Totes Unique - Sunshine Birthday Gift

Sunshine Birthday Gift

Last year, June 2020, my husband's niece was due to marry, then came Covid-19 and restrictions meant it had to be put on hold.  The postponed wedding now goes ahead this week, exactly 365 days  later than planned.

Early last year I made four small fabric bags for the bride & her 3 bridesmaids to carry essentials, however there are now 4 bridesmaids so I thought as she was also celebrating a "big" Birthday, I'd make the bride something different as a gift.  Some pieces of different fabric were left over from dress fittings & mask making so I decided to make the new bag a memory of the day by incorporating some of the pieces into it. 

As there was no fabric from the wedding dress to make a mask I made the bride's face covering from a Makower light cream cotton fabric, "Doodle Ditsy" and added an ivory lace cover it.The Groom, Best Man & Page Boys were made in Makower "Spraytime, Black" which, from a distance, looks quite velvety.

Face Coverings for the Bride & Groom

 

Face Coverings for the Bridesmaids

Face Coverings for the Page Boys

For the pattern, I used the Bagstock Designs Sunshine Crossbody. It was printed off with the size reduced to 80% to give a bag with a boxed base constructed as a smaller wristlet clutch with two carry options; either by the front clutch strap or by its detachable wristlet strap.

The main panels for the bag are ivory faux leather and fabric taken from 2 different bridesmaid's dresses. The ivory cotton & lace used for the bride's mask was used for the lining & both internal pockets are lined with the bridesmaids' satin fabric (I forgot to take the photos of the interior).

They say it's good luck to put a coin in a bag you give as a gift so I thought as I'd found an old sixpence while looking through some boxes, I'd get 2 birds at once so the bride can follow the rhyme:

 

Something old, 

Something new,

Something borrowed,

Something blue

And a silver sixpence for her shoe.

I'm very happy to say that the Bride loves her present.

Totes Unique - Sunshine Wristlet - Ocean Wave

  Totes Unique - Ocean Wave

 

Totes Unique Ocean Wave was created from the Bagstock Designs pattern "Sunshine Wristlet" which I have modified to produce a rounded boxed base to make it more roomy inside.  Inside are both slip and zipped pockets.

This is a very versatile pattern and can be made in a wide range of fabrics.  For this bag I have made the side panels in navy "antique" waxed cotton with the main panels & lining are from an Aldi "Ocean Wave" bundle.

The main zipper is in navy with rainbow teeth with a rainbow star pull.  The remaining hardware is in gunmetal.

This is the same pattern as the Grey Thomson Tartan bag with a change of wristlet style, this version has a detachable strap.  

I think that with the wider base this would make a really nice small cross body bag for those days when you don't really need to carry too much with you. The addition of a couple of strap anchors and some card slots might just do the trick.  That is something I may have to try in the not too distant future! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totes Unique - Sunflower & Bee, A Sunshine Crossbody Bag

  

 Totes Unique - Sunflower & Bee, 

A Sunshine Cross Body Bag

 
Three needles (one a spectacular break), 4 different sewing feet, two x taking apart of machine to find out what the f*** was happening with the thread/stitching and 3 days later, it is done . . . phew!

(Three days? On top of everything else I've had Labrynthitis and it has been causing havoc so a lot more rest breaks than usual.)

 

I don't know what was going on, things started off well, I got the back done no problem at all but then things started going all to pot, I hit the zip on the front panel & broke the first needle, then the skipped stitching started & the thread was whipping up in big loops that caught under the needle causing the thread to break. I tried a walking foot, I tried a roller foot, I tried a teflon foot to see if they would make a difference . . . they didn't. In the end I decided to go and have a break from it and left it overnight all the while muttering under my breath, I thought the Fuffin' Puffin was bad . . . but this - sheesh!

The next day the covers & the gloves came off. I'd already had to take off the plates as thread had got jammed inside but this time the whole bobbin area was cleaned within an inch of its life and put back together. I changed needle again, went for a Microtex one this time and completely re-threaded the machine. Hooray, it worked, finished it!

So this is it, a Bagstock Designs (free) pattern "Sunshine Crossbody Pouch" which is the big sis to the "Sunshine Wristlet" I made last week. I've actually cut out another Wristlet in the Sunflower & Bees fabric when I cut the crossbody out and put it aside for when I feel up to it.

The exterior has main panels with Timeless Treasures "Sunflower & Bee Chalkboard" and side accents of Lime Green Cordura-type waterproof canvas interfaced with Decovil Light. Interior is a lime green cotton and the pockets are lined with Timeless Treasures "You Are My Sunshine - Bees".

The pattern indicates only one zipper tab on the main zip but if I make this again I will be using two as I think it makes for a neater finish. Not on the original pattern is the pair of card slots to the interior pocket that I thought may come in handy.

The hardware has a dark grey/black "Gun Metal" finish.

 

Exterior Zipped Pocket

Interior Zipped Pocket with 2 Card Slots

 

 

 

 

Totes Unique - Tartan Sunshine Wristlet

 

Totes Unique - Tartan Sunshine Wristlet

 

 Sunshine Wristlet Pattern by Bagstock Designs

 

I've seen many YouTube videos on making up the "Sunshine Wristlet" (free) pattern by Bagstock Designs so decided to give it a try.  I thought it would be useful to be able to have the tutorials on You Tube to refer to in case I needed reminder on putting it together.
 

I opted for a polyviscose "Grey Thomson" tartan fabric with black waxed side panels.

Instead of using foam interfacing on the outer panels I used Decovil Light and added a fusible fleece to the lining to give a light padded feeling and reduce the bulk on the seams..

 

  

Lined in 100% cotton fabric, using bright red helped give a "pop" of colour against the grey.

 

 

 Inside, there is a patch pocket as well as a zipped pocket.

 

The zipped pocket has a black lining.

 

Back

 

This bag can be made without "hardware" so as well as being a relatively simple pattern for a new bag maker to follow, there's no need to add to your stash to be able to make it.
As I didn't have any fancy pulls for my continuous zipper tape I opted to add a bee keyring with added tassels for decoration.

 

 

I will be going through my fabrics & making some more.  I also plan to give the larger crossbody version a try too.