Artisan Avenue Marketplace is one of my favorite places to drop in. Featuring local artists, there is always something new to admire. The owner is delightful and helpful. She has shared inspiration and ideas to explore. My last visit, she suggested cross-body bags with animals. I came home and started work. I had a few false starts that I may share later in a blooper blog. As a result of her suggestion, I made six cross-body bags, three of which feature animal art.
The process I use has been described in many previous posts, but if you cannot find an answer for your question, please send me email. I am always happy to hear from you!
I hope you enjoy!
Curmudgeon
8 inches across the top, flaring to 9-1/2 inches across the bottom. 7 inches tall |
Typically, I do not use patterns for the bags I make. Over the years, I have adopted a few simple techniques that allow me to customize bag size, shape and features. For this bull dog bag, I ventured from those basic techniques to add a small pleat - something I thought would be a simple addition. I made a muslin prototype to test the pleat and verify measurements. I did not take the prototype far enough and caused myself a lot of extra work. I like the pleat idea, but need to refine how to make it work with lining, gusset and zipper.
For all of these bags, I start with a bag shape and size that will accommodate the thread sketch. I draw the bag shape on my sketch pad and make a simple drawing that can be used to transfer to the fabric.
After transferring my sketch to the fabric, I stitched the outline. This picture shows the outline completed and paint applied. I have started stitching the wrinkles and his left eye. |
You can see that the metal zipper is on the back rather than across the top. The small pleat on the front caused the zipper to bulge in an unattractive manner. I had also created a bull-dog backside for the back of the bag. It gave us a few laughs, but "in the end," I decided not to use it. It will be featured in a Blooper Blog!l
3D Giraffe
8-1/2 wide x 9 inches tall |
If you have followed my blog for a while, you may recognize this little guy. He first made an appearance in December of 2017, Thread Sketched Africa. I re-drew him to give a 3-D appearance.
My sketch pad drawing and the head stitched separately to give a 3D effect. |
Lazy Days Elephant
Floppy ears, button eyes, sparkling nails and rag edge canvas. |
Basic lines on the scratch pad. |
A little blue background color was added to the completed picture and the canvas was hand embroidered using large, un-even stitches. |
Three More Bags
If you see something you like, some of these bags are listed on my
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