Sew Hip time again already. Having mangled Helen Smithson's Mr Zigzag Dinosaur last month, Helen drew the short straw again this time as I settled on her Stitched Elephant Picture for my make from the August issue.
The observant amongst you will note that the photo to the right isn't of a picture but rather of a bag. I decided the elephant design would make a cure little shoulder bag so made a few alterations.
The first order of business was to cut the rectangular pieces, adding 1 cm all around for seam allowances for the bag. I actually hate cutting out despite the fact I have all the gear (large cutting mat, two rotary cutters and two types of quilter's rulers). I cut out the grass and sky pieces from a dotty fat quarter pack I got from HobbyCraft. For the back of the bag, I selected a pink dotty fabric from the same range. The project suggested using felt as a backing fabric, but I went for heavyweight sew-in interfacing for both the front and back of the bag. I also cut two lining pieces from some adorable fawn fabric I bought from Fabric Rehab. I did think the material was a bit too cute to use just for a lining, but a quick survey of my stash suggested I could afford it....
I managed to cut my grass piece 1cm too short, which is why the trim is positioned exactly on the line between the grass the and sky rather than a little lower.
I used the pattern template to cut out the elephant and her ear. I chose a pink jumper-type 100% felt from Blooming Felt for my elephant with a yellow ear from the same fabric. I used a tiny Papermania button for the elephant's eye and then hand appliqued the ear in place.
The project in the magazine uses Bondaweb to attach all the pieces to the picture. I've never had much success with Bondaweb myself so I made the bag entirely by stitching the pieces together.
To start with, due to my cutting mishap, I machine sewed the trim down both edges between the grass and sky pieces, attaching the sew-in interface and the bottom of the ribbon for the flower stalk at the same time.
I then hand appliqued the elephant all the way round onto the grass. This was tricky as the cat was sat on my knee and I couldn't access any pins.
Next, I machine sewed down the ribbon for the flower stalk on each edge. I see now this is at a bit of an angle but I didn't notice at the time. I used a pre-cut felt flower for the bloom and then made a cover button for the centre from the same fabric as the back of the bag.
To construct the bag, I machine sewed right sides together the decorated front of the bag, the pink fabric for the back and the other piece of interfacing around three sides. I then did the same with the two lining pieces. I turned the outer part of the bag the right way round and then ironed over a couple of centimeters at the top. I turned down the same amount around the top of the lining and popped it the bag.
For the strap, I used some pink cotton webbing I had in stash. I find webbing very useful for fat quarter projects where you don't have enough fabric to make a matching strap.
I sandwiched the webbing between the outer bag and the lining and pinned. Now, at this point I should tell you that this project was the first outing for my new sewing machine, a Singer Heavy Duty 4423. I'd found my previous lightweight Brother sewing machine struggled at time like this when you need to sew no less than seven thicknesses of fabric together. The Singer sailed through top stitching the bag brilliantly. I was very pleased.
There is a slight tuck in the lining as I think it was a smidgen too big, but the construction is really good compared with some of the bags I've made before.
So, thanks v much to Helen for her lovely design and one day I promise to follow a project properly...
Melx
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