Translate

Friday, June 14, 2013

My TAMMY!

First of all, thank you so much Madamme Samm for the wonderful pattern and organizing another FUN blog hop!  Also thanks to the sponsors who so generously donated some terrific prizes, would you believe not one but two Dovo scissors {I heart them- such quality!} and the gingham fabric, old fashioned  appeal with a new twist goodness, {love}. 

When Mdm. Samm did a call out for bloggers who wanted to participate, I didn't waste any time and jumped on board.  Getting to test out her pattern I only had to commit to sharing it with you all on the 14th of June,  Flag Day, how easy is that I thought, so I said YES.
When I received the pattern it was very detailed. Would you believe 71 pages of detail or something so close to that, "YIKES"  I thought to myself, what did I get myself into?!@#!!!    But she had a terrific tutorial actually contained within the confines of the pattern illustrating each step so there could be no misunderstanding what was to be done next.
 Thanks it helped!

But after reading the pattern and gathering my materials together, I became more confident.  The hardest part was finding a hinged bag closure which I couldn't get the correct size in despite several shopping attempts here and out of state.  What to do?  ..... I had a smaller width frame and another that was a bit larger.   I ended up modifying my pattern to accommodate the larger and best frame I had in.   Well, before I get ahead of myself, let me show you the finished bag. 

Would you believe I didn't take any photos of my finished bag empty except for the following two.


The interior of the bag during construction.  Matched up the seams really well on the bottom inside and out,  I was super happy about that!


Okay, who is playing tricks and inserted my Mother's hand in the photo, it can't be mine, whenever did that happen?!

The finished TAMMY's interior showing the side pockets on both front and back sections of the TAMMY.
On the bottom left of the above shot, you'll see where I inserted a loop of MODA twill tape in the outer seam just above the pocket.  This could securely hold keys, a ring of shopping cards, another wallet/coin purse,  etc...


Here's a shot of one side of the TAMMY while it is closed and STUFFED.  



I did assemble this a little differently than the instructions.
I used a hand dyed cluny lace for trim on this side and then sewed the lining across the top incorporating the cluny trim then pressed the seams up.
When I flipped it down towards the inside, I left a small slip of that striped fabric showing for my faux piping, then top stitched the seam line with my favorite #10 Bernina foot.
Voila the Piping look without all the extra work.

After getting the upper portion of this pocket sewn, I lifted the exterior fabric and the fleece and stitched it onto the main purse part so I had the divisions that were in the pattern but also so they couldn't be seen on the exterior of the bag.  LOVE it!! 
The Sunbonnet Sue side with the 3" scissors behind her is the shallowest pocket.  Items can't fall into the bottom crevices of this baby!  The left side also was stabilized so it's not as deep as the actual purse and holds the needle case and the slap it pincushion bracelet. 

The photo below it shows what was held in that one pocket only.

The sunbonnet Sue doll is a needle minder that my grandmother made either a couple of or several decades ago.
While visiting my Mom this past winter in Florida she was using it.  I ooohhh'd and ahhh'd over it because my Grandma made it and Mom kindly gave it to me saying she had another one she could use.  Thanks Mom and (posthumously, Thanks Grandma too), I LOVE YOU BOTH.


  
This pocket also held my slap on pincushion bracelet I made last year.
What's in the bag you might ask? 
Yes, it's sewing paraphernalia but this TAMMY is large enough for an 7.5" hoop plus some other things!





Want to see what it held in the main compartment?



All of this and a Canon Camera and there was still a bit more room.
Magic Eyes, a 7.5" Clover embroidery hoop loaded with my latest embroidery focus, a ring bundling bobbins filled with DMC floss, a DMC 5, white perle cotton in a perle Bubble, a plastic bag for some bits of thread that could be used up and a Madeira silver floss package besides my camera,  but it took the shot and wasn't in it! 


The other exterior pocket also was ample enough to hold some more necessities.  Here I used another ribbon trim I had in,  Made two loops on each end of the trim after tacking it down in to three sections.  The loops could hold the ear pieces to glasses and sunglasses, pens, stylists, keys, smaller purses, flash drive,  etc.... and I tacked that center part down too so it wouldn't gap and flip flop.  Of course a Velcro closure on this more open side was called for.






All of these items were contained on this exterior circled printed pocket. 

I'm thrilled with the outcome on this project.  I know I have this chartreuse aqua thingy going on and have been having it going on long before Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street QAL happened last winter.  I've loved chartreuse ever since I was 5 or six years old.  The only difference now is that I love aqua with it.  Back when I was young. I  loved it with purple- J'ADORE chartreuse!!  



 





While snapping photos I thought another Tammy  would be great for this ..................................

My attempt at an unorthodox exclamation point.   I know, I need help!  giggles.

Look at all the crochet items this TAMMY can hold!  You could easily feed your yarn through the openings just under the frame and it could contain your ball of yarn without it rolling all over the place while crocheting from it too. 




Another photo of the contents with the magnetic needle minder pulled off the bag,
just in case you missed it while attached in the above photo.   ;)

 

As I mentioned, I had to make mine larger because of the ball frame I purchased at Joanns.  The mouth of the frame is 8" wide and when fully opened is 3.5" wide.  (I wish that side of the opening was larger, I can't open this bad boy up large enough.)    I was able to use teh width of a legla sheet of paper (8.5") and just angled the top towards the outer edges of my paper pattern, keeping the integrity of the rest of the pattern and it worked.  Phew!!  I was worried for a while. 

The worst part with the construction was finding the cording then sewing it to the frame.  Thankfully the local bead store had this lime green cording  in with their Kumihimo supplies, (which happens to be a class a friend and I'll be taking tomorrow).  VBG





Also I got to thinking that this pattern lengthened could be fantastic for knitting items too. 

I pulled out my knitting needle organizer that I made almost 40 years ago to share with you. 

See how old that fabric is?   I used felt for the wording and did a simplistic drawstring bag back when I was making layettes for my babies.  I had a Montgomery Ward sewing machine (White)  that worked like a tank.  It had drop in Cams for decorative stitching and I used one of them for the top of this casing.  Crocheting yarn for the drawstrings.  Simple project making without a pattern but effective. 












It's not that pretty now, but it has been very serviceable and has helped me through the years.    Now wouldn't a Large mouthed tall skinny Tammy be perfect for this?     





I surely  can see more Tammy's being made in my future. 




Thanks Madamme Samm!
It's been a blast though I do have bruises on not one, but two thumbs!  Got those by  sewing that heft of fabric thickness onto the frame,
 but I must admit,
It was so totally worth it. 
Check out these other bloggers who also are sharing their creations of Tammy.

BenteJane  you are here! , WendyGeta , , Julia , JanLoralynn , Selina , Joan ,  Mara , Jan

Enjoy your Flag Day
and TTFN,

Jane

PS:  I also couldn't remiss from admitting that also while younger I loved watching Tammy on the TV screen.  How idyllic a life she seemed to have living with her Grandpapi and I personally loved her freshness and goodness.  Now I'm signing off while humming to the tune of:  Tammy, Tammy, Tammy's in love...  
a

53 comments:

The Thimblemouse of Country Crossroads said...

Love your fabrics/colors! Dear Jane you did great!!!!

jan said...

Your bag is sew,sew cute! And I love the exclamation point! lol
have fun
jan@http://sewandsowfarm.blogspot.com/

Judy B said...

Love the colors you used for your Tammy bag! Thank you for sharing.

Patty C. said...

Great job! Lovely trim ;)

Loralynn said...

Your Tammy is absolutely charming! I love the little ways you made it your own. I know what you mean about the hands...when exactly did we turn into our Mothers???

tink's mom said...

Jane I love your bag. I can't get over just how much stuff you got into her. Your color choices are wonderful. Thanks for sharing with us. Oh, and i do think a Knitting Needle Tammy would be terrific.

Mara said...

The Tammy bag holds so much, LOVE IT!

Martina said...

I love your bag. Happy colors and great accessoires.

Vickie said...

Your fabric is super cute Jane! Great job!

Britt-Inger said...

Thank you for your tour around with your Tammy.
Your Tammy is so cute.

Bente-I like to QuiltBlog said...

Hello Jane.
Your Tammy bags are so great, one Tammy is no Tammy *lol*
I love the cute little Sun Bonnet Sue ☺
Thanks for sharing and beeing part of this hop.
Liebe Grüße
Bente

Frederika said...

Love the fabrics you used. It turned out great. Thanks for sharing.
Frederika

Thearica said...

Love your Tammy! and I love those colors too! doesn't everyone? :)

Betsy said...

Your bag is fabulous! I so love the colors.Thank you for participating in the hop.

Gingini said...

Beatiful Tammy! Yes, it's addictive. ;)

Unknown said...

Beautiful fabric choices. I love the fact that you even made it a little bigger. It is so good to fill with lots of things. Congrats looks great.

Gill said...

Fabulous bag - and my favourite colours too!
Thank you for sharing!

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

just wonderful.....

krislovesfabric said...

Lovely...your Tammy holds so much :)

StitchinByTheLake said...

Jane I can't believe how much you got in your bag - awesome! blessings, marlene

apple blossom said...

thanks for sharing your bag and contents. enjoy

The Slow Quilter said...

You have really stuff your Tammy. It looks great.

Just Quilt It said...

Great bag. I love how roomy this bag is. I tried to get into the hop, but it was full. I may have to purchase the pattern. I still have my mom's Sear's sewing machine with the drop in cams. I used it until about 8 years ago when I decided to purchase a Janome. Now, I'm on my 2nd Janome and find sewing so much easier.

Sparky said...

Jan everything about what you created is stunning....love your contents too...

Pauline said...

I don't know if my reaction came through, something strange happened while typing, what I wanted to say: you made a beautiful Tammy, great colours! Thanks for sharing!

Needled Mom said...

Your Tammy is really beautiful. Those colors really call my name too - even before Easy Street.

Your needle minder Sue is a treasure, but I love the wrist needle holder. I think I need to make myself one of those. Great idea.

vicki said...

love your bag, very summery (is that a word? hmm) colors for your fabric. Thanks for sharing.

Daryl @ Patchouli Moon Studio said...

Wonderful bag. At least you knew you needed to enlarge the bag before adding the frame. That is the same frame I used and it was too large and I had to take it apart and use a smaller frame.

Kathy H said...

Your tammy bag is very pretty and I still can't believe all the things it can hold. Wonderful to have that little needlekeeper from your grandma too.

Calicojoan said...

Oh do I love your color choices. And what a great way to make it all about you, and your crocheting. Great little extras you have added!

Patty said...

you did a good job making a pretty Tammy.

Melinda said...

Very cute! I love the colors. I had trouble finding purse frames in the right size as well. I ordered off Etsy from China and they took forever to get here. I was terrified I wouldn't get them in time for the hop!!

Karen in Breezy Point said...

Tammy is so cute---and practical too!

OhioLori said...

LOVE your Bags...and Knitting one too!!! Creative Lady!! :)

Linda C said...

THX for showing other ways the bag could be used. I cannot believe all the things that you have crammed in there but the bottom, sort of pear shape seemed to lend itself to that expansion.

Gorgeous fabrics and I am with you on the aqua/turquoise and limey greens. The purple combo too. Thanks for sharing your bag and your suggestions with us today!

Mary said...

Great job on your bag. Love your fabrics.

Carol Swift said...

Sweet looking bag...it's amazing how much it holds! Thanks for hopping with us. :O)

pinsandneedles said...

Your Tammy bag is wonderful with all the extras! Great job!

Linda said...

What beautiful colors for your bag! It's so pretty!

Marcy said...

Gorgeous! I love the colors.

Catherine said...

That`s a great bag and so functional. I`m glad you shared the the possibilities. I never thought to use the bag for crochet supplies!

Robin said...

Your bag is fabulous!

Rosa said...

Your Tammy is pretty nice and love your fabrics choice.Thanks for sharing!

Janarama said...

Very pretty bag ... also love the modern colorful fabric!

Judy Cooper Textile Artist said...

Cute bag!

maggie said...

I really love your bag and the colors are great! Well done.
Thanks for sharing,
cheers
maggie
maggiemine42@gmail.com

Lou said...

Great bag! I love watching Tammy movies too:)

Sarah Vanderburgh said...

love your chartreuse bag! thanks for going through your embellishing additions and showing the options for just how much stuff you can fit in this bag! loved seeing your old knitting needle bag too:) thanks for sharing!

LJ said...

Great! You put a lot of thought into the different aspects of the bag to make it so serviceable. Love the idea of the trim across the front which will keep items upright like the crochet hook. Super!

sandra said...

LOVE YOUR BAG SO SWEET AND WELL DONE. THANKS FOR SHARING.

Scrapbook-ChickADoodle said...

Love your Tammy bag. I really like the idea of the loops. Thanks for sharing.

Emily C said...

Great bag, love how that came out. Wow, I love Sunbonnet Sue, that needle minder is sooo cute.

Kelly@ Charming Chatter said...

Love your Tammy bag - and the sweet additions! And, all the goodies that go inside! Very Nice Stitching :0)!!