When my sweet hubster Superman (aka Michael) was scheduled for an MRI, the thought of being in that tube gave him a little claustrophobia. I decided to make him an eye mask so he wouldn’t be able to see anything and that was our starting point. So, shown above is the finished Tie Mask, made with one of Michael’s oh-so-fashionable-15-years-ago ties. Pics of hubby below.

Tie Mask Supplies
All you need is a tie, 12-16″ of 1/4″ elastic, some scrap fabric, a marker, piece of paper, pins, sewing machine, thread, and scissors.

Make a Pattern
To start, cut a length of scrap fabric (muslin) long enough to wrap completely around the head at the eyes. Wrap the fabric around the face/head and carefully pin it in the back where it comes together. Use the marker and gently draw around the eye area from eyebrows to cheekbones. Start at the edge of the eye and draw a line around the rest of the head, at the ear level. Open fabric flat. This is your pattern.

Make the Strap
Measure the line you drew from the edges of the mask, around the head. Add 1″ to that measurement for the strap and take off 1″ for the elastic. Cut off the tip of the skinny end of the tie, then cut the length needed for your strap and use it as a tube. Insert the elastic through the strap and stitch the ends of the elastic to the ends of the strap.

Cut the Tie For Eye Mask
Lay out your tie to make sure the meaty part is big enough for the eye mask. This tie is certainly beefy enough for our needs. Lots of good fabric there!

Make Mask Pattern
If your eye mask shape looks good, cut it out and use as a pattern. If you drew the eyes unevenly like I did, fold a piece of paper in half and re-draw one half of the mask and mark where the strap will be located at the side. Cut the folded paper along the line, being sure to keep the mark for where the strap goes. Open flat and this is your pattern piece for the eye mask.

Prepare Tie Fabric
Take the tie apart, picking out the stitches and threads along the seam in the back. Be careful not to destroy the tie interfacing. Press the fabric.    

Fold the tie fabric in half, right sides together. Place the tie interfacing on top. You can use Sew Lazy Dreamy Fleece, low loft batting, or flannel in place of the tie interfacing.

Position mask pattern and pin through all layers. Or use marker to trace around the mask pattern directly on the tie interfacing.

Insert Strap and Stitch
The strap goes between the layers of tie fabric. Carefully unpin near the edge of the mask and insert the strap so the end sticks out a little like shown below. To make this step more manageable for me, I decided to insert one end and stitch it in place, then do the same with the other end. Follow my stitching lines in the pic below to see what I did. Stitch just next to the mask shape.

After stitching both ends of the strap in place, you’ll need to manage the bulk of the strap. I pulled the rest of the strap out the top, which looks like a loop in the picture below. Finish stitching around the mask, leaving an opening at the strap along the top. At this stage, it just looks like a big mess, but we’re almost done.

Finish for Perfection
Cut away the excess, leaving a small seam allowance. Here you can see both strap ends sticking out the sides and the bulk of the strap sticking out the top. I did not trim close to the opening. I left plenty of fabric to make it easy to close that opening. Turn your mask right sides out, tuck in the fabric at the opening and stitch closed by hand. Your Tie Mask is done!

Finished Tie Mask
Here’s my handsome Superman modeling his Tie Mask. For him, it rests comfortably above his nose, then swoops down to his cheeks to block out everything. The elastic attached at the corner of the eye means there’s just enough tension to pull the mask down close to his eyes for perfect comfort. If the strap was attached higher, it would pull across his eyebrows. If it was lower, it would pull across his nose/cheeks. Instead, it’s perfectly contoured to his face and ear placement for a natural and comfortable fit.

Here’s my rock-star, modeling his Tie Mask. What a cutie-pie. Thanks Hon! Michael wore his mask for that MRI and it worked like a charm. He didn’t see a thing and was more comfortable during the scan. Awesome!

Tie Fabulous!
So, the Tie Mask is another great use for those outdated but fabulous and funky ties. Make a bunch to keep on hand for girlfriend gifts, sleeping away from home, or the dreaded MRI machine.

Enjoy!
Joan

If you’re new here, subscribe to our blog feed to keep up with the latest in Lazy.

Join the Lazy Fun at Facebook

Lazy Girl Designs

Here’s the finished bag. Read more about the Hobo Tote here.

Purse feet should be located away from the corners and edges of the bag. Use a utility knife or other straight bladed tool to cut a small straight slit through all layers just big enough for the prongs and insert the prongs of the foot. Next, I use the tip of my Clover stiletto to separate the prongs. Slide the tip in between the two prongs until they are wide enough to match the holes in the washer piece.

Leave the stiletto in place and put the washer on the prongs.

Remove the stiletto and push all the washer down the prongs. Continue to bend the prongs with your thumb and press them flat against your project.

All four feet are in place. Here you can see that with the prongs folded down, the feet need to be away from the edge to give the prongs room without rubbing against the edges of the finished bag. This particular project calls for four feet, but you could add more to support the middle of a bag this length. All of the prongs and washers will be concealed by the bag lining.

Here’s the outside bottom of the bag, showing all four feet in place. They look great and putting them in was a breeze.

I used Nancy Zieman’s 9/16″ size purse feet from Clover. They come four to a pack in two sizes and two finishes.

Consider adding this finishing touch to your next bag to give it that little extra something that sets it apart.

This past Sunday was Easter. In case you missed the hubster-bunny and I on Facebook, here we are in our Easter best hoping you had a nice holiday.

Enjoy!
Joan

If you’re new here, subscribe to our blog feed to keep up with the latest in Lazy.

Join the Lazy Fun at Facebook

Lazy Girl Designs

Bag Posture and Construction
Mini Miranda stands up straight and tall with our Sew Lazy Interfacings. Back in September we featured Mini Mi and walked through where and how to use our interfacings for this design. Be sure to catch that blog post here for a quick overview of the construction and materials.

Bag Interior
Here’s a peek inside Mini Miranda. She’s loaded with pockets to keep you organized. A fabric sleeve conceals our Bag-E-Bottom size F bag support, completing the interior with a beautiful finish for the bottom of the bag.

Who’s That Girl
Our beautiful cover model is Jessie Skoglund, daughter of my dear Lazy friend Karen. I’ve mentioned Karen in my blogs from time to time. You might remember she’s the one I feared would steal my fabric flower in a recent blog post. This is one of the outtakes from our photo shoot in my side yard.

Pattern Cover
Here’s the new Mini Miranda cover with Jessie. This is the first time we’ve shown a person on a pattern cover. I love the updated fresh look and design. Click image of pattern back to enlarge.

Mini Mi’s Arrival
It’s always exciting when a product arrives at Lazy Girl. Here’s a whole palette of Jessie and Mini Miranda. Patterns then get bagged, bundled in dozens for shipping, and find their place amongst the rest of the Girls while they wait to go out to customers.

Giveaway
The giveaway includes both Stiff Stuff and Dreamy Fusible Fleece so you can choose which one to use for the batting in this project. I’ll select one winner to receive:
- Mini Miranda Bag pattern
- Bag-E-Bottom size F
- 2/3 yd Dreamy Fusible Fleece
- 1 1/2 yd Face-It Firm fusible med/heavy interfacing
- 1 yd Stiff Stuff Firm sew-in interfacing

Enter To Win
- Enter by posting a comment below. Tell me – have you made a bag lately?
- One comment per person.
- Be sure you type your email address correctly so I can contact you.
- I’ll pick 1 winner using the random number generator.
- Enter by Friday March 22, 2013, 10 pm Eastern time.
- I’ll contact winner via email.

If you’re new here, subscribe to our blog feed to keep up with the latest in Lazy.

Join the Lazy Fun at Facebook

Lazy Girl Designs

Thanks for joining in on the fun of the Mini Miranda Bag and Sew Lazy Interfacings. Remember, comment below to enter the giveaway.

Enjoy!
Joan

Trace ‘n Create Templates
So, Trace ‘n Create – what does that mean? The tote is laid out on templates, which you trace around in order to mark and cut each piece. All the pattern piece information is located on the templates: size/shape, pocket pieces, pocket separations, placement for magnetic snap and purse feet, etc. Here I am using Nancy’s awesome water-erasable marking pen to trace and mark info for my project.

Sew Lazy Interfacing
Lazy Girl is a proud co-sponsor for this tour, supplying each participant with our Sew Lazy Stiff Stuff and Face-It Soft interfacings to make a Hobo Tote. These interfacings are now available at Nancy’s Notions, links below.

Face-It Soft
Our Face-It Soft fusible lightweight interfacing is perfect to give any fabric a little more substance. I used it to support the outside and lining/pockets of the Hobo.

Stiff Stuff
Our Stiff Stuff firm sew-in interfacing offers great stand-up-i-tude, even in this large tote. Here’s a construction tip. After assembling the panels to create the front/back of the bag, place a front/back on top of Stiff Stuff and baste close to the fabric edge. Then cut away the extra Stiff Stuff. The Stiff Stuff is guaranteed to be a perfect size and fit for each panel. Awesome!

Purse Feet
Purse feet are an elegant finishing touch to our bag creations. Nancy’s selection of purse feet from Clover come in a couple of sizes and finishes. The feet were easy to install and look great on the bag. More about installing purse feet in a future post!

Inside the Hobo Tote Bag
Here’s a look inside my bag with more beautiful Piper prints from Dear Stella! The Hobo Tote has pockets all around and a nice clean finish. That’s a 3/4″ magnetic snap closure by Clover. Snaps come in all sizes and the size relates to their strength. A larger magnetic snap is stronger than a small one. Try to choose one that isn’t too strong or too weak for your project.

Bag Size
The Hobo Tote finishes to approximately 16″H x 18″W x 5″D.

Hobo Tote Blog Tour
The tour started February 19, be sure to visit each and every blogger’s site to see their Hobo Tote creation.

February 19       Nancy Zieman                  nancyzieman.com/blog/
February 20      Jenny Gabriel                    stitchinjenny.wordpress.com/
February 21       Fran Ortmeyer                  cloverusa.wordpress.com
February 22       Tori Thompson                totallystitchin.net
February 23       Carol Porter                       cloverusa.wordpress.com
February 24       Jina Barney                       jinabarneydesignz.blogspot.com
February 25        Joan Hawley                      LazyGirlDesigns.com/blog – You are here!!!!
February 26       Julie Herman                     jaybirdquilts.com
February 27       Eileen Roche                      dzgns.com/blog
February 28       Cindy Cloward                   rileyblakedesigns.com/blog

Giveaways to the Hobo Tote Blog tour
Clover Needlecraft will be sending three random winners a Clover Prize Package valued at $75. Names will be announced on Nancy’s Blog on March 1, 2013.

Here is what’s included in each of the three Clover prize packages:
Trace ‘n Create Bag Template—Hobo Tote Collection
Shape ‘n Create Bag Stabilizer
Pin ‘n Stow Magnetic Wrist Pincushion
Satin Bronze D-Rings
Double-Sided Basting Tape
1″ Create-a-Strap
Wrap ‘n Fuse Piping
Magnetic Snap Closure

Lazy Girl Designs is giving away a Lazy Girl Interfacing Pack that includes 1-1/2 yard cuts of Stiff Stuff and Face-it Soft ($17 value) to three additional random winners.

Enter The Giveaway at Nancy’s Blog
For chances to win one of the six prizes, please post comments on Nancy’s blog post here: Nancy’s Hobo Tote Blog Tour. (Yes you can enter once a day). Share your thoughts about the HoboTotes you see on the blog tour and/or about the Hobo Tote you’re planning to make. Six random winners will be selected and posted March 1 on Nancy’s blog.

Thank you Nancy Zieman for inviting me to join the tour and thank you to Clover Needlecraft for partnering with me in sponsoring the Hobo Tote Blog Tour! Thank you to the rest of the tour participants for trying our Sew Lazy interfacings on your beautiful Hobo Totes! Thank you Dear Stella for the beautiful Piper fabric!

Click here to enter The Giveaway at Nancy’s Blog

Enjoy!
Joan

If you’re new here, subscribe to our blog feed to keep up with the latest in Lazy.

Join the Lazy Fun at Facebook

Lazy Girl Designs

Daffodil Flower
Here’s my flower in place on my jacket, ready to hit the town in style. I love the combination of textures, dimension and materials. It adds new character to my outdoor ensemble. I’ll just have to steer clear of my friend Karen S, whom I know would love this so much, she’d shamelessly wrestle it right off my shoulder. Karen – I’ll see you when the weather warms up.

Fabrics and Embellishments
Here are the materials I used to create this Daffodil. Three pieces of heavy cotton fabric and two colors of Clover’s wool roving. I couldn’t…ahem…locate my wool fabrics in my not-so-tidy studio, but I’m thrilled with the result using these heavy cottons I picked up on a trip to Japan.

Fabric Flowers Book
Indygo Junction’s Fabric Flowers book is packed with 25 beautiful and creative flowers to decorate your life. The directions were easy to follow and I plan to try more of the designs in this book. The daffodil from the Fabric Flowers book is shown here made in wool.

Clover Tools
I used Clover Needlecraft’s felting tools and wool roving. This is the first time I tried needle felting. It was easy and successful. I like the added dimension it brings to my flower. I used heavy cotton fabric for my base. To give it more structure like wool, I added our Sew Lazy Face-It Soft fusible lightweight interfacing on the back of the main fabric. The needle felting was successful through the cotton and interfacing.

Special Offer for Lazies
Indygo Junction is offering a special discount just for Lazies. Use code FFBK11 for 20% off your next IndygoJunction.com order (offer expires 5/1/13) – awesome!

The Giveaway
I’ll select one winner to receive:
- Indygo Junction’s Fabric Flower book
- Clover Needlecraft Needle felting mat, tool & roving

Enter To Win
- Enter by posting a comment below. Do you think my friend Karen S. will try to steal my beautiful flower? Do you like the book? Do you like my flower?
- One comment per person.
- Be sure you type your email address correctly so I can contact you.
- I’ll pick 1 winner using the random number generator.
- Enter by Friday February 22, 2013, 10 pm Eastern time.
- I’ll contact the winner via email.

Fabric Flower Blog Tour
A flower a day & 25 chances to win! Don’t miss a stop on Indygo Junction’s Fabric Flowers Blog Tour:

2/2/13 – Indygo Junction Kick Off Post
2/4/13 – Kollabora
2/5/13 – CraftFoxes
2/6/13 – Sewing Secrets by Coats & Clark
2/7/13 – Princess Lasertron
2/8/13 – Dollar Store Crafts
2/11/13 – Tater Tots & Jello
2/12/13 – Family Ever After
2/13/13 – This Mama Makes Stuff
2/14/13 – Amy’s Creative Side
2/15/13 – Today’s Creative Blog
2/18/13 – Lazy Girl Designs – You are here!
2/19/13 – Skip to My Lou
2/20/13 – The Sewing Loft
2/21/13 – The Crafty Cupboard
2/22/13 – Fishsticks Designs
2/25/13 – Taradara
2/26/13 – Diary of a Quilter
2/27/13 – Craft Gossip
2/28/13 – How Joyful
3/1/13 – Lindsay Sews
3/4/13 – Flamingo Toes
3/5/13 – In Color Order
3/6/13 – See Kate Sew
3/7/13 – Handmade Charlotte
3/8/13 – Sew Caroline
3/9/13 – Indygo Junction Wrap Up Post with BONUS Giveaway & Free project

Indygo Junction
Indygo Junction Inc., founded by creative entrepreneur Amy Barickman, is an  established sewing and crafts business that offers stylish and timeless, easy-to-follow patterns and a variety of idea-rich project books. Amy continues to work with artists and designers from around the world to create unique projects, having sold over 2 million books and sewing patterns.

Amy Barickman

Amy will be teaching at the upcoming Sewing & Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, WA on February 28th at 4:30 & March 1st at 3:30.  Her class is called Fabric Flower Power! and will highlighted some of the methods featured in the book, show tools used, and teach some short-cut methods. With a fresh, fashion-forward style, IndygoJunction.com connects creative enthusiasts of all ages. Hint, Hint: LIKE them on Facebook

Thanks for joining in on the fun of the Indygo Junction Fabric Flowers book tour. Remember, comment below to enter the giveaway.

Enjoy!
Joan

If you’re new here, subscribe to our blog feed to keep up with the latest in Lazy.

Join the Lazy Fun at Facebook

Lazy Girl Designs

Happy Holidays!
Lazies, I wish you the happiest of holidays and the most fabulous New Year’s! Take care of yourselves and each other, enjoy the specialness this season brings, celebrate life, embrace your loved ones, find some down time and recharge your mind, body and soul. Thank you for another wonderful year of being Lazy together. I’ll see you next year.

Blog Schedule
I need to take a break from blogging for a bit and I plan to be back in February. In the meantime, I plan to hang out at our Facebook page where it’s easier for me to squeeze in a post or two here and there.

Facebook
Did you know you don’t have to belong to Facebook to check out our Lazy Girl page there? Hop over there and give it a try. You can see all the pictures, comments and updates I post there without ever joining Facebook.

Here’s the link to our page: Lazy Girl at Facebook

I invite you to post a comment below with your holiday wishes for me and all the Lazies.

Love and hugs,
Joan

Take a stitch through the center of the ribbon, then tie it in a bow. Take another stitch or two through the knotted bow to secure. Pull the needle to the back and finish off.

Yo Yo Cutie Pins Pattern
Read more about our new Yo Yo Cutie Pins patterns in last week’s post here.

Hand Sewing Project
Here are just a few of the Cuties I’ve made lately. You can do so much with either of the sizes. And if I didn’t mention it last week, these are hand sewing projects. No sewing machine needed. So they are portable and great for on the go. Perfect for something to relax with when you kick your feet up at the end of the day.

Scrounge-able-ness
The Yo Yo Cutie Pins really is a scrounge-able project. You can make good use of sizable scraps and little snippets of all sorts of things. Dig through your little leftover bits of beauty and fun and add them to the pins.

Add Beads
I love adding beads between the fabric gathers. To do so, make and finish the yo-yo. Then go back and feed a needle through each fabric fold, adding a bead between the fabric folds.

In this first example, I added the beads right at the gathered center of the yo-yo. It’s nice and tidy and the placement is midway between the edge and the middle, adding balance to the whole piece.

In the examples below, I added the beads in the middle of the green fabric, halfway between the outside edge and the gathered center. I love this placement. The beads are just wide enough to fill in the space between fabric folds and tidy-up the folds, making them uniform from center to the edge. Done up in Christmas fabrics and red beads, these look like wreaths with ornaments.

Gift Giving
The center of a Cutie is perfect for framing a cash gift. Simply fold the edges of a dollar bill to fit inside the yo-yo, then tuck the edges of the bill under the yo-yo. When the cash is removed, exposing the fabric center below, the recipient can enjoy the second gift of a finished yo-yo.

Tracy at Sew Thankful suggested making a gift tag and slip it into the Cutie. The recipient can re-use the Cutie by putting a fresh piece of paper in the center or enjoy the Cutie for themselves. Imagine how cute this would be framing a precious photo for a keepsake ornament!

Above, a few beads are sewn between every other fabric fold, giving the appearance of nicely spaced ornaments.

Construction
Yo-yos are gathered with a simple running stitch. You can use the same needle and thread to add embellishments. Or, you can come back later with a new needle and thread and go to town adding embellishments.

You don’t have to decide on the center fabric in order to get started. Simply do the running stitch through the yo-yo fabric, cut the needle off and set the yo-yo aside. When you are ready to finish, re-thread the needle with both loose thread ends and you are all set.

Second Fabric
You don’t have to cut a perfect circle for the center fabric. As long as the scrap is big enough to cover the opening, woohoo – use it!

Secure the center fabric by stitching (hand or machine), glue stick, double-sided tape, or let that baby rest in there unsecured if making the yo-yos with smaller openings. As long as the fabric won’t bunch or come out, secure it how you like.

Where To Buy
The Yo Yo Cutie Pattern is expected in later this week. Check quilt shops or online retailers. Sew Thankful and Quilter’s Warehouse are taking pre-release orders.
Sew Thankful
Quilter’s Warehouse

Yo Yo Cutie Pins Pattern
Read more about our new Yo Yo Cutie Pins patterns in last week’s post here.

Enjoy!
Joan

Subscribe to our blog feed and join the Lazy Fun at Facebook

Lazy Girl Designs

Yo Yo Cutie Pins pattern (LGD132) from Lazy Girl Designs

Why These Cuties Are Special
One thing you’ll notice about these yo-yos is how crisp and clean their lines are. It’s almost like they’ve been starched, standing at attention. The secret is slipping a little of our Stiff Stuff interfacing inside the yo-yo to give it structure and substance. It’s a perfect pairing.

Free-Range Yo-Yos
A single yo-yo is usually added to something – sewn onto, paired with, stuffed, stitched to more yo-yos, etc.  The Stiff Stuff makes the yo-yo perfect to roam free on its own. I made a bunch of these and wore them at Quilt Market recently. Here I am at Quilt Market with the fabulous Eleanor Burns. I’m wearing the large size Yo Yo Cutie Pin.

Two Sizes
Make Yo Yo Cutie Pins in large or small sizes with large or small openings. Below is the large size shown with a pin (I’m wearing it in the pic above, small opening) and the small size with a ribbon to make an ornament or hang tag. I made the small size in holiday fabrics as wreath pins for family and friends this month (pictures next week).

Pattern Covers – Click images to enlarge

Supplies and Details
This is a scrounge-able project, make due with what you have on hand or try some of the tools shown below (check your local quilt shop or online).

Yo Yo Cutie Pins (LGD132)
Fabric: 10″ squares for yo-yo, 5″ squares for contrast center
Stabilizer: 1/4 yard Stiff Stuff Firm sew-in interfacing by Sew Lazy (SLG107)
Safety Pins for pin option: size #1  (1 1/16″)
Ribbon for ornament option: 7″ of 1/8″ – 1/4″ wide ribbon
Pattern price: $7 retail
Available: in about two weeks

Tools for Making Yo Yos
Cut fabric circles and make yo-yos following the directions in the pattern, or use the wonderful Clover Quick Yo Yo Makers. The pattern uses the yellow extra large size and the blue jumbo size. Be sure to check out my Clover Yo Yo Maker tutorial here.

Link Clover Round Extra Large Yo-Yo Maker (yellow)
Link Clover Round Jumbo Yo-Yo Maker (blue)

Tools for Cutting or Marking Circles
Use templates in the pattern to cut the size circles needed, or try one of these fabulous tools. The Olfa tool has a small rotary blade to cut. The Clover tool is a compass used with a pen to draw a circle that you can cut with scissors.

If using the Olfa too, (I love this tool) be sure to watch their video demo online here: Rotary Circle Cutter

Link OLFA 1057028 CMP-3 Rotary Circle Cutter
Link Clover 5 In 1 Sliding Gauge with Nancy Zieman

Yo Yo Cutie Pins Pattern
The pattern will be available in about two weeks. Check your favorite retailers who carry our designs.

More pics and tips next week on how I added beads and decorated with a ribbon bow to make little wreath pins.

Enjoy!
Joan

Everything Bags
I picked these up a while ago and had a chance to finally use them on my recent trip to Houston Quilt Market. I fell in love with these zip project bags. Here are three reasons why I am recommending these over any old generic zip project bags.
- Function: they each have two compartments. A main zip mesh section and an inside zip pocket behind the colored panel. I could easily tuck one inside another, too. See the pic below.
- Colorful: I love these fun colors. Each size bag is a different color. Color coding helped me keep track of things and they’re pretty.
- Price: they are sold as a 4 pack of different sizes and it’s a good value.

Link Everything Bag Set/4

Below is my zip bag, loaded with a project ready to go. Material and
supplies in the first pocket. Clover Yo Yo Makers in the inside zip pocket.

Olfa Rotary Circle Cutter
I’ve recently had occasion to cut some circles. There are all kinds of tools and templates available to help draw or cut circles. I already have several so I traced around some circle templates then scissor cut and it was not pretty

While at Market I saw a demo of the Olfa Rotary Circle Cutter and I was really impressed. I ran right out and bought one. I am very happy with how it works.  For me, it cut perfect circles in a number of sizes. Olfa has a nice video demo online here: Rotary Circle Cutter

Link OLFA 1057028 CMP-3 Rotary Circle Cutter

Clover Quick Yo Yo Makers
Finally, Clover Quick Yo Yo Makers. They come in many shapes and sizes, but the large and jumbo round shapes are my favorites. I fell in love with these when we met oh so many years ago in 2007. I even put a tutorial together here.

Link Clover Quick Yo Yo Makers

All of these items are available through local quilt shops or online. Happy Cyber Monday shopping!

Enjoy!
Joan

The inspiration for the Candice bag was a favorite blouse with a surplice front, where left and right sides overlap to create a ‘V’ neck with just the right amount of puffiness and cleavage. Meet Carmen, the prototype for our Candice bag.

This is not a new design and is not a pattern. It’s simply a mock-up that led me to Candice.

The floral with the white background is one pocket. The floral with the gray is another pocket. So, we have two front, overlapping pockets, with angled entries, creating a visual centerpiece at the ‘neckline’.

Front Pockets
Let’s take a look at the function. The gray fabric is a lined panel, stitched in place just below my hand. That makes a pocket approximately 4″ deep for the width of the bag.

Next up, the second panel is also a pocket. The pinky-purple triangle area you see is the actual front of the bag, which also offered an opportunity for a contrast fabric to highlight the pocket cleavage. In my mock-up, I had planned the cleavage to be wider, being open for the whole width between the handles at the top edge of the bag for easier access. However, I ran into a logistical/design issue. Moving the pocket panels apart for a bigger ‘V’ means the gray pocket comes close to hitting the front bottom corner of the bag and that’s a look I didn’t like.

Aside from all of that, the pockets did work. I envisioned this design being a purse on steroids. I wanted it to accommodate stuff for errands like coupons, mail, the checkbook. I wanted safety and style. And I was darned intrigued by trying to translate blouse cleavage into a clever purse. The story continues…

Inside Pockets
I wanted more pockets with more variety of sizes for the lining. Here I added two layers of pockets to the left lining and one to the right. I hoped it would be the business wall of the bag. Envelopes, checkbook, notepad. Pens, phone, etc. And one big pocket for my iPad or other tablet.

Here’s a better view of the wall with double pockets.

Testing the Design
Well, I finished Carmen and it was time for testing. I loaded her up and we went for a test. She held everything. She functioned. She was complete. But I didn’t like her. I really didn’t like her. Margo preceded her, so she had a high bar to pass. Quite simply, Carmen did not pass my test for being a fabulous bag. It went so badly that we didn’t speak for some time.

I made this Carmen prototype in September 2010. Our test drive was so bad that we weren’t on speaking terms for nearly a year. I shelved her until the following August when we started to revisit the cleavage and double wall of pockets. Carmen became Candice and we uncovered one of her shoulders for a more flattering and functional pocket design. I love the front pocket – more about that in a future post. We said goodbye to the notion that a double wall of pockets was twice as good as a single. I added metal rings to the handles – ‘earrings’ as they relate to shoulder and neckline as we’ve been discussing.

I created the ‘fat pockets’ design to accommodate a tablet or e-reader. And suddenly, Candice was singing to me and I knew she was done. Below is the first Candice and I asked my sweet friend Karen to test drive her for me. Karen gave Candice rave reviews and I don’t believe I’ve seen the bag since.

Meet Candice
Hop over to this blog post to get to know Candice better. Coming Soon: Meet Candice

Sometimes a design sings to me right away and we are best friends from the very start. Other times, like with Candice, the love needs to grow.

Enjoy!
Joan