D Whynn Designs

Messenger - ing

A few months ago we were preparing to leave for California and I decided I needed a new bag. I hadn't made a bag for myself in forever and I would certainly need something for the trip.  It had to be large, with lots of pockets and comfortable to carry across the country and then all over.

Here we have a messenger style bag with lots of inner pockets for my iPad, pens, pencils, cell phone, camera, Kleenex and all my hubby's junk.  Drink holder on the side and zippered pocket on the front for Important Stuff.  I knew I had a cool charm to use as a zipper pull but of course that was no where to be found.

 

An inside shot.  You can tell by the collection of assorted junk in there that I've been carrying it for a while.

 

 

I love going through my old bags and finding all that "bonus" money collecting on the bottom and in the pockets.

Fabric: Assorted Amy Butler prints

Pattern: My own design

And also not one other person in Carmel, CA, was carrying a bag like this. Or even anything close.  I could say because it was unique and original, but I think the truth of the matter is that designer leather bags were The bag to be carried.

A Humbling

 

That blue blob you see in the photo above would be what is called a complete and total design flop. Not a "can be fixed with some tweaking" design, but a complete and total "hit the trash and start over" kind of failure.

My first?  Hardly.  My last?  Highly doubt that.

Often times a design will look fantastic in my mind and even equally fantastic as a one-dimensional line drawing, but turning that into a three-dimensional fabric item has it's risk. 

A smart and cautious designer will usually make their first attempt out of muslin -- and I have yards and yards and yards of the stuff that someone gave me.  But sometimes one (me) becomes overly confident (I believe the word is cocky) and goes straight for the good stuff so sure they are that this design is going to be *the one*.

And in my case the good stuff went for approximately $9.00 a yard.  And also I happened to like that particular fabric which is now useless.

Next step . . . .well, quite frankly, it was turn off the machine and WALK AWAY from the whole mess.

After I recovered from my humbling experience I started over . . . . .

 

with the muslin . . . . . .

A Sneak Peek . . .

 . . . . amid the mess.  I've got several projects, plans, commitments and ideas all in the works at once and by the disaster all over the cutting table that proves it.

One of the projects I have been working on is this bag shown above.  This is not a new design but rather one from the archives.  A few summers back Sew, Mama, Sew - a great online fabric store and sewing resource - held a bag contest, one of my entries won and they sent me some beautiful fabric.  I made a few more of those bags, grew tired of them and stashed my notes and patterns away.

Recently several people have emailed me and asked if there was a pattern available.  I designed this bag before I was creating patterns.  Luckily my daughter still had an old beat-up well used model shoved in the back of her closet and I was able to find my notes and pattern pieces.  Between her old bag and my notes I was able to re-design the bag and tweak the construction methods, for the better in my opinion. All I need now is handle, lining, pockets and a closure.

Stay tuned - bags and patterns available soon.

FINALLY - Two New Patterns & A Giveaway

I'm actually too embarrassed to admit to how long these patterns have been in the works. They have always been at the top of the list but it seems like for the past several months something else has come along that has been even higher on the Get It Done list.

First off the press is the Take the Steps Table Runner pattern. I designed this over the summer right after my local quilt shop got in all these fun summery batiks. Not the Christmas ones on the pattern cover, but the fruit ones shown below.

This would be a great project for a beginner or a quick and easy project for an experienced quilter.

This project takes 6 fat quarters and some yardage for the borders, backing and binding.

I have some Figgy Pudding Christmas fabric buried in my stash that I *hope* to have on my table this holiday season.

Next pattern is the Lella Bag, named after my daughter whose name is not Lella.

I designed this bag way back in June and even blogged about it at that time.  In fact, I'm still carrying that gray one on the cover of the pattern even though it surely is time for a new bag for myself.

The pattern contains full size pattern pieces and full color photos and diagrams.

My daughter finally just got her Lella Bag a couple of weeks ago. Her argument "how could the bag even be named after her if she DOESN'T EVEN HAVE ONE".  She won hands down and I let her have the pick of all that Amy Butler Love fabric.

I wanted this one out of the Simple Abundance fabric.  Love that fabric.

 

But I gave this bag away to a charity event at the local elementary school.

The patterns are available in my Etsy shop.

About that GiveAway. Since I'm still doing the Happy Dance about crossing these two big items off my list, I thought I'd share my joy by giving away TWO sets of the new patterns.

Easy enough to win -- leave a comment telling me about your holiday project list and if most of the items on your list  are for gift giving or for holiday decorating for yourself. I'll pick two winners on Monday, November 16, 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Two more patterns on my To Do list. Goal set to have them written and out the door in 2009.

Next up is the Kid's Drawing Bag that I blogged about way back here.  Shouldn't be too hard since it's already in a rough draft state.

No Doubt About It, It's A Small World

I'm not going to write a post about the subject of Copyright. There are many excellent articles and blog posts out there on this topic.

What I am going to write about is using my patterns to make products to sell for your personal and financial gain.

To me, the design process is a very personal one. It starts with an idea in my head, my idea; a vision, my vision; then a sketch, then figuring out if it's possible to make it work, not only for me but for others.  Prototypes, numerous ones that hit the trash.  Yes, that's fabric, batting, threads and time in the trash because it's just not quite right.  Often many times.

When it is finally "right", more samples are made, photographed each step of the way. There's downloading and Photoshopping and then hours of writing, reviewing, critiquing and rewriting.  Finally the printing, the folding, the bagging - the paper, the cardstock, the ink and once again, the time.

Most designers state right on the pattern how you can use their designs.  Mine states "For Personal Use Only" and then "Questions? Comments? Email me". And then right there on the pattern is a working email address.

I purposely left my usage statement pretty broad based - because I'm willing to talk. Tell me how you want to use it, where you want to sell it - I'm willing to listen.

So my advice to you is if you like a designer's pattern, and believe it would provide business opportunities for you, ASK the designer first.

Because that very same internet that provides exposure for you to sell your handmade goods made from my design is the very same internet that I'm surfing on at Oh Dark Thirty in The Morning on what is already panning out to be a not such a great day. And when I come across MY designs without giving credit where credit is due and without permission, then I find it does nothing for my not such a great mood anyhow.

You wouldn't come to my house and take one of my kids and claim them as yours, so please don't claim my designs as yours.

Ask. Email me. We can chat.

How About Lunch?

Since there is no getting around the fact that school started here during the first part of August, I thought it would be a great time to whip up a few new Not So Brown Bag Insulated Lunch Bags.

It's been a while since I've made any of these and I had forgotten how much fun they are to whip up. Don't take too long, nothing very difficult, a little quilting, a little piecing, a little assembly and a great way to combine lots of pretty fabrics.

These probably won't stop me from whining about how HOT it was on the playground today since we are back to school in the Beginning of August, but at least there are some pretty lunch bags for August.

Introducing . . .

The Lella Bag, my newest bag design.

 

After I am satisfied with my "vision" of my latest bag, I make a basic bag out of muslin to check the size, shape etc.  Patterns are tweaked and the next bag I make is always made out of my least favorite fabric. There is still the chance that the pattern isn't right yet and this bag could hit the trash.  Trust me, many have.

So here is the first sample run:

 

At first I didn't think I liked the fabric, but now I do.

This version still needs a lining -- now that I decided that I like the fabrics/color combo.

  

I made this one for me to take on my recent trip to St. Augustine. It was the perfect size and I was able to stuff in the camera, my husband's junk (glass' case), maps, coupons, Kleenex, etc.  I have been carrying this one for several weeks and it has held up well.

These bags measure 16" wide and 14" tall.  The casing on both sides of the bag really work so you can cinch the bag up.  Bag closes with a magnetic snap.

 

Close up of casing and triangular corner trim.

 

New inner pocket design. I've attached the whole pocket to the top of the bag. So far I have found it easier to find my cell phone especially when it's ringing!

Pattern will be available soon.

P.S. Thanks to those of you who have submitted names for my Kid's drawing bag. Great suggestions and I'm still thinking. In fact, I have a meeting this afternoon which should get everything moving at a much faster pace!

Brown and Blue and Lots of Pockets, Too

Ha - I can never make a rhyme and when I accidentally do, it happens to be ridiculously corny! 

ANYHOW, my latest bag design has been tweaked to perfection.  I started working with this design sometime last fall and here it is in its final form. The pattern is finished and printed, too! A complete project.

LOVE this blue and brown fabric.

 

The bag features full pockets on both sides of the bag on top of a coordinating print fabric. The pocket openings are bound with silk dupioni accents. The pocket overlays are quilted as is the top band. The bag is lined with a blue and brown paisley and has a pleated pocket inside.

 

Bag closes with a magnetic snap.

The pattern is finished as well and contains full-size pattern pieces, written instructions with accompanying color photos and diagrams.

 

I am currently teaching this bag in a class at my local quilt shop. I love to see the different variations that everyone makes.

Both the finished bag and the patterns are available in my shop

.

 

With Only A Scrap to Spare

This is all that is left --

 

Last weekend I was traveling up north and decided I'd treat myself to a new bag for the trip. I had just received this new Amy Butler Daisy Chain fabric and loved the navy prints. Navy would be dark enough to take up north in the fall and yet still appropriate to carry down here in the land of forever resort wear.

I started my new bag using my new pattern in plenty of time to complete it by my trip.  And then I had that unfortunate blunder (see previous post) which caused me to waste a huge chunk of fabric, a considerable amount of time and say a lot of bad words.

After recovering, I decided to start over and felt with a good push I could still finish the bag in time.  And I did.  With only that tiny scrap of fabric left. It was only after I was giving the bag the last final cut threads, check seams once over that I realized I completely forgot to install the magnetic snap. 

My new bag traveled well, looked just right for the season and even though I forgot the snap I didn't lose anything.  And just think if new bags would make the airlines arrive on time I might have something . . ..

Reject? Perhaps . .

I often look through old sewing books and magazines ever on the lookout for ideas and inspiration.  A few weeks ago I came across a bag construction technique that I hadn't used in ages. Basically, the idea is to create a bag in one piece and sew up the sides. I thought if I created a one-piece bottom and then added a front and back panel it would give me new design and construction opportunities as well as experimenting with different interfacing options.

Because this is basically "backwards" from my normal way of designing, it took me forever to work out the maths.

When it was all said and done, I didn't like one single thing about it. Well, I still liked the fabric but the design was nothing like I had in mind. I turned off the machine and walked away, more than a little irritated that I had wasted a whole day on a flop (not to mention the *good* fabric). Usually I'll make a muslin first but I felt pretty over-confident and went straight for the good stuff.

It's now a week later and after looking over the thing maybe it isn't that bad. It's still not in proportion to what I had wanted, but maybe it doesn't looks so awful.  I just can't decide.

What do you think?