 3 days and I made this.

 Yes, another BIG sports bag inspired bag. The canvas cotton fabric is ricco-ricco.

I used piping again. My sewing machine seriously groaned when I sewed all the layers together. And I busted 1 needle.

I like this angle of the bag. When my girl saw the bag, she said, "Diaper bag!" Gosh, I hope no one else thinks it's a diaper bag because it's a sports bag inspired bag!

I had so much energy I made 2 more items but sadly they didn't make the cut.

This curvy zip pouch I made with my current favourite Patty Young's clover print fabric is a little too small. Plus the pleats make it a little too bulky at the seams for my liking. So I'm gifting it to MYSELF. It's cute, isn't it?  Next week or so, I shall attempt another larger version and take care of the bulk.

When I made this recessed zip clutch, I was trying to make a mini-version of another pleated bag I had made in March 2010.

Remember this pleated shoulder bag?

Somehow when it's small, it doesn't quite work. If I were to attempt another one, believe it or not, I'm actually going to ADD PLEATS in the bottom. My girl likes this zip clutch a lot so I'm gifting it to her.

Hmmm...if I have more peanut butter and bananas I may make 1 more bag this week. See you soon.

A Bag Is Born

For the past few days I have been obsessing over the construction of my sports bag inspired bag.

Remember this bag? I made it in April 2010. It is constructed the same way as the Rainbow Bag which is done in a very complicated way where the outer fabric and the lining are sewn together. At some point, the entire bag has to be squashed flat like a pancake in order to complete the construction. That's fine as long as your fabric isn't thick and the gusset is not wide.

So I wanted to find another way to construct these sports bag inspired bags without any limitation on the size of the bag. Yes, I want to make these bags even BIGGER. Anyhoo, after days and days, I've finally come to a compromise method. I know I'm just babbling and you don't know what I'm talking about. But the bag is finally done and what I'm gonna show you isn't pretty.

The unglam side of a bag. This is what the bag looks like on the raw side. I've sewn only certain portions of the outer fabric and lining together.

Now we push the "baby" out through the gap, much like giving birth, eh? Gosh, I'm so gross today. Speaking of giving birth, my 2 kids were a result of C-section. So I've NEVER experienced labour pains and I have no real idea what PUSHING means.

We're almost there! Can you see a little of the outer fabric?

It's a GIRL!

And I used Ikea fabric again. It's similar to the Rainbow fabric but has fewer colours.

Plus, I used piping on the bag. Can you tell? The haze and thunderstorm in Singapore is making it very hard to take photos. More of these big babies coming up soon. See you.