Summer is almost here. The time of walking barefoot in the grass, having a picnic in a secret place, discovering new places and going to outdoor parties. It's also the time of sunny mornings at the market and sampling summer fruit!

Is there a better time than summer to create something colourful, useful, that reflects your personality like our newest pattern, the Sunburst Clutch? :)




Today we want to inspire you to make your own summery version of the Sunburst Clutch, the same way our wonderful testers surprised us with their ideas (especially this rainbow Sunburst clutch shown above!) and take a closer look at three delicious and healthy summer fruit, but we'd like to challenge you to design your own fruit-inspired clutch. 

First of, let's look at some wild blackberries. The Sunburst Clutch pattern allows you to play with a multitude of berry colours; balance the tones with a fresh green for the clutch body. 

Wild blackberries by websmith shared with CC BY-SA 2.0, purple ultrasuede, blackberry print cotton, hand died linen set, prune solid cotton. 




Who doesn't like watermelon, fresh from the garden or well chilled and scooped straight from the natural bowl? Use a mix of striped greens for the top and red polka dot fabric for the base or use the top to mix in some reds, whites and blacks and keep the base a serious dark green. 

Fabric: dark green and striped, red polka dot fabric, red leather with black polka dots. 




Last but not least, let's have some Papaya (sometimes written as Papaw, or Pawpaw), with it's creamy and soothing brightly coloured pulp. For your papaya inspired Sunburst clutch play with a variety or orange shades and make sure to mix in some black and white.  

Papaya photo by jaricelli on flickr shared with CC BY 2.0, orange fabric with black polka dots, dark orange fabric. 



What about you? What's your favourite summer fruit and what colours and textures does your ideal summery clutch combine? 

Okie doke lovelies, we're all ready to get these gussets attached now and don't worry, you've already done the hard bit!
Firstly, if you haven't already marked the centres in the seam allowances of the raw edges, do it now!
Lay the outer base gusset right sides up with one short edge facing you. Lay the lining gusset on top right side down. Line up the short edges and if you need to trim the short edge of the zipped gusset slightly then do that now. Don't trim the zip!
 Pull the lining zip gusset back and pin into place. I like to do this with a double fold as shown above. Fold back then fold back again and pin into place.
Stitch across each half of the zipped gusset, either side of the zip. You can sew over the zip tape as shown above, but don't sew over the lining piece. You will close the gap left over the zip after. Remember to backstitch at each start and end of sewing.

Repeat for the other short end of the outer base gusset and the zipped gusset.

Next lay the lining base gusset down face up and lay the zipped gusset on top as before, this time it has the outer base gusset already attached.

Pin the outer pieces together to pull them back away from the lining and stitch as before. You will not be able to get as close to the zip tape as before because of the bulk of the outer.
 Now you should have something similar to the picture below. The outer gusset is only attached to the outer zipped gusset. The lining gusset is only attached to the lining zipped gusset.
 Turn this over on itself so that the wrong sides are facing and the lining is inside the outer.
 Flatten the seams where the two gussets meet and then top stitch on the base gusset, just the width of the zip.
 Be sure to only stitch as wide as the zip. I stitched forwards, then backwards and forwards again to secure and tied off my ends.
 This little row of stitching will be hidden by the triangular (or D) rings. You should not be able to see your side tabs like the picture below unless you have left off the side elasticated pockets.
This way of attaching the gussets together is the key to being able to use a turning gap on a gusseted bag and you're really on the way to a great looking bag now! The hard bit is definitely over, it's all fun, fun, fun from here!

Hi lovelies,

Now in our Sew Along of the Nappy Bag we're onto the base gusset which will join together with the zipped gusset to form the one gusset. This post is picture heavy!

I spent many, many, many hours developing this gusset method. I wanted to be able to create bags with a zipped gusset like this that didn't require hand stitching the lining to the zip, or applying binding to exposed seams. I hate both hand stitching and binding as many of you already know.

It took me days to work this out and I nearly pulled my hair out, however Sara from Sew Sweetness encouraged me to keep going (she probably doesn't remember this!) and ta-da, the method was born.

Although I can't claim it's unique and original, as I'm sure there's nothing unique and original in the world of sewing any more, I don't know of any other bag pattern designer who used this method before me. So folks, hopefully those of you who hate hand stitching and binding too can appreciate the time that went into the research and development, just remember, you saw it here first!

Right, to business, first of all before we can sew our gussets we need to make sure they've got everything that they need. For the base gusset that's side tabs (F) and elastic side pockets (L).

If you're quilting your heavy stabiliser to your base gusset, go ahead and make sure that's done before you do the rest of the steps in this post.

I'm using triangular rings for the sew along, a truly innovative bit of bag making kit!
Fold & press each short end in 1/4" (6mm) so that the raw edges are hidden. Fold the tabs in half and finger press to give you a centre crease, then open up and fold the raw edges in to the centre crease. By just doing this creasing it reduces bulk when sewing it to the base gusset.

Thread the triangular (or D) rings onto the tabs to the centre and stitch using your zip foot as close as you can get. I use my adjustable piping/zipper foot. It's excellent for getting really close!
 Repeat for the second and you've two side tabs.
 These need to be placed with the top of the tab, not the ring, at 1" (2.5cm) from the top of the base gusset and in the centre. I stitched around the four sides of the tab, you could do a cross in a square to secure it if you like.
 I added a rivet in the centre of the tab to make sure it was definitely secure. These bags could be carrying a lot of weight, especially if you're using it as a travel bag!
 If you would like to add feet to your bag, which is not in the pattern, then you will need to make the markings and holes for them now. I'll be using 6 feet for a bag of this size. Draw a line across the width of the base gusset at the centre and one 6" (15.5cm) either side.
Then make lines crossing those at 1" (2.5cm) from each long edge. Using an awl make holes where the two lines meet and do the same for all 6 holes. You can forget about the feet now until just before we close the turning gap when we'll insert a base and the feet. If you haven't already purchased your bag feet, there's still time to do so.

If you are completing the elastic side pockets and internal bottle holders, please follow instructions 50) - 59) in the pattern. I've left my elastic side pockets off so that you can see the happenings a bit clearer. The side pockets will go over the side tabs, so don't worry if that's the case for you. If you need more help with the side pockets and elastic bottle holders, please feel free to ask in the facebook groups!

I've added an elastic bottle holder to my bag for my bottle of water, you don't need to be carting babies bottles to need a bottle holder!

Up next is the zipped gusset, the most exciting part!
I'm using a Sewline glue pen to attach my zipper but you can use wondertape if you have it. Mine gums up my needle though so I stick to my pen!
If you haven't already marked the centres then do so now within the seam allowance with a pencil or a biro. Don't use a frixion or an air disappearing pen, you want these marks to stay!
 Pop a layer of the glue pen (or tape) within the seam allowance on the right side of one long edge of the outer zipped gusset then lay the zip right side down. Add another layer of glue within the seam allowance of the zip. Matching up centre marks is really helpful with this step.
 Then lay the lining piece face down on top of the zip and outer. The long raw edges should be lined up. Now you can stitch through all three layers without them shifting too much. Unfortunately if you're using a very thick outer or one with a nap like mine you can find a bit of shifting but that can be trimmed later on.
 Trim the heavy stabiliser from the zip seam. I'm using faux suede headliner and found the foam pulls off fairly easily.
 Turn the outer and lining so that the wrong sides are facing and then press well. If your outer is particularly thick you may wish to pin the lining to it lining up raw edges to help it stay flat for top stitching.
 To repeat for the other side do exactly the same laying the outer face up, zip (with half attached) face down and then lining face down on top, once again matching centre marks.
 If your zip has a little tail at the end, leave that, don't trim it! Measure the width of the zipped gusset with the base gusset and if it's slightly wider then trim it down to be the same width.
Phew, how was that? Your gussets are all prepared ready to be joined up!

Check back tomorrow for joining your gussets, in the meantime, please do ask any questions you have in the facebook groups!

Samantha x

 Hi lovelies, today I'm going to share with you a little tutorial on using some hardware that really makes a bag look professional and slick, bag labels!

 You can purchase these from Bobbin Girl (for the exclusive Handcrafted in Great Britain ones) or Emmaline bags for US, Canada & Australia labels. Emmaline also carry the Great Britain ones, but if you're in the UK, you'll prefer UK postage times, right?

First you should lay the bag label face down where you think you want it. I chose to put mine on my nappy bag so I laid the pocket on the wrong side and then placed my label. Mark the top and side of the label.
You can see that I've marked the centre of my main panel as the pattern calls for this. It's really handy for placing a bag label on centre as well.
 Then mark the centre on the washer and line up with the centre of the bag main panel and the top line you just marked from the label. Mark through the washer holes. I just use a pencil.
 Cut through the two washer lines with a little knife. You can see my side line is marked on the right, make sure you only cut the lines for the washer!
 Pop the bag label through from the right side (make sure it's not upside down!) and then add a scrap of heavy interfacing such as headliner, soft & stable or fusible fleece, and then the washer.
 I like to bend my prongs outwards to fix, but they can be bent inwards if you'd prefer.
 Glue a scrap of medium weight interfacing over the back of the label.
 And then glue a scrap of heavy interfacing over that. You could try fusing it, but you will find that the prongs lift it up so it's better to use a sewing glue if possible. This will stop the prongs rubbing through to the lining.
 That's it, your bag label is fitted and your bag looks great already!
 Aren't these GB labels beautiful?
I'd love to see if you're planning on using hardware on your Nappy bag, or where else do you think you could use it?

Hi lovelies,

We're making good progress with our Nappy bag sew along and today it's time to start thinking about the front pockets. For today's post we're going to be following the photos from the pattern.
I've chosen to make my own personal bag with two back pockets because of it's intended end use. I find the flap on the front pocket really useful on my Nappy bag though for keeping Elvis' medical record book dry in the pocket, or for popping things in that need a little more security that I don't want in the main centre section.

Let's start with the flap. If you're choosing to use piping for this, don't forget to give it a good spritz of steam to pre-shrink it before you start working with it.

Like with the back pockets, I usually measure the width of the piping tape and then if it's short of the seam allowance draw a line all the way around.
 Then when I use my glue stick to baste the piping on I line it up with the seam allowance and stick it into place. You can see on this bag I used a 'Handmade' Script label from Emmaline bags. If you're in the UK you can now get these from Bobbin Girl who's the official UK stockist of Emmaline bags hardware.

Before you stitch your flap outer and flap lining together you'll need to prepare the lining with the magnetic snap.
 As you can see, I bend my prongs outwards. If you like you can fuse a small scrap of medium weight interfacing over the prongs to stop them rubbing on the fabric.

To stitch the flap together, put your lining down face up, then the flap outer down face down on top. You can stitch around the flap following the basting line of your piping then.

I've turned my flap lining side up to show the stitching in the next photo. You can either notch the curves of your flap, or if you're like me, you can use your pinking shears.
Next it's time to prepare the pocket. This will be sewn the same as the back pocket but without the piping along the top. The top of the pocket will be hidden by the flap.

Don't forget to add the female part of the magnetic snap to the front pocket outer!
 In the pattern I offer an optional pair of swivel clips which can be handy for clipping dummies or keys onto (Depending on the purpose of your bag!)
 I used ribbon for mine and pinned them into the side seam once I'd made my pocket, turned it right sides out and basted the sides and bottom together. It can be helpful to leave the pins in these ribbons until the gusset is sewn on. Just try to remember to come back and remove them later on!
 The main difference with the front pocket from the back pocket is where the straps are sewn to. The cross in a box shouldn't be at the top of the pocket. This is to leave space for the flap to sit comfortably.
 Once the straps are sewn on, the pocket can be basted to the front main outer piece. If you chose to add the extra hidden slip pocket then these will now be behind the front slip pocket.
 All that's left is to stitch on the flap above the front pocket. I find it's easiest to snap the magnetic snap together and then making sure the top of the flap is straight pin and stitch into place.

Great work, your bag is really taking shape now! We'll be talking bottle holders next before we get ready to tackle the zip and gusset. There's really nothing to fear about the zip...but if you want to take the opportunity to gather chocolate etc, be my guest!

Why don't you share your outside pockets this week in the facebook groups so that we can all admire each other's pockets?