This is how I look after work most days, trying to hustle home as much fabric as possible.

I knew the minute I saw Heather Bailey’s new fabrics from Free Spirit at Quilt Market that I had to make a bag with them. Garden District is a collection of wide, heavy canvas that’s just asking to be tossed around and treated roughly. It screams, “I can take it and look good too!” I wanted a big bag to show off the large Nouvelle Rose print, so I chose Heather Bailey’s Saturday Market Bag pattern.

I’d somehow never made a Heather Bailey pattern before this, but it was just as easy to follow as I expected.  And I actually started and finished it in the same day, so I avoided some unfinished project guilt there. The pattern includes several versions of the bag, and I made option 3, without the bow or contrasting sections. I decided to go for the reversible option, so didn’t put any pockets in either. The pattern calls for lightweight canvas for an interfacing, but since I was already using heavy canvas for both the outside and lining, I left the interfacing out. And am glad I did. Another benefit of this canvas is that it’s extra wide at 58″, so even though the pattern calls for 1-1/8 yards each of outer and lining fabrics, in the canvas it only takes about 3/4 yards each.

I love how simple, pretty, and BIG it is. It’s named right, because I’m so ready to take this thing to the farmer’s market Saturday! Because I intended to use it as a shopping bag and I know I’ll be filling it to the max, I didn’t put in the optional snaps that let you contract the sides. So since I left out bows, pockets, interfacing, and snaps, the bag was a quick sew. From cutting out fabric to the last topstitching it probably took at most 4 hours.

The one cheating moment I had was to machine stitch the straps closed instead of hand sewing them. I figured since I was topstitching anyway, it wouldn’t look any worse to have a seam there.

This photo also gives you a bit of a sense of the texture of the canvas. It’s substantial weight gives it a more professional look. We’ve had the Free Spirit home dec weight sateens in the shop, but this heavy canvas is new. I’m very happy with the quality of it and I think it will be quite useful.  I’ve got a backpack in mind for my next canvas project. For now the Saturday Market bag is on display in the shop, and kits are available for this very version.

We’ve been working hard developing some new class curriculums around here, and we’re pretty exited about it. The first two classes in September are my own newest, Clothing Construction 101 and Thread Doodling, which both came about after some sewing projects that I ended up loving and thought you guys might too.

A few months ago I made the Roundabout Dress pattern by Anna Maria Horner…

but the blouse version…

which looked like this on me…

but only when I wasn’t making this face…

Anyway, all the while I sewed, I kept thinking what a great beginning pattern it was.  It’s clearly written, so it will be great for learning how to read and understand patterns.  It has pleats and gathers, great techniques for beginning clothing sewists to learn. It doesn’t have buttonholes, zippers, or set-in sleeves, which can be saved for the post-beginner clothing class. Other elements of this blouse give us the chance to teach about bias trims, cuffs and waistbands, and basics of custom-fitting a pattern. Not to mention that it’s just a really great shirt!  You’ll actually like to wear the first piece of clothing you sew.  I can’t say the same for the first shirt I sewed, in a class my freshman year of college.  It was a white button down, and looked like an oversized janitor’s uniform. It went missing long ago. That will not be happening with the Roundabout. My blouse was made with Triflora voile in Mermaid (notice my note about voile on the supply list if you sign up). Class stars September 6. Follow the link for Clothing Construction 101 for all the details, including supply list and how to register.

Thread Doodling all started when I made a little zipper pouch, which I posted previously.  It combined machine applique and free-motion machine embroidery. I found the technique irresistible and did some more…

I called it thread doodling, because there was no pre-planning or marking lines, no fixing mistakes, and it had the playful feel of the doodles you probably did all over your notebooks when you were a student.  You don’t have to be a good drawer or have an impressive vision. I like to start by remembering what kinds of things I used to doodle as a kid, and go from there…

These flowers became a throw pillow, which is one of the options for how to use your thread doodle in our class.
Once we go over how to prepare your materials and practice the free-motion technique, the project will be very freestyle. It can take on endless incarnations depending on who’s doing the thread doodling, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with in class.  Thread Doodling takes place in exactly one month on September 16.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We’ll feature more of our classes here on the blog soon, in the mean time check out our entire Fall class line-up. And I hope you’ll join us in the classroom!