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Easy Wool Spring Bags
by Miriam Gourley for Marcus
You'll love these fast and fun mini-totes for lots of uses!
Let them hold special treasures for Mother's Day, or any time at
all. Great for ladies of all ages, it makes a great first sewing
project. Use Miriam's basic Spring Bag instructions, then add
her Spring Bunny, Lady Bug or Pink Hearts designs as shown here
-- or use your own designs and color combinations. |
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You'll Need: |
Marcus
Wools - pastel
Embellishments as desired (buttons, embroidery floss, scrapbook
trims, etc.) |
Basic Bag Instructions: |
- Cut two squares (7 1/2" for small; 11" for
large) for front and back of bag.
- Cut three rectangles (4" x 7 1/2" for small;
5" x 11" for large) for sides and bottom of bag.
- Cut two handles for the bag (1 1/2" x 10 1/2"
for small; 2" x 12 1/2" for large).
- Cut surface designs from felt and machine stitch the
shapes to the front of the bag (one of the squares).
Embellish per specific bag instructions.
- Fold and press each handle in half, lengthwise. Stitch
1/8" from the raw edges.
- Measure handle placement as follows: Small bag is 1
¾" from each top corner; large bag is 2" from
corners.
- Pin handles to wrong side of bag front, overlapping the
ends of the handles 1/2".
- Stitch across the entire top of the bag, 1/8" from
the edge, then again 1/8" below the first stitching.
- Repeat all double stitching across the tops of the sides
and back of bag.
- Assemble the bag as follows: With wrong sides together,
stitch the sides, front and back to the bottom rectangle,
using a 1/8" seam allowance. Note: Start and end all
seams 1/8" from corners.
- Pin one side and front piece together, matching the top
edges. Stitch from the top edge to the bottom seams. Repeat
for all four corners of the bag.
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Embellishments for Spring Bags: |
Spring Bunny (Large) |
| The
bunny is cut from a marbled brown felt and machine stitched to
the bag. Center the design in the side margins, but 6" from
the bottom edge to the underside of the bunny. The flowers are
about 1" from each side. Trace the stem design to the felt,
machine stitch the 'flowers' to the top of each stem after it is
embroidered. Use 2 threads of olive green floss and back stitch
the stem with lazy daisy leaves. A small brown button is
stitched to the center of each flower using the embroidery
floss. |
Lady Bug (Small) |
| The
lady bug is cut from one piece of black felt for the body and
two red wings. Trace the antennae to the top of the lady's head,
and embroider with two threads of black floss (back stitch).
Machine stitch the body and wings to the butter yellow square
and use an awl to make little holes where the dots should go.
Black brads from the scrapbook store were used to make the dots,
but little black buttons will do as well. |
Pink Hearts (Small) |
| Cut
three heart shapes from three shades of pink/rose felt. Machine
stitch small heart to medium, then medium to large, then stitch
large heart to ivory felt. To create a different border, you can
use a machine embroidery scallop shape to attach the handles to
the bag. Stitch three 1/2" buttons to the center of the
small heart to finish. |
Note: For a bag with a firmer hand, fuse a cotton print to the
pieces before you stitch them, following the fusible web
manufacturer's instructions. |
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