Inspired by the road trip to Chloe's Quilting this week, I had the urge to make some more things. I do like to create items that will be used and not just looked at or put away.
I thought I'd make a brightly coloured luggage tag. It was ridiculous how long I spent looking through my stash for cute fabrics that would go together, only needing a fat quarter each of the outer and inner fabrics; also planning to make a zippered bag for either cosmetics or knitting projects.
Then I happened upon a cute print that I must have picked up pre-COVID at JoAnn's - it was in a bundle of 10" squares - 5 patterns with 4 squares for each pattern.
First, I made a luggage tag. I had to look up my old directions for a reminder. Then, to work.
Folded up and ready to attach to a bag, backpack, or piece of luggage, the name and address are hidden.
I also had to refresh my memory on how to use the semi-automatic buttonhole feature on my sewing machine.
A business card is slid behind the vinyl window inside the folded tag.
Once the strap is pulled through the buttonhole, it goes around the strap or handle, and the rest of the tag goes through, too. The bright colours make it easy to spot luggage on an airport carousel. The reinforced stitching makes it very secure and almost impossible to remove with regular (ab)use.
I took a break for lunch then went out to do some watering and weeding in the garden. A squall was predicted so I finished up and came back inside but we only got a short rain shower.
Next, I made the zipper bag. I have a bin of odd-coloured zippers so I figured with all the colours in the fabric, I could find one that would work OK. An olive green one fit the bill.
Since the outer fabrics were already cut into 10" squares, I cut the lining and batting the same dimensions. After adhering the outer fabric to the fusible batting, I stacked all the items and cut a slight curve on the top edge.
Everything went pretty well except I made the rookie mistake of not opening the zipper part way before sewing all the edges. I had to pick out the stitches near the zipper tab to slide it into the confines of the bag. I left an opening on the side seam of the lining for turning everything right side out.
The corners were boxed 1 1/2" creating a 3" deep bottom.
I glued the seam allowances on the side of the lining to close the gap.
Ta da!
I love all the crafty motifs.
The yellow lining will make spotting things inside very easy.
Because of the boxed bottom, the bag stands up on its own quite nicely. And the olive green zipper looks great - if I do say so myself.
I wish I had more of this fabric but I have lots of other patterns in my stash to choose from.
I know I'll never used up what I have but I'm very pleased to adapt projects to accommodate the materials and supplies that I already have.
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