Convertible Bucket - Deconstructed

Last week (-ish), I showed you guys this bag I'd made and polled you about whether to turn it into a pattern or do a quick deconstruction. You voted - and a deconstruction it is!

Made a second bag this week - one, for in-progress photos, 

and two, to show how it can be made with regular straps in place of the rouleau kind. 

Apart from the strap variation, it's the same bag - carry it over the shoulder as a tote,

or convert it into a backpack

and carry it one-shoulder style

or over both.

The inside is fully lined, and has two pockets - one zippered

and the other not.

Here is the bag turned inside out to show you the snaphook lanyard for your keys.

Let's get started. A gentle reminder: these instructions are meant for to make items for personal use or gifts only, and should not be used for commercial profit in any way. 

Because this is a deconstruction, I didn't stop to take measurements of the various pieces. However, here are the finished dimensions of the bag:

• Base diameter: 11"
• Height: 13.5"
• Infinity strap: 68" x 1"
• Pockets: 8" wide and 7" deep

The bag is essentially a two-layered bucket. The base is a circle and the body/walls are a rectangle. The outer layer has piping along its lower edge. I pieced the main body as a printed lower section + a solid canvas upper band, which was about 3" wide.

The inner layer (lining) is also a circle and a rectangle, pieced in the same way as the outer layer. The two pockets are attached "in the flat",

and a snap hook lanyard attached to one of the body's short edges in preparation for being sew into the side seam.

Like so - the rectangular body is sewn into a cylinder, and then the base is attached to the lower edge to create a bucket.

Here is the outer layer also sewn into a cylinder, with the piping basted on after.

This is the snap-panel that converts the straps into their backpack configuration. It's essentially a 6" x 5" rectangle with snaps along its longer sides as shown. It's attached close to the lower edge of the body cylinder with a 1"- wide rectangle of stitches. I also centered it about the body's side seam.

When the snaps are fastened, the contraption becomes a tube that holds the straps in place.

After attaching the strap-conversion-contraption, the base is attached, and the outer bucket is completed.

The inner bucket is placed inside the outer bucket, their upper SAs folded to the WS and both buckets are sewn together around their openings.

The double-layered bucket is finished. 

The next stage is installing the grommets. These are what I used - they are about $10 for a set of 8 at Joann and about $11 on amazon.

The upper band is divided into 8, to accommodate the 8 grommets. This bag has a circumference of about 36", so the grommet spacing is 4.5".

To space the grommets, we started at the seam and measured-and-marked half that grommet spacing on either side. This was to ensure the grommets were installed on either side of the seam and not on the bulky seam itself. From either of these markings, we continued to measure-and-mark 4.5" sections all around the band.

The grommet pack came with a very useful template for tracing the circular holes.

Installing these grommets was easy - there was no need for a special installation tool, just the heel of your hand pressing the two halves together on either side of the circular hole in the fabric. 

Here are two halves of one grommet pair. The outside of the grommets are smooth; the insides have edges that snap together. The pack came with instructions for how to snap the two halves together.

This is the completed bag-with-grommets. All it needs now is the infinity strap.

I'm deconstructing the regular flat strap here, to show you how much it is like any typical strap you'd make for any typical bag. I cut two strips of fabric 69" x 2", reinforced the WS with fusible interfacing and sewed them together along one long edge.

Here is the seam showing the two strips sewn RS together.

However, the last 2" at either end were left unstitched.

Bring the WS of the strips together, fold in the remaining SA to the WS and edge-stitch along both long edges to create a standard strap. Again, leave the last 2" at either end unstitched.

Thread the almost-finished strap through the grommets of the bag, then bring those ends together and, with RS together, sew the ends as shown. Turn the strap RS out and finish edge-stitching the remaining sections.

Here is the finished bag with the infinity strap threaded through the grommets and connected at the ends. 

Let's revisit the first prototype, the one with the rouleau infinity strap. That rouleau strap was made exactly the same way as the flat yellow strap above, except

• the fabric was much softer, to accommodate the cord inside, and
• a single strip of fabric was used, instead of two, with a width sufficient to wrap around the cord.

This is the cord I used. 

This coiling cord comes in various diameters - mine was 1/2". 

A pack of 100 ft was about $25 at Joann.

The method is similar: sew a tube to accommodate the cord, turn the tube RS out, thread the cord through the tube (I used a large safety-pin and had to be very patient), hand-stitch the ends of the cord together (or heat-seal the ends, if you know how to), then sew the ends of the fabric tube together as we did with the flat yellow strap.

I made the bag with the yellow strap purely for this tutorial and don't intend to keep it, so if you'd like to buy it, you can find it here in the shop. 

Cathartic Making

What does your back-to-school making look like? 

Mine looks like this:

So, the children have asked for pencil cases.

You know the mandatory "one 8 X 5 plastic pencil box" that's on the school supply list every year? This year, the children have decided to disregard that. They've convinced me that it isn't really mandatory, and that, since the dawn of time, all their friends have been using soft pencil cases because they don't crack, they contain much more stuff, and they're plain nicer to look at.

So they picked fabrics and designs and specific dimensions and I made them their pencil cases. If you'd counted, you might have come to the misconclusion that I have eight children, assuming there's one for each child.

Not so - part of the benefit of this PencilCase-On-Demand service is being able to order extra pencil cases for things like "home" markers and "precious mechanical pencils from Japan" and other collections not required in school. 

I didn't mind. They could've asked for backpacks, which would've taken a week. Or clothes, which would've taken so long that I might've given up halfway.

Sewing pouches, though, is extremely cathartic. You cut a fabric rectangle, find a random zipper and ta-da! Pencil case in under an hour. I made six of the eight cases in the photo over two days, and the remaining two earlier in the year. 
In case you don't recognize the various designs in the photo above, I'll list them for you with links to the posts where we discussed how to make them:

In the top row, left to right: #1, #2, #4 and #5 are darted pouches. #3 is a simple flat pouch.
In the bottom row, left to right: two simple flat pouches stacked on each other, and a simple flat pouch with a zippered pocket and grommets, similar to the inserts in this utility case.

Slightly related: I've also been collecting random pencil case designs from the internet in general, and online stores specifically. For instance, some of the japanese/chinese online stores have some really interesting morphing pencil cases that I want to make. I'll try them out on my kids first and if they are impressed, I shall share them here. 

P.S. Thank you for everyone's comments to the last post on the convertible summer bag. The masses have spoken, and deconstruction it is, then! 

Convertible Summer Bag

Last week, I suddenly realized that it was almost the end of summer.

Panicked.

Quickly made a summer bag. You know, in an effort to channel more summeryness before the bad S-word comes a-falling out of the sky like atmospheric dandruff.

So, this bag, like so many other craft projects, has been in my head for a long time. But then I procrastinated: first, I had to go find the cord for the strap, and then hunt down grommets that were big enough for it (the typical 1/2" ones on the notions wall of JoAnn and Hobby Lobby were too small) that also didn't require an expensive Installation Tool that I might use only a couple times before it joined the other obsolete sewing gadgets I've collected in my lifetime.

This is how big the bag is. And how it looks carried over the shoulder, according to the original design (spoiler: there's a twist to this later - read on).

Couldn't be simpler: a round bucket with grommets.

Some inner features: a key lanyard, which I now put in all the bags I make, because it's my favorite way to secure (and find) my keys, and leaves the pockets free for other things.

Speaking of pockets, here's a new pocket I've been working with for future bag patterns: a zippered welt without the welt-technique, and with as few layers as possible for bulk-lessness.  Easier for beginners (and mass-producing), I'm thinking.

I have no idea what this picture is about. 

So that was Bag Version 1.0. 

And then Emily comes into the sewing room and says, "Hey! I like that bag. But it should be a backpack, too. Make the straps become a backpack, Mom. Actually, make it convertible. Put a thing at the bottom so the straps stay put there."

Let it go on record that this next bit is Emily's design. 

Again, I have no idea what I'm doing in this picture, but the bag at least is behaving itself.

The peapod fabric, incidentally, is from Jessica Jones' gorgeous-but-sadly-no-longer-not-in-print Modern Flora collection. The strap and piping fabric is a green linen I've had forever.

Let's now go off on a totally different tangent for a while and talk about instructions and such.

Many bloggers and pattern-designers may do things differently, but I generally share my instructions for making things in three formats:

1 Deconstruction tutorials

These are the shortest and quickest way I share instructions. They feel most like an overview, and the how-tos offer the least hand-holding. Most of the photos will have been taken after the project is completed, and I'd refer to techniques and methods in retrospect, rather than "Step 1, do this." Usually, there are no templates or dimensions (apart from those of the finished project), because I didn't want to take the time to record them or sketch and scan a cutting or layout diagram. My 2016 Zip A Bag series was a collection of deconstruction tutorials.

Upside: Deconstruction tutorials are my secret weapon for sharing how-tos for a maximum number of projects on this blog in a minimal amount of time.

Folks who've made similar projects could read a deconstruction tutorial and gain enough inside info to make this new one on their own. 

Downside: Deconstruction tutorials tend to by skimpy on details, so readers who are unfamiliar with this kind of project will probably not be able to make this themselves. You'll know you're reading a deconstruction tutorial when, at the end of it, you find yourself asking, "Where are the dimensions? Oh, she didn't say how long the zipper was, or what size the pieces were. Dangit."

2 Full tutorials

These are step-by-step instructional posts with in-progress photos. Depending on the level of sanity in my life at the time, I may even annotate these photos. Full tutorials offer a lot more hand-holding and details, including dimensions of the various pieces in the layout. Blog readers ADORE full tutorials because they are like sew-alongs. However, they require a lot of time to put together, and drag out the actual sewing process which has to be interrupted every few minutes to photograph each crucial step. Which in turn increases the possibility of having to stop to, say, prepare dinner, before even the prototype is completed. Which in turns runs the risk of abandoning the entire process altogether.  Here is an example of a full tutorial.

Upside: If I keep my wits about me and write them properly, anyone of almost any sewing level can follow along most of my full tutorials, particularly when I provide templates for download and immediate use.

Downside: They require so much time that I could only share a small fraction of the projects on this blog as full tutorials compared to what I would've been able to share as deconstruction tutorials. Often, the prospect of photographing, photoediting and writing a full tutorial is sufficiently overwhelming that I surrender in the early stages and the project never makes it to the blog even as a brag post. As I've gotten busier in recent years, I find myself taking time to write tutorials for simpler projects, like those which can be documented in fewer than 20 photos. 

3 Sewing Patterns

Unlike deconstruction and full tutorials which are free to access on my blog, patterns are digital instructional files that you buy. Sewing patterns are ridiculously detailed, to the point where they make full tutorials look like child's play. They can run for pages, to include everything from yardage and fabric treatment and alternative materials if you can't get the first-choice materials we recommend. They might include tips and additional background education for stitches, the use of a special sewing tools, and trouble-shooting if you have X kind of sewing machine vs. Y kind of sewing machine. They often feature photos of everything, including variations of that project in multiple fabrics and adaptations. There might even be photos of the side view of the sewing machine and the front view of the sewing machine and the back view of the sewing machine just so you can visualize stuff. There are cutting plans and 45" -width layouts and 54"-width layouts and checklists to help you organize the one thousand pieces of bag innards you need to cut out. 

Upside: One, ultimate hand-holding. The aim is to get you from the first to the last step without mishap and with minimal Figuring-It-Out-Yourself, after which you are the proud owner of a tote bag, or a stuffed animal, or a ball gown or whatever. Two, once I'd committed to writing instructions for a particular project at the sewing-pattern level, I'd be equally open to simple as more challenging/unique projects (case in point: Menagerie and its hundreds of photos).

Downside: Sewing patterns take FOREVER to produce. This has less to do with the complexity/simplicity of the project and more to do with the inherent process of pattern-making: creating multiple prototypes, sourcing easily-available materials and testing out alternatives, writing the drafts, refining in rounds with outside testers, incorporating feedback, and so on. So it may be months between seeing a brag shot of a project on my blog and actually being able to sew it with my instructions. And they're not free - you actually have to invest money in them.

Okay, here's where I'd love for you guys to weigh in. 

Before I had any shapeshifting ambitions for this bag i.e. while it was just a common drawcord beach tote, I'd thought to do a deconstruction tutorial for you guys because you see the photos in this post? Them's all I took. No in-progress shots at all. No annotations needed. No dimensions or measurements. Quick, minimal and maybe even in time for Labor Day!

Then we added the infinity rouleau strap, and the convertible loop to turn the tote into a backpack, and it felt like it was becoming a pattern, because there were new techniques that could be helpful to teach, and variations for the strap should people be unable (or disinclined) to make a rouleau strap like this. 

But instead of me making the final call, I thought I'd ask you guys what you'd prefer. We could do a skimpy deconstruction or a sewing pattern with variations. Either way, I'd say a beginner could make this bag. Seriously. You'd have to step out of the quilting cotton comfort zone a bit, but you could absolutely get all the materials and hardware at Joann's or Hobby Lobby. 

So if you have an opinion, I'd love to hear from you in the comments: skimpy deconstruction or sewing pattern?

And feel free to say you're not interested either way because this bag design does not call to your inner fashionista. I would not be offended. In fact, I might cheer and say, "Yay! I can go swimming instead of sewing." It's all good - I just want to put my time where it can benefit you guys most.

Thank you so much, friends!

Wizarding Wands in the Shop!

Thank you everyone who visited my shop in the last week - the kids have been thrilled to share their felt pizzas and twirling ribbon sticks with you. They were very excited to watch each transaction notice pop in my inbox, not just because it meant a sale but also because they were able to experience the entire Etsy process from start to finish in less than 48 hours.

I didn't mention this in the previous post because it was already very long, but Emily largely ran my Etsy store this past week. She took and edited all the solo shop photos, for instance, and uploaded them into the listings. I showed her how to create a listing, and then let her handle the rest. Yesterday, we worked together on how to weigh a product and estimate the shipping cost, then how to pack it and double-check the contents and address against the packing slip. And then we drove to the post office right after to drop off our packages. It was all very exciting to a twelve-year-old, I suspect, to learn how an online small business works - at least the retail front of it, anyway (I'll spare her the documentation and taxes for now!) She'd been familiar with face-to-face sales at craft fairs and the like, but it's another thing altogether to sell over the faceless internet while retaining as much personal-ness as possible with our customers. Your support means a lot to us, and has added so much to the kids' learning about how a business works.

Today, she listed all her wizarding wands in the shop, so you'll be able to find them there now. 

Most of them are original designs, but a few are inspired by actual characters in the Harry Potter universe. This one, for instance, was inspired by Queenie Goldstein's wand.

Because they're all unique, she's listed them individually, each with a felt wand sleeve that she sewed. They have very cool names!

The twirling ribbon sticks have been flying off the shelves, but there's still a good variety of colors left. 

There are also a few pizza sets which are great for a kid who's into play food. Many of our felt pizzas at the craft fair were bought by librarians who told us they were planning to use them for their felt board presentations.

Here's the link to the shop. 

Thank you for stopping in!

Thank you cards made by Emily. Watercolor and ink