Time to dust off the serger

My poor BabyLock Serger has been sitting in my sewing room for months now. I just don't need to use it that often. I make bags and really don't need pretty finished seams on the inside.

However, I have been using it to finish raw edges of yardage before I wash it to make snack bags.  But that's about it. Which is a shame. So I went ahead and ordered this book:

It has a lot of information that is already in my owner's manual but much, much more detailed troubleshooting tips. It also explains the different stitch techniques you can achieve with your serger. I was hoping for a bit more information on clothing assembly/construction because I was planning on going back to how I started Blue Calla and making some clothing for kids. Regardless, it is a good start. I'm hoping to get a bit of reading done over the holidays and maybe attempt some clothing to sell at the Arts Market in the Spring.

Long time no post! (And a new hobo bag)

I know, I know. It has been a LONG time since my last post. Seeing as I only have 22 followers, I am not overly concerned. :)

The past 3 weeks have been so crazy for me. This has officially been my busiest holiday season yet. My smart phone wristlets have been very popular on Etsy and out of curiosity, I counted how many I have made since the beginning of November and it came out to 71. This is not counting the wristlets I made for my Arts Market space (which by the way, if you haven't been yet you should really go!!)

I am grateful for how busy I've been but this has almost meant NO time whatsoever for the creation of new items. Which is a big deal for me because I get bored easily. I decided over the weekend that I just HAD to create something from my idea sketchbook and take a break from the repetitive sewing.

I had an idea for a pleated front pocket that I saw on someone else's bag, which I would completely credit and link to had I thought of bookmarking the blog post. I decided to try and incorporate this style of pocket to my zippered hobo bags and here is the result:

Everything about the bag is the same as every other zippered hobo bag I've made except for the front pocket. I also added the side tabs and some fabric covered buttons on each side of the pocket's opening.   I used a combination of 3 different fabrics for the outside: a great black and white linen/cotton blend floral fabric, a black denim and a black cotton canvas. I know that some like short shoulder straps and others prefer cross body straps so this bag has both! The cross body strap clips on the o rings so if you like the shorter shoulder strap style then you can easily remove the long strap.

I used the black and white floral on the underside of the short strap. I love this type of accent - gives the bag a bit of personality!

Normally I add zipper pulls made out of satin ribbon and wooden beads that I paint myself to match the bag but when I saw these adorable zipper pulls for sale at Do Dangle Designs, I decided to try them out.

For the inside I used a Parson Gray fabric I've had for quite a while now. The inside has my typical amount of pockets: 3 slip pockets and 1 zippered pocket.

The bottom of the bag has 8 pleats total which I really like because this bag can expand to accommodate tons of "stuff".

This lovely bag is going to the Arts Market tomorrow but once everything calms down on Etsy, I plan on making more of these to sell online.