Funny that the first pattern review on here would be a quirky bag; I don't usually sew bags of any kind let alone owl shaped ones. But I've owned up to The Weird: Unapologetic weirdo here. And I like owls.
It doesn't state a difficulty level on the pattern envelope and the techniques required aren't super advanced. But this was a challenging project! Small bulky pieces being sewn to other small bulky pieces? Faux fur and pleather? *krusty the clown groan* The pattern itself is good, and issues I had were small and easily fixed. I'll note them later. The end result looked as promised, pretty much (I used different materials). The pictures I took for this review while assembling the bag are kind of bizarre. That was a reward in itself.
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| Owl bag back and straps. |
Main Materials Used
- wool suiting or lightweight wool coating in a plaid
- long pile faux fur, acrylic probably
- lightweight snakeskin fake leather from Joann's
- metal zips from Joann's
- plastic boning from Joann's
- hardware from Buckle Guy
- safety lock eyes from Suncatcher Eyes
The wool was a scrap, so was the fake fur. This bag doesn't require much. The pleather I had to purchase at Joann's, and it was a challenge as it turned out to be rather fragile. The backing showed through gaps in the "snakeskin" pattern quite easily. I had to do some touching up after working it.
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| What the inside of a wool owl looks like, apparently. |
Changes Made
I interfaced all the shoulder straps and ring holder straps with a sew-in interfacing, which the pattern doesn't call for. My pleather was thin and needed it. Another problem I had during construction was that the pleather strips meant to cover the edge of the zipper at the top of the bag has a placement line that is too far away from the zipper to cover it. I redrew the placement lines to be closer to the zippers. I checked my tracing and it looked like the tracing was accurate. Could be human error on my part but maybe not.
I intend to add a swivel bolt latch to the shoulder straps, where it meets the top 'O' ring. It's really awkward to try to wear this bag like a backpack on two shoulders despite having two straps, because the strap wants to twist but can't. Strange because view 'B' had a swivel bolt despite having only one strap.
I added patch pockets to the lining for lipsticks etc. I also placed bias tape on the raw edges inside of the wing pockets. I hate raw edges to an unreasonable degree.
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| Good, you can't even see the blood spots. |
Faux Fur Steps
There are some issues when working with faux fur you just don't hear about much. Oh you know, that it's horrible. I work with it all the time so I clearly think it's worth it. But it's my bête noire. This stuff is fairly fragile. Can't get it wet. Can't get it close to steam, ever. Get it near an iron and it will melt and frizz and shrink. It's hard to sew, and trimming it makes a huge mess. Also, my cats try to eat it given half the chance.
This pattern requires you to top stitch the fur down using a zip zag stitch. This will be a lot easier if you put a temporary running backstitch by hand along the edge of the fur fabric; to flatten the pile and shove it away from the edge while you sew.
Also the fake fur is added before the bag parts are sewn together. That means the fur is on there while you are attempting to press the bag :shudder:. My experience with faux fur has made me completely terrified of exposing it to heat and steam. It instantly ruins your work. My paranoia begat this horror...
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| A plastic-wrapped hollow wool owl. Kay. |
This ridiculous method spared the fur. However I had to leave it "saran'd" overnight due to running late and having other work, so the fur was wonky when I took the plastic off. Won't leave it overnight again! Though you can fix that if it happens. Behold, another horror.
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| "Hoooot??!" He looks about as "relaxed" as I feel. |
Next morning the fur was fine again if a little flat 'round the eyes. I hit it with the low setting on my hair drier and brushed, it was pretty much ok after fluffing up again.
The Bag Base
I used lightweight plastic that was cut into the oval shape rather than cardboard. It doesn't tell you to attach the base to anything that I noticed, so it eventually floats around in the inside of the bag between the lining and the shell all annoying-like. I tacked that sucker down with small dots of Fabri-Tac to the bottom of the bag (enough to stick but not to seep through). I probably could have come up with something much better with some planning, like drill a couple holes in the plastic and use them to tack it with thread onto the bottom bag seam.
The Wings
I stitched these on by hand using a close, double threaded slip stitch on both top and bottom sides of the wing edge. Kind of tricky but sturdy. Re-stabbed the same stab wound on my finger for the billionth time while managing it. Non-sewers have no idea how much bleeding is involved do they?
The Lining
Ugh. Attaching the lining to the bag was frustrating. I found that fixing the lining to the ends of the zip area with tough whipstitch worked wonders, and slip stitched the rest. The bag is way bulkier than the lining leading to the lining being tight when you try to sew it on, and hard to position. Turned right side out of course it's fine. But sewing it was a bear.
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| *Chomp* |
Behold! A bag shaped like and owl! Just what every 32 year old wo-man needs!
