Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Cute and practical!

The September pincushion from the Shabby Fabrics Pincushion Club was the "Abbey Bag" from Abbey Lane Quilts (Shabby Fabrics still has some kits available if you're interested in making one).

Abbey Bag completed

There was a lot to this one-- the flower, the connector, the bag.

Abbey Bag, flower detail

It all went pretty smoothly until I went to stuff the flower and got confused. In this one, there is a separate liner stuffed and cinched tight and then you put that inside the flower. I read it wrong and tried stuffing the flower and then spent lots of time trying to cinch it, but it just wasn't happening and was looking horrible. Whoops! Then I figured out the liner thing-- and suddenly it was working just like the instructions said it would. Sigh. Reading and following instructions is definitely not my forte. I guess the lesson is read carefully.

Abby Bag, side detail

My biggest frustration with this pattern was the gluing involved (the flower to the connector, the connector to the bag, the top band to the bag, the shelf liner to the bottom of the flower). I'm just not a glue girl, not to mention the fact that I didn't actually have any fabric glue on hand, so it was just inconvenient. But it works and (to be fair) glue was probably easier than attempting to sew the parts together.

The best part about this pincushion project is that not only is it super cute, but it is very practical. Having the little bag right there next to my machine to toss clipped threads into is awesome, and the pincushion is nice and heavy (I stuffed it with crushed walnut shells) and does not slip or move around at all thanks to the shelf liner on the bottom.

Abbey Bag, yet another view

The Abbey Bag would make a great gift for any sewist. But I'm keeping this one for me!

10 comments:

  1. looks great. I need to make me one something like that.

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  2. That is both adorable and practical, love it! Good idea using the walnut shells.

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  3. That's adorable!
    I made one of these a few years ago and love it. I never did out the button on the top though. LOL

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  4. I myself an am OVER GLUER!! oops! I guess I just have a heavy hand! That bag/pin cushion is just way to cute!!

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  5. So cute! I've always wanted to make one of these.

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  6. Abbey Bag looks very pactical and it's cute too!!! I have to consider doing something like that...

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  7. Oh wow, that's fab! I really need to make something like this so all my thread snips don't end up on the floor.

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  8. That is really cute. I don't know about you but all my strings and scraps end up on the floor. This would be handy.

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  9. Oh, this one is cute! I just made one of these as a shop sample for the quilt store I work at, and was looking for ideas on colors for another one for myself. The one I made for the shop looks quite similar to yours. Great minds think alike! I used red with white dots for the flower as well.

    The pattern was not very clear about the lining part, so it wasn't your pattern reading that was lacking. I think I will put a little note on the sample about that after reading that it wasn't just me.

    One thing I did do that I thought was awfully clever of me was instead of tracing the flower and trying to sew the cut out pieces of stuff together, I just photocopied that page and then pinned the whole sheet of paper on the squares of fabric and batting and then just sewed right through the paper. Then I cut it all out at one time. It worked a charm!

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  10. I am in the process of TRYING to make this. I am to the bag part of the pattern. I do NOT understand how to make the tub with rights sids together and then gather the 20" sides then sew the flat 9" side to the gatherered 20" side?? Secondly I do not understand how to turn it right sides out if all 4 sides are now connected? I really want to finish this project but I'm ready to throw it in the trash! Any help would be greatly appreciated,
    Frustrated Abbey Bag Maker

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