The Tablet Messenger Bag

I have a confession. I am not much of a purse user. I tend to overstuff pockets and forget things at home! So, I decided it was time to create a bag that was functional, pretty and me. I decided on a size which could accommodate a 10" tablet with ease and have the depth to carry keys, wallet, glasses, phone...you know, the necessities!

I like traditional leather that generally populates the bag market, but leather isn't really my style. I took a piece of plain, undyed denim and dyed the base layer a medium gray. Afterwards, I created new geometric screens to pattern the surface. With these in hand, I applied dark gray and purple thickened dyes randomly across the surface. A few streaks of turquoise added the final touch.

Painted Denim

I shopped for purses that fit the size I was looking for and decided on the features that are important: external pocket, adjustable strap, internal pockets, bias binding, in seam piping, and a zipper closure. The bag would also have a three dimensional shape by inserting a gusset between the front and back panels. This purse was practically finished, in my head!

Cut, sew, fine tune and build. I have a great new cross body bag! It will be a pleasant change to have all my precious gathered in one place!

Front with exterior pocket

Back view. Note the curved reinforcement at the side top. Its not only pretty, it adds strength!

A look from above. I use a heavyweight zipper! Nothing is escaping.

The side. Trim detail!

Interior pockets and lining. Either pocket is large enough for an iPhone 6s.

Label and lining

I enjoyed the process so much, I constructed a second bag using indigo dyed denim with blue jeans gold trim and a brass zipper.

Denim Xbody front pocket

The back

Side! Check out that sweet piping!

Overview

Bright inside lining and pockets. Here you can see the nylon tape used to reinforce the back of the strap.

Lining and label

I will be selling these bags in my Etsy shop. Each one will be unique and can be customized, if you wish! Shop ROX on Etsy

The CarryALL

The CarryALL

I've always believed that a bag that doesn't have lots of pockets is not for me. I like organization and this new bag delivers! It will securely hold your laptop (up to 10"x 14") or 10" tablet. The CarryALL features pockets for pens/stylus/business cards/glasses; elastic edged pockets for bottles and phones; and a discreet zipper pocket for your most important treasures! I included a hook to hang keys on, but you may want to use it for hand sanitizer. All of your contents are stored under a top zipper closure, and magnetic snaps hold the flap in place. That is a lot of features in a bag that measures 15"x 12"x 4".

Here's how I made the CarryALL. I start with heavy weight denim and discharge patterns into the original indigo. Discharging is the removal of color. It can be done with bleach, chemicals, soft scrub, or gel dishwasher detergent. I use bleach and treat the fabric to remove all the bleach before I add the next layers of color and design. I add patterns using freezer paper, folding, stencils, whatever works! This is the same process I described in my blog "Freezer Paper Screening". In this case, bleach is the paint. After the discharge process, I sprayed dye onto the denim to change the blue into green and violet, and add additional patterns. After 24 hours of waiting for the dye to bond, I wash the denim and it is ready to be used!

In the meanwhile, I dye the pima cotton for the lining/binding fabrics. I personally prefer a bright interior, so I decided on a bright lemon-lime. Now everything is ready to form into a bag!
The lining gets beefed up with interfacing, and a stiffener is adhered to the backside of the denim. The first thing I assemble is the flap. 

Binding, denim, lining ,snaps and decorative thread! Flap ingredients!

The reinforced back

The ling with stitching and snaps

 I planned to do some decorative stitching to the flap, but it was swallowed up in the design and did not add to the finished product. So, I stitched around the motif edges to give it a hint of depth.

All bound and ready to go!

Next, I build the lining. Nylon fasteners are used on the laptop to prevent marring those precious electronics.

Did I mention I like pockets?!

Laptop/tablet harness

The small part assembly is finished! Yay! Now, the lining is sewn into its basic box shape. The denim gets the same treatment, and the flap and snaps are aligned and installed. The strap loops are attached to the side panel. The last bit of sewing is to join the two parts together. I stitch the lining and denim to each other along the seam allowances to hold it all in place. Then the top edge is sewn and it all gets turned right side out! A bit of hand sewing closes it up!

Overview of lining: keys on right, phone on left.

Tablet harness, bottle holder, finger. shown with optional tablet sleeve.

Strap, flap and zipper closure.

The back. The dark areas are where the bleached was blocked.

The completed CarryALL

This bag is a downsized version of the diaper bag I make. I think the CarryALL will work well for the office, gym, overnight bag, or as a diaper bag. Every piece of fabric is unique and can be customized for your needs. 

We are proud to offer this bag and the tablet sleeve through our new Etsy boutique! Of course, it's made in the USA!

Goals!

I suppose most people make resolutions for the new year, at the new year. Well, I have a goal. It's rather nebulous, but a goal none the less. You may remember Timmy, the Great Horned Owl that was trapped in the fireplace last year; Timmy's release portrait has been my screen saver for a few months and I have come to know his face rather well! So, in the up coming months I plan to use Timmy and some of my other favorite critters to expand my fiber art techniques.

Looking back on my writing this past year, I realize that coloring fabric and yarn are some of my most enjoyable activities! I really could dye yarn and fabric full time! My stash has been reduced and soon I will need to color/print/texturize a whole lot of yardage! Oh darn. The magic of Easter egg coloring is alive and well within me.

I tried my hand at a couple of small scale art quilts, and I liked it. I showed you the process with "Ephemeral". Recently, I created an art quilt based on Timmy using thread sketching and fusible applique.

This is where I began. I cropped Timmy down to portrait size. I opened the photo in Elements and removed the black background. Then I had fun with filters. I pixelated, solarized, and patchworked the file. When I saw the patchwork effect, I was on to something. Patchwork is in my repertoire, so it wasn't a leap for me. But making patches 1/10th of an inch was a bit insane, even for me! Next, I turned the photo into gray scale. Wow. Now I could really see the shading on Timmy. And now I had a beginning. I printed the gray scale photo and selected fabrics that would fit.

I dye value gradations and I had some great ranges of blacks and grays. Golden yellow is a favorite of mine, so the owl eyes were taken care of! I used 11 different fabrics in the bird. I will take care of the background when I get there!

 I used a re-purposed piece of acetate as a clear pattern sheet. I laid it on top of the gray scale print and selected the darkest value areas. I drew these onto the acetate and then cut pattern pieces for the fusible webbing, which was then pressed on the fabric. I then put the puzzle pieces on a white cotton and pressed into place. I drew each value with a different color marker and repeated the applique process until all the parts were finished. This is how my pattern looked after all the pieces were accounted for!

And this is how the applique looked on a variety of backgrounds:

 In my mind's eye, I thought this was it.











And then I saw this....

And then I chose this marbled blue silk. The fabric pieces look blotchy at this point. The thread sketching will add the detail layer. Think of thread sketching as drawing/painting with tread and using a sewing machine as the tool. The fabric has to be stabilized to where it feels like paper in order to support all the thread. This is definitely an art quilt technique, not a bed quilt!

Can you see the feathers and detail coming in? Timmy had a lot of rusty brown areas and a lot of gray! I added all the brown with thread. I carefully studied my original photo for color and texture and used the thread to mimic. He's looking really good and there is still more stitching to do!

I really thought the back looked cool! All the thread ends were pulled to this side, so none show on the public side of the piece. I think you can see the sketching quite easily.










Next, I layered the backing and the batting to make it an official "quilt". I was undecided on the quilting, so I drew a few ideas onto my acetate pattern and came up with a dreamy skyscape for the next step. I drew the moon in the upper left corner and wispy clouds behind Timmy. More thread was added to the owl to create depth. Binding would match the quilt and voila!

RESCUE OWL; TIMMY!

Detail of eye

I am proud of how my owl turned out. I plan to try this technique with gila monsters and other critters! Maybe even a human or two! My journey continues!

A Sweater for my Honey!

Last year, I started on a sweater for my husband. Knitting a sweater is a big project for me. The color must be chosen, the yarn dyed, the pattern selected. All of these decisions must be made with the intended wearer, if you want the sweater to be worn! The pattern was probably the easiest choice. My guy knows what he likes, and having sewn for him, I have a pretty good idea as well! Zip front; basic cardigan cut; pockets. No itchy wool!
A beautiful alpaca-merino-silk worsted yarn was the winner. Now for color. On the western edge of the Tucson valley are the Tucson Mountains. These peaks are not the tallest surrounding our city, but they are the prettiest. Dark browns, splashes of greens and teal, mahogany. This is what my man wants.

The Tucson Mountains

 This is what he got:

The shower yarn barn

Dyed, dried and waiting to be knit!

The colors really do evoke the mountains! To keep the colors flowing, I knit with three balls at a time. It keeps everything mixed up and prevented striping. The front and back of the torso are knit as one piece. This sweater design is based on a favorite hoodie pattern I have sewn many times. As a long time seamstress, to be able to shape a garment as you build the fabric is nearly miraculous! No seams if I don't have to! I designed the pockets to be knit as I went. Nice and deep, like a good pocket!

Sweater torso before adding zipper. 

Next: the sleeves. 

Start of a sleeve

I prefer to knit both sleeves at the same time. This guarantees symmetry! And the knitting is complete. You can see the stitch pattern in the above picture. It is a thermal weave, very warm, and interesting to knit.

Two sleeves: blocked

All that's left now is to sew the underarm sleeves and set them into the body. Back to those sewing skills! Oh, and insert the zipper. All the sewing is by hand. This is no place for a sewing machine! Soon enough, the sweater is being worn!

The finished sweater! Snazzy, eh?!

My timing was perfect. I finished the project a few days before our nighttime temps plummeted! It has been worn everyday since!

Freezer Paper Screening

Using freezer paper to create one-off designs is one of my favorite methods for decorating t-shirts and bike jerseys. You'll create a negative and a positive of your image, which doubles the possibilities! Let me show you what I mean.
I tie-dyed my bike jersey, but it needs another layer of pizazz. I like to be visible when I ride. You know the phrase: see and be seen!

Front: bright but plain!

Back: same as front (plain)

I had a border design selected that I thought would work: curves to break up the horizontal lines of the tie-dye, and an added bit of femininity! I took the design into photoshop and enlarged it to fit my canvas.

Border: Modified from the original

The black and white copy is placed under freezer paper and traced. The freezer paper has a shiny, plastic coated side. You draw on the paper side, not the plastic! Freezer paper can be found with the foil and plastic wrap in your grocery store. Be sure to use permanent ink (like a Sharpie) to trace the design. I have found that pencil and ball point ink lines smear when the iron hits them. You really don't want to deal with that mess! Usually the copy is dark enough to see through the freezer paper without additional back lighting. Use a light box or a sunny window, if you need. 

The tools for the stencil

Design
Sharpie
Freezer Paper
Exacto Knife and blades
Cutting Mat

Traced and ready to cut out

Now you will carefully cut out your design with an exacto knike. The part that is black is where paint will later be placed on the jersey. Be neat and try to not cut past the lines. If that happens it isn't the end of the world, you can iron a paper patch over the top! This is a very forgiving technique. 

All cut out!

I used the same motif on the front and back, so I cut two layers of freezer paper at one time. The next step is to iron the stencil onto the garment. Do not toss the parts of the stencil you aren't using! I assure you, they are like gold and will get used in another project! 

The "left overs" for another day!

Put a piece of heavy cardboard in your shirt. I like mine to be about 10% wider than my finished garment. The fabric stays nice and flat. Check your placement. Use the underarm seam as a guide or make markings for reference. Set your iron to a medium heat with no water. Iron the stencil on, plastic side down. Do the front and then the back of the shirt. Check to make sure all edges of the stencil are secure.

Ironed on and ready to paint

Select the paint you'll use. You have probably made the color decisions while you cut the stencil. I tend to work a few steps ahead in my mind! I chose a few textile colors: Indigo, Green/blue Halo, and a Bronze Metallic. Keep your color choices down to three. More colors than that can result in  a muddy look if your paints have areas that will be blended.The paints I use are Lumiere and Neopaque made by Jacquard. It is also feasible to use thickened dyes instead of paint, dyes just require a different cure and more time. The textile/fabric paints are immediate and they dry quickly. 

Use an inexpensive foam brush to paint

Paint is applied. Almost done.....

I paint one color, flip the shirt over and use that color on the back. I repeat this with all the colors I am using. I find that carefully turning the project over keeps the paint from smearing. If you are concerned about messing up your art, just wait and do the other side after the front has dried. Once the paint is dry to the touch, remove the stencil. Tweezers may be needed to get small pieces free. Leave the cardboard inside and let the paint dry for 24 hours before heat setting. Take the cardboard out before you iron. Once it is heat set, the design is permanent!

Use a press cloth and dry iron on cotton to set the paint.

Not plain anymore!

Looks good coming or going!

Pretty simple! And every one is unique. I hope you'll give this a try and show me your results!