Diva Bag: Straps and Exterior

Because I plan to use my Diva bag on an upcoming trip (and because I like stuff like this!), I added some traveler-friendly security features.

The first modification was putting slash-proof wire into the straps. I bought vinyl coated galvanized wire at Home Depot, and had it cut to length at the store. Then I stitched the wire onto the interfacing for the strap interfacing, zigzagged carefully over the cable. Very carefully — if the needle hit the cable, it would break, and likely go flying, which could be nasty.

Once this was done, I assembled the straps according to the instructions, which have you fold the outer edges of the fabric toward the middle. If you’re cutting your straps from patterned fabric, you’ll want to make sure that you’ll get the results you want by checking the way you’ll be folding your material before you cut! With a solid color, this wasn’t an issue, of course.

Then it was on to the pockets. The larger front pocket has a hidden phone pocket inside, so that’s done first. It’s actually sewn to the front of the bag, and later hidden by the front pocket:

I added the strap and buckle. No way my phone’s hanging out without some kind of restraint. My pleat is the reverse of the one shown in the pattern directions; it doesn’t make any difference — I just prefer this one.

Once you’ve completed the phone pocket, you place the large exterior pocket over it, baste the edges together, and add the straps down each side:

The other side of the bag is done the same way, only the pocket is smaller. Once the straps are attached to the front and back of the bag, it gets assembled just like the lining, except that there aren’t any pockets on the outer sides of the bag. Because I didn’t iron-on my interfacing (I’m sewing with nylon, and just thinking about melting interfacing to nylon gives me a coronary), I quilted the sides of my bag to hold the interfacing in place:

These side pieces fold up accordion-style, so fan-shaped quilting seemed like the right thing. It’s pretty obvious that I’ve never machine-quilted before, isn’t it? Mr. Noile liked that herringbone effect very much, though, and pointed out that it was perfect with the design. I’m going with that thought.

Once the main part of the exterior is assembled, you put a piece of mesh screening in the bottom of the bag. In keeping with my “slash-proof” theme, I sewed two layers of aluminum screening to the underside of the mesh, zigzagging (carefully) around the rough edges.

I tacked four small, M&M shaped buttons to each corner of the base of the bag, through the outer layer of the bag, and through the screen and mesh, to hold the mesh in place. The instructions imply that you’ll be able to tack the mesh to the seams of the bag, but it’s too small to allow that.

The screening won’t prevent my bag from being slashed on the sides, but the sides aren’t likely to cause spillage the way slashing the bottom does. And they’re much harder to get to than the bottom, if you’re looking for a dramatic way into someone else’s purse.

Mr. Noile suggested that, next time, I cut the mesh in half crosswise, and zigzag the pieces together so that it will bend in the middle when the bag is carried. I think that’s smart — the mesh would still provide a base, but the bag wouldn’t be as bulky when carried (unless you really stuff it).

Once the front and back are attached, and the sides are sewn up, and your mesh is in place, the main part of the exterior of the bag is finished:

At this point, you tuck your lining inside, and prepare the “zipper sandwich” that will close the main section of your bag. The zipper excess just gets cut off, and the raw edges on each side are finished with extension flaps that you use to close the bag for carrying. Here’s how the sandwich looks assembled and attached to the bag, before the zipper is trimmed:

The flaps use pattern piece D, as well as an interfacing piece. For some reason, though, the curve on the interfacing piece doesn’t match the curve on pattern piece D. I drew my own, and recommend you, do, too.

Here’s how they looked once they were sewn to the bag:

These flaps are assembled off the bag, but next time, I think I’ll get a better result if I first sew one flap to the bag along the bottom edge, and then stitch the second flap piece to the one already on the bag. Assembling them separately and then fitting them over the raw edge of the bag was a bit of a pain.

(That strap that shows above is the one that secures my phone in the hidden phone pocket.) I didn’t much like the look of this flap — if you use a patterned fabric, it will probably look great, but ugh, this looks so . . . utilitarian?

So I scrounged around and found this trim:

Hook and loop tape is used to close these flaps. I’m already concerned that this skinny strip won’t be able to take the heat over time — when the bag’s full, there’s a fair amount of stress on it. One solution might be to use extra wide, extra strong hook and loop here — covering most of the flap. Or maybe some other kind of fastener is indicated; I haven’t really made up my mind.

Matching the flaps up perfectly when closing them is a bit of a pain for we OCD types, too. Next time I might just cut these in a rectangular, shorter height, shape. Though I admit that the flap curves do work well with the shape of the rest of the bag.

Closed, the bag is about 8 inches by 12 inches at its base — that includes the sides, which stick out past the front a bit:

The strap length is perfect on me — easy to wear, and also easy to carry. Made in my nylon, it’s also incredibly light, but strong. Here’s the interior, stuffed for a trip:

What’s there? Starting at the left and clockwise, a phone, a folding toothbrush, a mini-tripod, a Moleskine City Notebook (don’t leave home without it!), small pocket with stevia packets, the “hidden” pocket with my wallet, etc., a mini-flashlight, extra mini-pens, my Moleskine planner, and a small pocket with a spork, soap leaves and lip balm. Attached to the D rings are my Nintendo DS (sudoku and brain games to go) on one side, and a small zip bag for personal items (comb, towelette packets for restrooms without tissue, etc.). On the bottom of the bag are a silicone cup stuffed with a bandanna and a small packet of nuts, and my clip-on sunglasses.

There’s a lot of room, but you can’t quite use it all, since folding the bag to close it reduces the volume significantly. My small notebooks interfere with the folding a bit — I just push them toward the center, though, and it works out fine. Those of you who travel lighter won’t have an issue with this.

In the outer pockets are a fold-out pocket city map and a packet of tissues; I’ll have a 12 ounce thermal drink container in the larger outside pocket on most days.

As the pattern promises, you can wear the Diva as a backpack — very handy when you need both hands for a few minutes (or even longer):

Though it admittedly looks a little odd from the side:

I had a wonderful time making this bag, and loved the very clear, step-by-step directions. There aren’t any steps here that are difficult, and, as long as you label your pieces, assembly should go very smoothly, even for a novice. The Diva is a cleverly designed bag, and I’m expecting it to be very useful for everyday as well as for trips when I want everything but the kitchen sink with me while I’m out all day exploring.

Follow-up: After a week in Washington, DC, I can report that this is a wonderful light bag that mostly fulfilled my requirements very well. However, when I travel, I tend to carry a whole lot of stuff, and most of it would do better in a flatter bag. I’m seriously considering making this bag again, and making these changes:

* reducing the width by three to four inches, and widening the length by about four inches to make a much flatter bag

* taking the deep pleats out of the phone pockets — they’re way too big for my phone

* making the closure flaps rectangular, and using a different method to stiffen and close them. As I’d suspected, when the bag is really packed, the hook and loop can’t quite keep things together.

* switching the inside pockets so that the larger ones go behind the front and back panels, instead of along the folding edges. This would put one of these pockets against the “secret” pocket, which might require a more substantial closure on the “secret” pocket.

* placing the inner phone pocket, and possibly several other smaller ones (maybe one specifically designed for pens, and another for my spork and chopsticks) along the folding sides

* adding an umbrella pocket on the underside of the bag (with a closure) (Another Mr. Noile suggestion!)

* adding a webbing strap under the bag to give my hand a natural place to hold my overstuffed bag when it’s on my shoulder

* putting hook fastener on the top of one strap, and loop fastener on the top of the other so that they hook and loop together on my shoulder

As a final note, I wish that Lynndi Enright had been a little more careful with her branding. When I post this to Pattern Review, how do I post it? Under “Expressions in Design” “Thumbuddy Special” or “Lynndi Enright”? Every one of these appears on the pattern envelope, but none of these are listed on Pattern Review’s drop-down company listing. Unfortunately, Pattern Review’s search system isn’t sophisticated enough to overcome a challenge that doesn’t involve exact names.

“Thumbuddy Special” is particularly bad, not only because you have to remember that it’s said as if it were a lisp, but then you have to wonder whether it’s got two letters “b” or not. Not to mention that, bizarrely, it’s not a unique name.

Searching on Google for “Diva Essential Designer Bag” is complicated, too — try it, or just imagine how many hits you get with the words “diva designer bag”. All of this makes finding the patterns somewhat difficult.

Designers, beware! A unique, specific, descriptive name is a really good idea if you’re trying to sell a product people will want to find on the internet.

Previously:

Diva Essential Designer Bag

Diva Bag: The Lining

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Diva Bag: The Lining

Here’s how the lining gets assembled for the Diva Essential Designer Bag. First you put together the pockets that will line the front and back of the bag. If you want to jazz them up, this is the time — I added jumbo rickrack to the tops edges so that I could find the pockets easily in the bag, and so that the lining wouldn’t be so boring.

The one above with rickrack is for a cell phone, and the one you can’t really see (on the left here) is a “secret” pocket to stash your wallet or cash in. It normally won’t be very visible, although the many layers of my chrome yellow fabric got very, very dark once they were stacked on top of each other. Anybody who gets this far into my bag is going to know that there’s something funny about that end of the bag. That’s not likely to happen, though, since the zipper opens from the other end.

Then you make the pockets that are attached to the sides of the interior lining. There are two medium-sized pockets on each side, each of them with a small pocket sewn onto it. One of the small pockets is cut in contrast (or, if you prefer, you could do both that way. Here’s how these pockets look sewn in to the lining:

I added D rings to the sides of each pocket, ’cause I just can’t live without my D rings. They’re attached to short pieces of one-inch black webbing, and tucked into the side seams.

Here’s the lining with the front and back pieces attached:

Once that’s done, you sew up the sides, and the interior of your bag is virtually finished:

For the most part, each pattern piece is sensibly named, but there’s one piece called “zipper remnant pocket”. The name drove me nuts. There is a zipper remnant — part of the zipper that you cut off after you sew the zipper in place. But it doesn’t have a pocket.

Eventually, I realized that two small pockets that get sewn onto the medium-sized lining pockets were cut from a strip of fabric that was also used to make the strips the zipper is sewn to: hence, the small pockets are “zipper remnant pockets”. This is possibly the world’s dumbest name for a pattern piece. Do yourself a favor and cross out the phrase everywhere you see it, and write “small inner pockets”. You’ll be happy you did.

That’s an odd mistake, though, because the directions for this bag are otherwise really beautifully written. Each step is broken down into a tidy, bite-sized piece, and there are helpful photos for places that might give you a little trouble. The order of assembly is well-thought-out, too — I loved doing the lining first because the outside of the bag is actually less complicated, and went much faster. As soon as it was done, it was pop in the lining, and viola!

The potential capacity is huge, but as we’ll see, that’s not quite how it works in practice. Next: the exterior.

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Diva Essential Designer Bag

I found this pattern last month at Renee’s House of Quilting, just outside of Traverse City, Michigan. Well, that’s not quite accurate: Mr. Noile’s mother, Trilby, found both Renee’s and this Diva Essential Designer Bag pattern. Neither one of us would have looked twice at the envelope if we’d seen it first, but Trilby spied a fantastic version of the bag on display at Renee’s, and we both were sold on the spot. Here’s the envelope:

I’m afraid the main bag featured here doesn’t do anything at all for me. However, the bag has a whole bunch of pockets on the inside, a huge wide (hidden) mouth to stuff things into, pockets on the outside, and straps that allow it to be worn as a back pack if you like. Not to mention that it offers the opportunity to combine different fabric combinations for a fun, kooky or just really individual look.

Not that I’m taking advantage of the latter. My first version of the Diva is going to be boring: I need a lightweight travel bag with serious capacity in basic black. To compensate a little, I chose a chrome yellow nylon for the lining, and jumbo black rickrack to spiff up the pockets.

Renee sells the correct zipper size for the Diva in a set along with color-coordinated velcro — meaning that Trilby’s velcro and zip coordinate really well with her fabric.

The envelope includes only four pattern pieces, printed on durable, heavy paper. The designer, Lynndi Enright, has you measure and cut all of the remaining pieces directly on the fabric. She’s done a clever job of making the instructions clear, and even includes cutting layouts for all three sections: the main fabric, the lining, and the batting. Watch your math when you cut or draw — I somehow ended up with an extra 2 1/2 inches on my strap batting. (Caught in time, thank goodness.)

Since I plan to make a less-dull version of this bag later, I decided to make paper pattern pieces instead of cutting directly from the fabric. Using freezer paper, I drew every single piece on the roll, labeled each carefully, and then cut them out:

Although I half-dreaded doing this, it went surprisingly quickly. All the pieces are either rectangular or square, and using a clear, three inch wide quilting ruler made the job go quickly. You end up with quite a pile of paper, and, eventually, fabric. There are sixteen pieces to cut for the lining alone.

Enright says you should take a pile of stickies and label every piece as you cut it, and she’s absolutely right about that. I went one better and also marked “top” on each piece — she’s very clear about where you need to do this — and also pinned the stickies in place in the narrow seam allowance (1/4 inch).

Because my fabric is nylon ripstop, I needed to seal every edge. To do this, I light a candle in a well-ventilated area, and, holding each fabric edge taut, I run it quickly near (not touching) the base of the candle flame. This melts the nylon edge just a little bit, and prevents it from disintegrating over time. Nothing, but nothing, unravels like the unprotected edge of cut nylon.

The lining gets assembled first, and that will be the subject of my next post. In the meantime, to inspire you, here are a couple of other views of the Diva. This first one’s from Heart to Hand:

And so is this one, in a completely different flavor, showing the interior:

Batiks by Design has this one, in browns and burgundy:

And, finally, a black and white version (and a deep blue companion) from Fabric-Etc’s Blog (where they offer a Diva-making class in Bellingham, Washington):

Lots of possibilities, wouldn’t you say?

Next —  Diva Bag:  The Lining


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Make a Cloth Crinkle Book

Stinkhead has posted a video showing how to make a baby’s cloth crinkle book using a free pdf, also available at the link. Well, it’s actually a crinkle newspaper, but close enough.

nontoxic_newspapers.jpg

We’ll ignore Stinkhead’s assumption that only Daddy reads the newspaper, especially since both Daddy and Mommy get their news on the Internet these days. Also, because, although he figures only Mommies will sew the book, he actually does it himself in the video. Be that all as it may, this is one cool project, and Stinkhead’s graphics are way much cooler than the New York Times’.

Via Daddytypes

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DIY Cash Envelope

You might think that a well-educated, theoretically sophisticated person like me (back off, folks, I said “theoretically”!) might feel a little silly carrying money around in an envelope. I don’t, though, because I learned to do this by following some basic, commonsense financial advice from a guy named Dave Ramsey. He advocates using envelopes with budgeted amounts as a way of keeping a eye on expenses.

I carry just one envelope (groceries/household/food funds), and formerly used Dave Ramsey’s own envelopes. Unlike the office supply variety, Ramsey’s are just the right size for currency, making them convenient to carry around. But they’re paper, and mine tended to get a little ragged, so I laminated them with contact paper. Then I duct-taped the edges, like this:

Ugly, no? When I couldn’t take it any more, I hauled out some iron-on interfacing, a thrilling tropical print, and set to work.

First, I opened out one of the original paper envelopes and traced it on the interfacing. Then I cut out a corresponding piece of fabric, adding an allowance for the side seams, around the fold-over flap, and along the top edge. Then I applied the interfacing to the fabric.

This was a quick and dirty project, so I just stitched up the side seams, turned it right side out, and then folded the fabric over the top flap and the top edge. I sewed those edges down with a decorative stitch. Then I added two sets of velcro to keep it closed.

The result, while perhaps way too flashy, is a lot of fun, and much more durable than the paper/laminate/duct tape version.

This envelope is so slim (that polyester crepe was positively filmy before I applied the interfacing) that it’s hardly noticeable in my purse — much sleeker than a fat wallet. (I use a small card case for ID and debit card.)

You, of course, don’t need an actual Dave Ramsey envelope to whip this up, but can whatever paper currency is in your wallet to gauge the size of your envelope correctly.

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Final Mini-Wardrobe

Here are all four pieces on one storyboard:

(I really did this just so that I had a URL to add to PR’s discussion forum.)

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Vogue 8499 – The Skirt, In Black

Final piece for Mini-Wardrobe, 2008 — and it’s still an hour and forty-five minutes to the deadline! Whew.

I have a fantasy about this skirt. It’s constructed with long, narrow pockets attached to the side panels. I want to go to an artisan bakery, pick up a couple of incredible baguettes, and bring them home in these pockets. Or maybe put a baguette in one pocket, and a couple of smaller chunks of cheese in the other. This is a garment that seems perfectly suited to my favorite portable meal.

When my spouse saw these pockets on my muslin, he suggested sewing smaller pockets inside the large ones. I thought that was a brilliant suggestion, so that’s exactly what I did this time around. I love a little hidden, subversive flash, so I chose a cotton print for the secret pockets. Here’s how they looked as I assembled them:

I cut them to fit the side panels, added a small pleat in the middle, hemmed the top edge, and double-stitched the bottom edge before folding them up. Now I’ve got functional pockets inside the funky large ones.

Otherwise, the skirt is pretty much as suggested by Vogue, except that I shortened it by two inches, and used strips of grosgrain ribbon along the top edges of the zippers. The pattern calls for leaving them ‘raw’, but that’s not a look I fancy. At least not with ordinary zippers.

This is the final piece for my entries in PR’s Mini-Wardrobe Contest. Talk about a photo finish! Now, I’ve got to get the last two reviews onto PR, and get my pictures into the gallery.

Fantasy Realized!

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Storyboard Redux

Some nerve, huh? It’s the last day of the contest, and I’m posting a new storyboard. What can I say? This month’s been a wild and wacky ride.

Here it is:

As of this posting, three of the garments are done. But hey, I’ve still got 15 or so more hours, right?

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New Look 6483 – Reversible Tank II

When I confronted my spouse wearing the muslin version of this tank, he took one look and said “You’re puffy!” I detected no admiration in his tone, so I’m taking some comfort from knowing that this version is “puffy” on only one side. The other side is an interesting, somewhat textured, somewhat variegated green. It’s conservative, and flat. I’m expecting a slightly more positive response to this one.

Last night I dragged myself out of bed after 40 hours of vertigo-induced nausea and managed to put it together. Things didn’t start out well — my first move was to sew the two fronts together at the shoulders, but once I’d straightened that out my brain picked up speed and things went well.

Pictures tomorrow — that way I can take them in natural light. Print side:

And of the solid side:

OK, seriously bad pictures here — and what’s with the solid top?  Wrong undergarment, I think.  And I took the print picture before I’d pressed the hem.  But you get the idea.  (It’s less than two hours to the end of the Mini-Wardrobe Contest, so I won’t be taking new pictures tonight.

As with the muslin, I made a few changes to the pattern: first, making it reversible; second, removing the side vents; third, eliminating the button at the top of the neck. I also dropped the darts to accommodate my bust. This is a “1 hour easy” pattern; it took two hours (after cutting it out, which I did two days ago) including serging all the seams and making the two tanks so it reversed.

The “puffy” side is a heat-treated poly print; the solid side (which looks vaguely bamboo-ish) is a poly/rayon, if I remember correctly.

This is the third of four pieces for the PR Mini-Wardrobe Contest, which terminates tomorrow night. Tomorrow I’m making the fourth piece — Marcy Tilton’s skirt from Vogue 8499. Wish me luck!

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Vogue 7914 – Jacket

Here’s another piece for the PR Mini-Wardrobe Contest. (Will I actually make it to the finish line?) This pattern has appealed to me for a long time — it’s got easy lines, and that long tail in the back (which stretches around to the side fronts) gives it some extra interest.

According to the size chart on the pattern envelope, I should have cut between size 14 and a 16 (37 inch bust, 28 inch waist). I made a size 8, which is just about right. If anything, even that borders on the larger end of things, rather than the smaller. There are adjustments for petites; I had to double the amount Vogue suggested to shorten the sleeves sufficiently, though.

I made the jacket collar-less; I didn’t particularly like the look of the collar, and think the jacket will be more comfortable to wear in summer without it. I top-stitched around the neckline, too, matching the rest of the jacket. I’m not sure that worked — at least, the buttonhole looks a little odd fighting with the topstitching.

The directions are quite clear, except for the curious omission of adding buttonholes. Somehow they got lost between page 1 and page 2. This is unfortunate, especially since I, personally, like to be reminded of which side I’m supposed to put them. Bad editing, it seems, is becoming a Vogue trademark.

My fabric’s a turquoise linen with just a little bit of stretch. The buttons are JHB; mine are seven-eighths of an inch in size, though the pattern calls for three-fourths. I had considered going down in size, and had even ordered the smaller buttons, but realized that they would get lost in the massive expanse of the jacket.

However, this was the source of a serious miscalculation on my part. Instead of relocating the buttonhole location, I simply started them at the point closest to the edge of the jacket. This meant that the small amount of extra length leads out toward the sleeve. Net result? when the jacket isn’t buttoned, the buttonholes look a bit off — as if they were placed a little bit too far to the left. Which I guess they sort of were. I’ll have to watch that next time.

This jacket’s not lined, so I used a Hong Kong finish to give it a clean look inside. I’m happy with the jacket on the whole; but, in the end, it’s sort of neither here nor there. In spite of the fun tail, a great color and interesting buttons, it’s really sort of a plain, boxy jacket. I’ll wear it, I’ll enjoy it, but it’s sort of nebbish.

My Pfaff still doesn’t have a check spring, so I was fortunate that I was able to keep a very close eye on things and keep the thread tension where it belonged through this project. It’s really odd that the buttonhole function works perfectly when the machine is so hobbled . . . but I’m not complaining!

I remembered to sew an extra button inside the jacket. Replacing one of these buttons would be non-trivial.

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