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May 6, 2013 · 12:55 PM

Finch Sewing Studio

Finch Sewing Studio – Leesburg, VA (Photo from FinchHandmade on Flickr)

The Finch Sewing Studio is owned and operated by Nicole Morgenthau in Leesburg, Virginia. Nicole runs this business out of her home and she has a great space set up for it – complete workspaces for up to 6 sewers with plenty of room for cutting and ironing.

Nicole Morgenthau

I know Nicole through the DC Modern Quilt Guild. I’ve been following her blog and reading about the different classes that she offers. She has occasionally brought some of her bolts of fabric to the DCMQG meetings, so I know she has a great collection. She is also frequently wearing something that she has made and it always looks great! I’ve been wanting to see her studio and take a class, so when my sister decided to come for a visit from Connecticut, I thought this was a fun thing that we could do together – even though I am an avid sewer and my sister hasn’t touched a sewing machine in at least 30 years.

Sisters

So, off we went yesterday, with my daughter, to Leesburg for a 3 hour tote bag class. We had a blast! It was such a fun thing to do together. We didn’t have to bring any machines or sewing supplies, the Finch Sewing Studio had it all. We just showed up and Nicole had us pick out our fabrics and got us started.

My sister at the ironing station

This was basically a beginner sewing class. It is probably a great thing for any of us that think we know a lot about something, to go through listening to the instructions given to someone who is just learning. There is always more to learn!

My daughter and her fabric.

My daughter was quick to point out all of the things I had taught her that weren’t quite right – like how I pin my fabric pieces together before sewing them. Of course, there isn’t really a right and a wrong way of doing it (is there?), but one way is easier to remove the pins as you sew.

Here I am cutting out my fabric.

The tote that we made was an easy but clever way to make a bag. The bottom accent piece is just added on over the main fabric while the piece is still flat. I’m sure this has the added benefit of providing a sturdier bottom to the bag as well as just making it easy to apply and nicer to look at.

Class sample – Photo from Finchhandmade on Flickr

The bag and lining are sewn together by topstiching at the top after the careful ironing under of both pieces. No sewing, leaving a gap, and then turning right side out and having to hand sew that opening shut. In fact, Nicole suggested that we let the lining pop up a little bit at the top so that it looked as though there was a pretty piping detail. So easy and so sweet looking.

After about 3 hours, here we all are with our finished totes!

“Wearing” our new bags!

The final detail was a leather handle. The Finch Sewing Studio has these in several lengths but we all liked this 26″ size that makes it easy to put the bag over your shoulder. We were all so happy with our new bags. Thanks Nicole!

I will be returning soon to take a garment class and learn how to make a pattern actually fit my body. Want to come with me? Let me know and I’ll set it up! Or give Nicole a call (503.964.2439) or send her an email (finchsewingstudio@gmail.com) and go have some fun sewing at her studio.

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March 11, 2013 · 2:26 PM

Simple Personalized Tote Bag

Simple Tote Bag

I was recently asked by my brother-in-law to make a few tote bags for my niece’s birthday party. She is having a sleep over with 3 friends and their American Girl dolls. He wanted tote bags that would fit a doll and a few other things. I think he thought that I could whip these things up in 5 minutes using fabric on hand and put them right in the mail. It didn’t seem like that quick of a project to me, but of course I wanted to do this for my niece who is turning 9 years old. It became a challenge to make something simple but nice. And I did manage to use materials I had “on hand”!

Other 3 totes in progress.

I decided to make the totes 18 inches tall which is the height of an American Girl doll. I didn’t want them to be too wide and randomly picked 11 inches for the width and 5 inches as the depth. Using these dimensions, I cut two pieces 23-1/2″ tall x 16-1/2″ wide.

This fabric is “directional”. It has a definite “up” and “down”.

I had these decor weight fabrics I had mail ordered some time ago, thinking they were quilting cottons. These are perfect for an unlined bag! I wanted to put the girls names on the front of the totes and had this booklet by Atkinson Designs. (now out of print)

Fat Quarter Fonts by Atkinson Designs

The letters in the book are printed in reverse which make them perfect for tracing onto paper backed fusible (Wonder Under). I ironed the fusible to the colored fabrics and then cut them out and fused them to the front of the bags. Of some interest is that after I had done all this I noticed that the back of the book says “No fuss, No fusibles” so I THEN looked at the actual directions. They want you to print the letters on tear away (foundation) paper and then layer the fabric that you want for the letter on top of the background fabric but place the paper letter BEHIND this to sew along the lines. You then cut along the stitching line on the front – either closely to get a smooth look, or less close for a frayed look. Interesting! Doing it this way might have saved me time! But I really wanted the look of the next step.

Fold line pressed across top to help with letter placement.

I used a blanket stitch in black thread to stitch around the letters. I did this on all of the bags for it to coordinate with the black 1 inch webbing I’m using for the handles.

Blanket stitch letters. Could satin stitch or straight stitch instead.

I put the 2 pieces right sides together and serged across the bottom using a 1/4″ seam. Next I opened up this long piece and pinned the webbing in place. I did not stitch the webbing onto the bag above the fold line as that will be tucked into the bag as a hem on the top.

Webbing was pinned on measuring 4″ in from each side with the ruler.

Sewing the webbing on is a breeze if you use an edge stitching foot and move your needle position!

Bernina #10 foot

Once the webbing was in place, the sides were sewn/serged together and then a gusset made across the corners. Since I wanted the bag depth to be 5″, I layed my ruler along the seamline on the 2.5 inch line and moved the ruler until I had 5″ across where I drew a line and then sewed.

5″ Gusset

Once that was done, the very last step was to iron the top under 1/2 inch and then fold the hem in and stitch down. All of these fabrics were white on the wrong side. Since I used white thread on my serger and in my sewing machine bobbin, the inside is very finished looking, despite not being lined. I hope they like them!