Friday, January 27, 2012

It's in the Bag!


In September, Ilene showed us some of the amazing bags and totes she has made. This was such a fun and inspiring demonstration with so many ideas.
Ilene loves to use materials that you wouldn't always consider for her bags - jeans, napkins, sheets, shirts, corduroy and even fused paper!


This paper "fabric" is made by fusing layers of pattern tissue together. She quilted it and dabbed some gesso on one side and used pieces of coordinating fabric to make this adorable gift bag!!!



She added  the cutest details to her bags!


One of the favorite bags she showed was a black and white "pockets aplenty" tote that has lots of pockets on the inside, too. Ilene's bag also has a layer that can be pulled up and closed with a drawstring to give even more room!

Ilene demonstrated how to make sweet square zipper bags (one is shown in the photo above) that can be adjusted and made in any size. A free pattern for the sweet zip bag and a couple other bags by Terry Atkinson can be found here.

Ilene said she always uses interfacing on the lining and the bag to give them body and make them sturdy. She also quilts the bag and the lining and she always uses a denim needle to sew bags. 


And here is one more bag Ilene made from a cat food bag. The handles on this are actually the plastic handles from bags of sugar - she just sewed them on to her kitty bag! That is pretty resourceful and fun!

Here are a few websites where Ilene gets some of her bag patterns and ideas:
www.pursepatterns.com  (this site has some free patterns, too)

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