Butterick See and Sew 5741

When you look at the above picture, you are suppose to think I am draping but I actually have absolutely no idea what I am doing!  However, hopefully I will know when I finish with the draping classes I registered for a little over a month ago.  I’m so excited!  There is not a definition for draping in my 1978 Webster dictionary though under drape it reads “arrangement in or of folds.  Then there is the on-line Merriam Webster version that says that “draping is a present participle of drape”.  I guess this means that soon I will be “present participel-ing” fabric into a garment!  I can’t wait.

I received a student supply list when I registered, so I have been rounding up all the things I am required to have.  Of course I was gong to need something to put all of it in and that’s when I remembered a pattern I had, Butterick See and Sew 5741.

I bought this pattern about a year ago thinking that I would do a sew-along with my kids for something cool to do.  It’s a good thing I never got around to doing that because I would have probably ruined our wonderful relationships!  I don’t think the construction of the bag is quite as easy as the Butterick designers claim it to be.

The fabric I chose is Home Decor…

I fell in love with the purple because it made me think of my blog site (what a dork huh!) and I thought the stripes would be a complementing contrast for the lining and the variations I was planning. (I can never leave a pattern design alone, I’m always messing with it, I don’t know why?)

The bag instructions are easy to understand, but the further into the project you get, the more challenging it seems to become.  Admittedly, part of the difficulty might have been my doing.  One of the materials called for is hair canvas.  I have felt it once in a store 40 miles from where I live, but I couldn’t remember how stiff it was so I opted to head to the local Joann’s  and see what they had.  I ended up buying Pellon Peltrex 70 Ultra-firm stabilizer.  (It sounds like something dangerous!)   It turns out it was.  My headache really started once I had to assemble the pieces.  The worse was when I was nearing the end and still had to do the top stitching on the handles and around the top edges.  Words were flying along with spools of thread and various other objects that happened to be to close to my working space.

As to those variations I was talking about…I decided to change the fabric of  one of the end pockets from the main fabric to the fabric I used as lining  (Piece #5).  I did this too for the band that goes across two of the sides (Piece #3 that is barely printed on the tissue).

That narrow band incidentally, was a b…. bear to sew!  You had to stitch across 4 layers of home decor fabric which is rather heavy.

Well this is it… I was after firmness and boy did I get it.  The handles hold themselves up!

My #5 pocket that is the same fabric as the lining…

And that nasty little band…

I’m really happy with how it turned out despite the Peltex 70 accident!  It is an awesome “TOTE” bag.  Mind you, nowhere on the envelope did I see the word “tote” bag.  I did read that the finished size was 12 1/2″ x 12 1/2″ x 9″ and I did look at a ruler and contemplate this.  A “tote” bag caution sign never started flashing before my eyes so I didn’t give it another thought.  I just hit the “see and sew” road and never looked back!

Now I am all ready to go to my draping class…

I got to thinking though…  it sure would be a bodacious “tote” bag for carrying all the french-ness accessories I would need for a picnic or meal!

Well… that was it and now I am ready for dinner! Oh… and yes, I made the dress.  It’s another one of those patterns I have that’s out of print.  It’s Simplicity 4224.  I am thinking that maybe I should make another one like this.  I love the dropped waist.

À tout à l’heure!  In English, see you soon!  Now it’s time to prepare my French cuisine but first… an apéritif.  I think I will start with a refreshing glass of Chardonnay. 🙂

Salut!  Jessica