My dear friend Lyn has been making up all sorts of these Ruthie Clutches over the past few months. Since I had recently finished up the one I was working on (see above in Amy Butler Lotus and 100% pure Irish linen), we decided that maybe we could work out a few of the kinks we'd had with the pattern by doing a little sew-along.I went through my stash and cut out several purses, and then a few days ago we got together with Shari and each made a purse.
Note to self/everyone: 2 hours and 15 minutes is not enough time to chat, watch your kids, and teach each other to make this purse. Nope. I ended up finishing mine and Shari's at home a few nights later. But whatever.
Here's how hers turned out:
You may notice that this is the exact print from the pattern envelope. Yeah. It is. I had it in my stash, so I figured I would use it for this--its perfect pattern mate! It was actually a little bit of a puzzle to figure out the layout they had used.The fabric is a very large-scale plaid-ish print, and they cut the purses on the cross-grain to get them to look like this. (e.g. the bottom of each bag piece was parallel to the selvedge). Believe it or not, both the band AND the body of the purse are all from the same fabric, each one part of a different stripe going down the length of the yardage. I love it, I love Anna, and Good Folks is probably my mostest-est favorite-est fabric collection ever.
Button a la the downsized Walmart crafts department. I was in there recently when I needed, of all things, a carbon monoxide detector, and was surprised to find some actually cute big buttons.
For the one I was supposed to work on, I made one in up in the blue colorway. I was making this one for my sister, and it seemed the most apt fabric in my stash for her. I've also made her a wallet out of it for the same reason.
This button is another Walmart find! I love how it looks like a broach, but it is actually a button.To be completely honest, I kind of screwed up this band. If you'll notice on the pink one, the band is crisp, and the topstitching is even. That's because when you pull the band fabric over the stiff interfacing, you want it to be tight, tight. Well, I thought it was too tight on this one, so I trimmed it. Bad idea. Now that stiff interfacing sits between my topstitching and the top fold, pushing the topstitching down and making it wonky. The topstitching should actually catch in the interfacing.
You'll also notice I haven't ripped it out and fixed it. That's because I think it looks fine from 2 feet away, and I know my sister won't care. REALISTIC sewing, rather than anal OCD, people.
I enjoy all of these, but I love mine the best. And isn't that how it should be?A few notes about the Ruthie Pattern: I would consider it an early intermediate pattern, because the band part is very tricky. By the time you get to it, you have 5 layers going around the top of your purse--all which must be EXACTLY the same size, or you will get puckers. That's kind of a lot to ask of a beginner. I have sewn a ton, and I struggled with it. Some ways to help get it to all match up:
-Make the notches that the pattern pieces suggest
-Exact seam allowances
-Measure each piece against the other pieces as you sew, especially the band interfacing, which is the wrong length on the pattern piece. We ended up making ours least 3" longer, I think.
-Pin in quarters around the top of the bag as you attach each new piece (lining, band fabric, band interfacing, topstitching)
-Taut sewing -- pull all the layers taut between each pin as you sew
-And some other stuff I would need to make a tutorial for, but I'm done sewing this bag
I highly recommend the pattern though. It sews up soooo cute, and makes a great gift.
In other news, I am definitely working on my family's wardrobe. Perusing our needs, it seems my daughter is in desperate need of dresses, dresses, dresses. Admittedly I have been rather neglectful as of late in that area, so I am making amends. Look for lots more dress posts in the future!
