I love happy coincidences, and I have one to share with you now! I was searching Etsy (I forget what I was looking for) and found a purse made with a pattern I didn't recognize, so I did some more searching and discovered the Blue Calla Sewing Patterns shop. I was so pleased with what I found. So many great patterns! The bonus is that Celine of Blue Calla is in Canada, so her shop fits perfectly with my goal to share Canadian sewing sources; of course, these are PDFs, so anyone worldwide can easily purchase the patterns. I immediately was drawn to the Zinnia Zippered Panel Bag and had to sew one up myself. Here's mine:

I knew immediately which fabrics I would use for the bag. The centre panel is perfect for a FQ of a special print you want to showcase. I chose Utopia by Frances Newcombe from Art Gallery Fabrics; the centre is Paradise Dwellers in Vivid, fromStay Home Fabrics, and the coordinating print is Orni Incandescence, from Fabric Spark. I decided to try vinyl for the first time with this bag, and I like the finished look, but it was certainly not as easy to work with as natural fibres. I was also happy to have my By Annie's Zippers by the Yard from Stitch in the Ditch so I could choose the perfect colour for the zipper pull. The pattern includes interfacing suggestions, but I just used what I had on hand, so my bag has craft fuse and fusible fleece on the lining, and for the pleated panels, I used Shapeflex 101, and finally craft fuse on the centre panel.  The Zinnia pattern has a recessed zippered closure, and a zippered interior pocket, plus a large interior slip pocket. The pattern also has a few options: you can do a longer single cross body strap, or 2 shorter handles, with detailed instructions for both options. The other option available is that you can have the main panels of the bag continue to the bottom, without a separate contrasting strip like the option I chose. As in the listing description, this particular pattern is not recommended for beginners, and I would agree. I even had a few questions, but I was very impressed that Celine responded right away, and even made a couple changes to the pattern to clarify the points I brought up. With all the different options in this PDF pattern, it's a great value.  I really love the functionality of this bag, with its great size and zippered top, and the pleats add such an elegant touch. 

Each pattern has the recommended sewing experience level in the listing. Here are some more great patterns:

Celine has generously offered a free pattern to one lucky reader: any pattern in her shop, winner's choice! To enter, all you have to do is comment below with which pattern is your favourite. Check out Blue Calla Sewing Patterns to see them all. Good luck! Contest closes Friday March 6, 2015 at 1:00 pm 

Bonus entries for following me on Instagram and Pinterest, just leave a separate comment for each letting me know.

 I've had a lot of questions about the name for this blog. I first learned about this animal from my oldest son, when he was about 3. We often play a game we invented called "guess an animal" and it's a great dinner time game that every family member can participate in. The rules are simple: come up with an animal and give hints until someone guesses correctly, we also answer questions like, does it have 4 legs, would you find one on a farm, does it have spots, etc. 
So imagine my confusion when my son was giving hints about an animal that had stripes on its legs and a head like a giraffe; we all thought he was making it up. What animal is like a cross between a giraffe and a zebra? Apparently an okapi is. Thankfully Wikipedia backed him up, and we came up with the perfect animal to stump any dinner guests in the future.
What an okapi reminds me of is that there is always something new to be learned, and sometimes, from the most unlikely places. I think that's a wonderful lesson to keep in mind when sewing and trying new skills.
Technically, okapi doesn't rhyme with happy, but that's how I say it in my head, so I'm taking some artistic liberty with it, because, who doesn't like being happy?

I just wanted to take a quick moment to welcome Lisa, the new owner of Stay Home Fabrics. She's already got the shop back into full swing with many amazing new collections and more on the way.

I would also like to welcome Satin Moon Quilted Garden, the Victoria, BC shop I mentioned that helps my Dad pick out some great fabric for my bags. The shop is another reason to make a trip out to Victoria, with their modern quilting collections, including Art Gallery Fabrics, and many patterns and books. If you can't make it to the shop, check out their website, or even give them a call to see if they have what you're looking for.

I often like to make coordinating items for my bags, sometimes a cup cozy or a key fob, but what really seems to get the most attention is when I pair it with a glasses case. I found this free pattern and tutorial from Thread Riding Hood last year and have loved it ever since. The tutorial offers a few different options, but I've always used a magnetic snap closure on mine. Sherri at Thread Riding Hood has made the pattern available for free, and offers a seller's license, which I just love. I made 2 before I bought the seller's license, to test it out, and really loved the result, so bought the license and sold some right away. 

I often like to piece the exterior of the case to have a feature on the flap, or if you have directional fabric, then piecing helps too. 

They make great gifts too! I've made some as teacher gifts and for stocking stuffers. They also work as gifts for men, which is great because I find it hard to come up with things to sew for men.

They're great, quick, little projects! Once you've made a few, you can do them in under an hour from start to finish. I usually make a few at a time, which makes them go a bit quicker too. 

I follow the pattern and tutorial exactly, and occasionally I add interfacing to the exterior panel. Go check it out yourself and make a few! 

True Story: My Dad is my biggest fan, and for Christmas he gave me some beautiful fabric. He walks by a certain quilt shop near his work and one day he ventured in and spoke to the friendly ladies in the shop. He has no shame when it comes to showing off my work, and took out his phone to show them pictures of my purses. They were so kind to indulge him in his proud moment and helped him select some lovely fabric for my gift. He has seen the fabric I use and knows I like bright, colourful designs, and also knows I love both birds and fish. I think they did a pretty great job coming up with these picks. If you're ever in Victoria, go check them out: Satin Moon Quilted Garden on Fort Street.  Of course I had to use my Dad's picks and make them into bags.

The first one is the Super Tote by Noodlehead, which I beefed up with a layer of fusible fleece. The Super Tote is a really versatile bag with a large exterior pocket, a recessed zipper for the main opening, and large elasticized pockets inside.  I really love the side pleat for an elegant touch. I paired the colourful birds with a yellow Essex Linen. I used Kira by Stof from Fabric Spark for the top band and handles, and some crisp blue Kona Cotton from Funky Monkey Fabrics for the lining. I think it's the perfect pattern to showcase this busy print. 

The next bag I chose is the Bonnie Bucket Bag by Swoon, which you can get individually or as part of the new Swoon Favorites Collection. I used Essex Linen again, this time in a bright red. Bonnie sews up pretty quickly and the double welt pocket on the front is a unique feature; this bag also contains a recessed zipper closure.  I got to use my Make-a-zipper from Stitch in the Ditch and chose a pretty red pull to go with it. I also used gold rectangle rings to highlight the metallic in the print.

Thanks Dad! I hope you like them! 

Don't forget about the discounts going on right now, which you can use for supplies to make your own beautiful bags.

Emmaline Bags

Flare Fabrics

Stitch in the Ditch

Today I'm sharing a new Pattern from Noodlehead:the Caravan Tote, which comes with a bonus pattern for a matching zippered pouch.  There is a large exterior front zippered pocket, and the main tote has a magnetic snap closure. The pattern has quite a few options to make it a perfect knitting tote. You can make the front pocket into a needle pocket, and there are instructions to add grommets for yarn guides into the interior slip pocket. I don't knit, so I didn't use those options, but I might use them on my next tote as a gift for a friend who knits, making it the perfect project tote. The zippered pouch included with the pattern is a great size, you can pair it with the project tote to carry smaller supplies, or use it on its own as a clutch. 

The pattern calls for fabrics heavier than quilting cotton, so I used some Echino linen blend and Essex linen blend. I think denim would be a great weight for this project too. If you have quilting cotton you really love for it, the pattern includes extra interfacing instructions for that as well. 

I really love the front pocket with flap, and Anna of Noodlehead's way of attaching it is my new favourite. I left the snap off my zippered pouch flap, but I may add it later. 

This was my first project using metal zippers, and I really love the professional look they give. The white with gold is pretty unique as well. The way the bags are put together doesn't have you sewing over the zipper teeth, making them pretty safe for your sewing machine to install.

My very first purchased PDF pattern was by Noodlehead, and she continues to wow me with great patterns! 

Here are a few more pictures of mine.

Don't forget there are some active discounts right now to get yourself some supplies to get started on your own. 

If you haven't heard of Emmaline Bags, you're going to thank me for introducing you to these patterns and a great online shop. If you have heard of it, you're going to be happy to learn I have a discount to share with you today! Janelle of Emmaline is a Canadian pattern designer, offering both PDF and paper paper patterns in her online shop, www.emmalinebags.com 



You have to check out the Necessary Clutch Wallet, affectionately known as the NCW, which even has a facebook group dedicated to it. 

There are some other really great patterns available, including the Butterfly Sling and the Spring Sling purses.

Have you noticed those pretty turn locks? Emmaline carries those too! The hardware selection is impressive and the quality is unparalleled. You can even get hardware kits specific to the pattern you want to make. There is also a selection of pretty bling, like these "handmade" zipper pulls, and some really beautiful zippers, personally I like the white with gold.

Now what about the interfacing for these gorgeous bags? Emmaline Bags has that too! You can buy them separately or as interfacing kits for the NCW and the Quarter Note Clutch. You can also pick up some other sewing supplies, like Fray Check, Wonder Tape, pins and Wonder Clips.

I have a wonderful example of amazing customer service to share with you. A friend ordered some hardware from Emmaline and very quickly received an email informing her that her order had been shipped to the address listed in her Paypal account. Only, my friend realized that she forgot to update her Paypal account with her new address since she moved. She quickly sent Janelle an email, explaining the situation. Janelle actually retrieved the package from the post office and corrected the address before it was too late! To me, that is true customer service, and yet another reason to shop with Janelle at Emmaline Bags.

Now for the discount: The code is OKAPI15 and is good for 15% off your order, site wide, when you buy 2 or more items, code expires in one week. 

Happy shopping and happy sewing! I'd love to hear what you decide on, let me know in the comments.

It's Family Day this weekend in BC, so I took the opportunity to do a Valentine's Day craft with the kids. I've seen these heart shaped crayons on Pinterest, and figured I'd give it a try. I also saw these make-your-own wax paper bags and thought I could combine the ideas. It was such a hit with the kids (I had lots of fun too). The great part is I didn't have to buy anything at all for it. I had an old inexpensive silicone mold that I'd never gotten around to using, so finally put it to use. 

The first step is gathering all the broken crayons and peeling all the paper off. Of course, they don't have to be broken to start with, but it's a good way to use up the bits and pieces that are getting too small to colour with.

Then the kids had fun filling in all the hearts with the crayons. You don't need to treat the mold at all, the crayons will just pop out after they've cooled. We had to break them up a little to fill in some gaps. I've seen some tutorials suggest cutting with a knife or smashing them up with a hammer, but we didn't find that necessary; the crayons broke pretty easily with our hands. This really is the creative step, where you can decide what colour combination the hearts will have.

Once you've filled your tray, pop it in the oven, preheated to about 225 for about 15-20 minutes. After they come out of the oven, let them cool for about 45 minutes- 1 hour, then just push the mold from the bottom to pop them out. Repeat all those steps until you have as many hearts as you need. 

I cut out some hearts, this part would have been so much better with a Silhouette, but that's on my wishlist :) 
Then I cut a 4-5" wide strip of wax paper, folded it (I used wonder clips to hold the sides in place) and sewed the 3 open sides, with the crayon hearts inside and the paper heart on top. For the final touch, I found a cute saying on Pinterest, mostly so people would know that they were crayons. We received some Christmas Tree shaped crayons in December and thought they were soap, so I wanted to make sure the recipients knew what they were. I used my Brother labelmaker, which is pretty easy and the kids liked pushing the print and cut buttons. I found a couple phrases, but my kids liked 

Happy Valentine's Day, for "crayon" out loud!

Once everything was sewn up, we put the labels over top of the finished bags. 

The best part of this whole craft was that the kids really enjoyed doing it. I'm pretty pleased with the end result!

I love Swoon Sewing Patterns! Most of my bags are Swoon patterns. Today it was announced the original subscription is no longer available, but that a Swoon Favorites Collection and a Swoon Vintage Collection (Subscription) are now available, both at really great prices. Go get yours today, you won't be disappointed, and you'll be hard pressed to find a better value for such quality patterns. You'll still be able to buy patterns individually in the pattern shop, but I really recommend one (or both) of the bundles.
Also, have you checked these awesome sewing tees?! I have a couple and I just love them, they're super soft and comfortable and let everyone know I love to sew.

In continuing with my Everything Else Series, today I'd like to introduce a wonderful Canadian online shop, Flare Fabrics at www.flarefabrics.ca . Flare Fabrics specializes in Batiks and carries an impressive selection of quality fabrics. I'm very excited about finding a Canadian shop that carries so many bag making supplies, and I'm happy to have a chance to share it here. 

You can find all the different types of batting and interfacing you'll need for bag making, including Soft and Stable, which I've been using a lot of lately. If you're the type who likes to stock up and save, you'll be happy to know you can even purchase interfacing by the bolt. There is also Bosal In-R-Form foam stabilizer, which I've yet to try, but I hear it's great for bags too. Check out all the different interfacings here. There is also a nice selection of zippers in many colours, and even a few fun patterned ones! If you don't see what you need, Marlene is happy to custom order if she can, just send her an email.

You can also find some hardware for bags here, some great items, like invisible magnetic snaps, and these beautiful twist locks. Wonder clips and frixion pens are some of my favourite notions and are stocked at Flare Fabrics as well. 

I can't forget to mention the fabric selection! In addition to the Batiks, Flare Fabrics carries many other fabrics, including a variety of Kona Cotton, in precuts and yardage. Check out the precuts too! I love this Birch Farm Charm pack.

The icing on the cake for this store is FREE SHIPPING in Canada for orders over $75 (free US shipping for orders over $150)!
Marlene has also offered an exclusive discount for my readers! Use coupon code HAPPYOKAPI to save 15% on all orders until the end of March, 2015!! 

Some gorgeous new Art Gallery prints have arrived at Stay Home Fabrics and they're on sale today and tomorrow only. Save 20% using promo code ARTGALLERY. I adore these bright, cheerful designs. 

Lindsay at Stay Home Fabrics will be handing over the shop soon, so watch their facebook page for the announcement of the new owner. 

Today I'd like to share with you my very first tutorial. It's for an insulated lunch bag, with a zippered top. If you're a beginner, don't let the zipper scare you. It's actually quite simple, but the finished product looks great! I started making these because I found all the store bought lunch bags were too small to fit all my reusable containers, so this bag is bigger than the average lunch bag, but I think it's the perfect size (about 12" tall, by 10" wide and 5" across/deep).

All the materials in this bag can be found at Funky Monkey Fabrics, including this adorable superkids cotton. My youngest son picked it out and he's thrilled to have his new "super" lunch bag. Melissa, of Funky Monkey Fabrics strives to carry fun fabric at competitive prices, and I think she hits the mark. She's even offering kits that include everything you need to make this lunch bag, how great is that?! 

 Materials needed: 

• 2 each of 13" x 16" cuts of insulbright, PUL, and cotton (for ordering purposes, 1/2 yard of 42-44" cotton and Insulbright, and less than 1/2 yard of 60" PUL should be more than enough)
• 14" or longer zipper
• 2x 16" pieces of 1" wide webbing (be sure to heat seal the edges so they don't fray)
• Coordinating thread, sewing machine, zipper foot, sewing shears or rotary cutter, and other basic sewing supplies

Note: Jersey/ballpoint needles are recommended for sewing PUL. I also use clips instead of pins when sewing with PUL; these are also available at Funky Monkey. Also, I pieced some red Kona cotton onto the superkids, feel free to use one piece for the panel, or do any type of patchwork you like, as long as the finished panel sizes are 13"x16"

Attaching handles:

Pin one end of webbing 3 1/2" from side of one cotton panel onto the right side of the top 13" edge, then pin other end of webbing 3 1/2" from other side of panel, so the inner edges of the webbing are 4" away from each other. Machine baste in place with a 1/4" seam allowance. 

Repeat with other cotton panel and piece of webbing. 

Zipper:

Place zipper with teeth up, and line up top 13" edge of cotton, right side down onto zipper, sandwiching the handle between the outer cotton panel and the zipper, clip/pin and machine baste in place using zipper foot at a small seam allowance. 

Now with zipper teeth down and cotton right side up, layer PUL (shiny side touching zipper) and insulbright onto back side of zipper, clip/pin in place, flip over (so you see your basting stitch) and sew together right over basting stitch. 

Now fold back, so wrong side of cotton is touching insulbright, and materials are out of the way, and repeat above steps to attach remaining panels to other half of zipper, making sure to match up sides of panels. 

Assembling bag

This part is almost like sewing 2 bags. Line up cotton right sides together, and align insulbright and PUL, with PUL right sides together, the zipper will act as a divider between both bags. 

Pin in place all around and make sure zipper teeth are facing in to the lining side (PUL). At this point, you'll want to make sure your zipper pull is inside the seam allowance and that the zipper is opened at least half way. 

Starting along one side of the lining (PUL/insulbright), using a 1/2" seam allowance, sew down toward the bottom of the lining, around the perimeter, leaving a 4" hole for turning, making sure to backstitch at start and end. Trim seam allowances and zipper if applicable, but leave seam allowance over turning hole intact. 

Tip: try using a 5/8" seam allowance while sewing the lining, but taper to 1/2" toward zipper and use 1/2" throughout cotton, then taper back to 5/8" for remaining lining stitching, this will make the lining fit better inside the exterior of the bag. 

Boxed corners

To make boxed corners, while wrong sides still facing out, pinch a corner seam, matching the side seam and bottom seam, mark a line 2" in from corner point, and stitch along that line. Repeat for remaining 3 corners. Trim corners

Finishing bag 

Turn bag right side out through turning hole. It may help to reach in and undo the zipper all the way. At this point, you might be questioning whether you left the turning hole big enough...hang in there! Just go slow, and you'll get there!

Tuck seam allowance in at turning hole and finger press the edge, clip in place and sew with a very small seam allowance, or hand stitch using blind stitch if you prefer. 
Tip: you'll need a Teflon foot or walking foot for this step, as you'll be sewing the shiny side of the PUL, or you could use freezer paper, wax paper, or even tissue paper over the seam with your regular presser foot, and tear away after you've sewn the hole shut. I've heard putting scotch tape on the bottom of the presser foot works well too. 

Push the lining into the outer bag, and voila: your bag is done! 

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or send me an email. I'd love to hear if you end up making your own!