Simple is not always easy!
Given all the problems I’d had lately with my work, I thought it would be a good idea to back off and do a little romp of a project. I spied this pattern in my local quilt shop and thought it was the perfect project. I can always use another tote bag for teaching, traveling, etc. Ah, but this was no romp! The pattern was indeed simple, but it was not easy!
Isn’t this adorable? It’s huge, stands up on its own and had a simple but interesting design.
Before I tell my tale of woe, I must make this clear: I am not a bag maker. I have very little experience with them. Bags have their own special skill set, tools and tricks. I will not usually sew a bag, but this one looked so easy. Some of my problems with this pattern truly could have been due to my lack of experience!
The pattern is super simple for sure: 2 pattern pieces printed full size, 3 fabrics and a “2-sided fusible ultra firm stabilizer”. I used the recommended Peltex.
Peltex is indeed “ultra stable”, as in almost board-stiff. And that was the problem for me. You need that stiffness to have such a sturdy bag, but the Peltex is impossible to manipulate in the machine. You get a little bit of the idea from the photo. It could not crunch down to fit into the harp of the machine and normal motions were impeded by its stiffness.
This is where things were most difficult. Imagine binding a 4″ internal circle-that alone is tricky. Even more so to make the binding ends lie flat in such a small space. And to do that on a board??? The pattern actually calls for sewing the front and back together before you do the binding! It would have been impossible to bind those handles with both sides sewn together.
I had no problem accepting wobbles like this given the difficulty of working with the Peltex.
I’m just giving you an idea of how big this bag is.
I did not follow her directions (purposefully) which left me with unfinished seams. I tried fusing 1/4″ double sided tape to the seams so that I could fuse them down to the inside of the bag. The fusible was not strong enough to hold the very stiff seam. There was no way to machine finish the seam-it would not fit through the harp. If I’d thought about it ahead of time I could have done a Hong Kong finish before sewing the seams, but life is too short for that!
It bugs me just a little bit. I do like a nice finish on garments and bags. The edges are well sealed with the fusing. I would have liked to have top stitched them down at least.
Setting the bottom into the top of the bag was a trick. There is NO easing possible with Peltex. Somehow a miracle occurred: the round bottom fit exactly into the top of the bag. This is a Once-in-a-Lifetime Gift!
It’s pretty tall at 19″.
When I carry it, the proportion is almost cartoonish next to my short figure. I was pretty annoyed while I was making this bag. But I do like the bag! Its size makes it very handy. I do think despite my complaints, the Peltex is what makes the bag.
I may actually make this again. I see it having a place in my new studio, holding scraps or toting things to class. But it was not a romp of a project!
Ha! I am not a bag maker either! I have collected bag patterns over the years. But every time I actually try to make one, I get so frustrated. I have given up.
But that is a pretty cool bag. Still, I don’t think I”ll be trying to make one. Thanks for the heads up!
Well I thought this would not have the problems other bags have-hah! I’m not sure if I will enter the Bag Making arena again.
Hi Jenny,
I enjoy your posts a lot and really admire your art. Thank you for your entertaining and VERY informative blog.
I am sending this out to my artist friends and thought I would post it on your blog as well. Hopefully I am not overstepping my bounds here but I am hoping that you and others will be interested in what is going on with copyright laws. In my opinion, the proposed new copyright act (see below) is a threat to anyone who makes original art and who wishes to protect that art from commercial use by others. Right now, anything we produce we own and it is copyrighted at the time we create it. The way I understand it, these proposed copyright changes will essentially open up our work to commercial use by those who didn’t create it and who haven’t compensated us for our time and creativity. For instance, when you create a quilt and put a photo of that quilt on Pinterest, or some other venue, someone could take that photo, or even reproduce your quilt verbatim for their own personal gain without compensating you. The way I understand it, under this new copyright act, it will be much more difficult to protect our art from piracy. It seems that, under this new act, everything we produce will have to be registered at the time we produce it and all our old work will have to be registered as well.
I don’t think any artist has a problem with someone using his or her art for “inspiration” by taking ideas to incorporate into their own art. All artists use other artists work for inspiration but it is unthinkable that someone could use the actual art and get away with it. It seems like this new copyright act will be a license to steal and will only benefit entities like the big internet clip art firms.
You and your blog readers may know other artists who are interested in this topic. Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think may be interested. Hopefully everyone will be able to take a few minutes to write a short letter to comment on this copyright act.
Take Care,
Kathie
Artists Alert: From the Illustrators Partnership
The Return of Orphan Works
Part 1: “The Next Great Copyright Act”
JULY 1, 2015
For more than a year Congress has been holding hearings for the drafting of a brand new US Copyright Act. At its heart is the return of Orphan Works.
Twice, Orphan Works Acts have failed to pass Congress because of strong opposition from visual artists, spearheaded by the Illustrators Partnership.
Because of this, the Copyright Office has now issued a special call for letters regarding the role of visual art in the coming legislation.
Therefore we’re asking all artists concerned with retaining the rights to their work to join us in writing.
When and Where
Deadline: July 23, 2015
You can submit letters online to the Copyright Office here.
Read the Copyright Office Notice of Inquiry.
Read the 2015 Orphan Works and Mass Digitization Report.
Here are the Basic Facts
“The Next Great Copyright Act” would replace all existing copyright law.
It would void our Constitutional right to the exclusive control of our work.
It would “privilege” the public’s right to use our work.
It would “pressure” you to register your work with commercial registries.
It would “orphan” unregistered work.
It would make orphaned work available for commercial infringement by “good faith” infringers.
It would allow others to alter your work and copyright these “derivative works” in their own names.
It would affect all visual art: drawings, paintings, sketches, photos, etc.; past, present and future; published and unpublished; domestic and foreign.
Background
The demand for copyright “reform” has come from large Internet firms and the legal scholars allied with them. Their business models involve supplying the public with access to other people’s copyrighted work. Their problem has been how to do this legally and without paying artists.
The “reforms” they’ve proposed would allow them to stock their databases with our pictures. This would happen either by forcing us to hand over our images to them as registered works, or by harvesting unregistered works as orphans and copyrighting them in their own names as “derivative works.”
The Copyright Office acknowledges that this will cause special problems for visual artists but concludes that we should still be subject to orphan works law.
The “Next Great Copyright Act” would go further than previous Orphan Works Acts. The proposals under consideration include:
1.) The Mass Digitization of our intellectual property by corporate interests.
2.) Extended Collective Licensing, a form of socialized licensing that would replace voluntary business agreements between artists and their clients.
3.) A Copyright Small Claims Court to handle the flood of lawsuits expected to result from orphan works infringements.
In your letter to the Copyright Office:
It’s important that lawmakers be told that our copyrights are our source of income because lobbyists and corporation lawyers have “testified” that once our work has been published it has virtually no further commercial value and should therefore be available for use by the public.
So when writing, please remember:
* It’s important that you make your letter personal and truthful.
* Keep it professional and respectful.
* Explain that you’re an artist and have been one for x number of years.
* Briefly list your educational background, publications, awards, etc.
* Indicate the field(s) you work in.
* Explain clearly and forcefully that for you, copyright law is not an
abstract legal issue, but the basis on which your business rests.
* Our copyrights are the products we license.
* This means that infringing our work is like stealing our money.
* It’s important to our businesses that we remain able to determine
voluntarily how and by whom our work is used.
* Stress that your work does NOT lose its value upon publication.
* Instead everything you create becomes part of your business inventory.
* In the digital era, inventory is more valuable to artists than ever before.
If you are NOT a professional artist:
* Define your specific interest in copyright, and give a few relevant
details.
* You might want to stress that it’s important to you that you determine
how and by whom your work is used.
* You might wish to state that even if you’re a hobbyist, you would not
welcome someone else monetizing your work for their own profit
without your knowledge or consent.
Because this is a complicated issue, we’ll follow up next week with some expanded thoughts of our own.
– Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner
for the Board of the Illustrators Partnership
The Illustrators Partnership has filed multiple papers with the
Copyright Office regarding this issue.
You can download them from the Copyright Office website:
Remedies for Small Copyright Claims
January 17, 2012
Orphan Works and Mass Digitization
Initial Comments, February 3, 2013
Orphan Works and Mass Digitization
Reply Comments, March 6, 2013
Orphan Works and Mass Digitization
Additional Comments, May 21, 2014
Please post or forward this artists alert to any interested party.
Hi Kathie; I have not heard of this yet. I’m posting and then doing some research (when I get some time!). I have already seen two very specific things that are either “simultaneous creativity” or copying. I have personally experienced simultaneous creativity when I have seen someone else’s work that was probably not influenced by me, nor I by them. Yet our work looked very similar. But outright copying without attribution or compensation is WRONG. Thank you for your comment.
You have all my sympathy with this bag project. I’ve made exactly one bag and decided that I will gladly pay others to make bags I can buy. My project used Decor bond, which is lighter than Peltex, plus drill cloth and wool. And binding the curved edges was indeed a challenge. But your bag looks like you could haul firewood in it and not dent it.
LOL-don’t think I’ll be putting firewood in it but it would carry it! It has always been my thought to pay others to make bags for me. Whenever I go to a quilt show with a boutique, I scout the bags for something that I would want. I just thought this one looked so easy….
If you make it again try Annies Soft n stable. It is stiff enough to give shape but still is soft. I love it for bags.
See below! Thank you Mary Helen.
Next time try Soft and Stable. Thicker than Peltex but a bit more pliable. I’ve used it on several of Annie’s bags according to her instructions. You saw my computer bag (green Kaffe).
I do like Soft and Stable too-had some around and thought about using it. But it can’t be fused, so it would have needed quilting, then there’s the issue of finishing the seams which would have had free ends……becomes a whole nuther thang! The thing about the 2-sided fusible Peltex is that you fuse it and you’re done-edges controlled, no quilting needed. May do that next time though-the bag will still stand firm.
I can totally sympathize/empathize! I made a window covering/shade (sort of) for our camper a couple of years ago and used that Peltex product. It was awesome (both sides fusible……awesome). I do make bags and can absolutely imagine the maneuvering dilemmas!!! I think I would make it with a more oval bottom piece than a circle……same circumference, though. It would be a bit easier to carry while walking. I really like your bag!!!!! Hooray for a finish!!!!!!!!
I think Peltex is more appropriate for a window covering though! Oval might make sense-the round size really bounces away from my body.
I think the Peltex is better used on window coverings Doreen! The oval makes sense because the circle shape kind of protrudes out awkwardly from my body.
Love the bag and well done for sticking with it, it is so big though can you carry it fully-laden? I like the ideas of using it as a scrap bag for sewing room etc though. Will read the copyright thing tomorrow or soon when I am more in a ‘taking in information’ frame of mind. It would just wash over me right now.
Thank you Janet. It can handle a lot of lighter weight stuff but if it were heavy things it might break down the Peltex or even break the seam.
No offense, Jenny, but I laughed out loud when I saw the first photo in your post. That thing is big! I don’t think that I’ll be trying this one anytime soon…or ever. What a wonderful thing the internet is…we can all share our successes and our disasters…what worked and what didn’t. I am so happy that you are not a quitter!
I wonder what that bag will weigh when you’ve got it fully loaded. Heh, heh!
Laura it was the weirdest thing sewing the bottom on: I was reaching up above my head to guide the bag through the machine! Thank you for laughing with me.
Ah, like you, I have purchased several bag patterns on a whim at the LQS or at a quilt show… But unlike you, I have never gotten up the nerve to try to make any of them! I wonder if taking your machine out of its cabinet hole and putting it near the left edge of a table or desk would have made it easier to sew your stiff project? I wonder how the pattern maker managed to sew and manipulate the super stiff bag pieces in order to make the sample? There must be some tricks and tips that you don’t know about. That bag is HUGE!! At least you have something useful and usable to show for your efforts. Good for you for trying a project outside your comfort zone, even if it wasn’t quite as simple to whip up as you had anticipated!
I’m sure there are all kinds of things I need to know before making another bag. I have no idea of any trick that would have made working with that huge, stiff project though. I may try again….
I love that you persisted and shared it all with us. I have made several bags over the years, but never with Peltex….though I think I have some in my stash from when I made a decorative folder for carrying papers. It sure is strange to work with! Looks like it would be great for holding scraps!
Thank you Judy. Now a decorative folder to carry papers-that sounds like an excellent use for Peltex! I can see that for my new studio. And yes, it’s perfect for holding scraps. It might buckle with something heavy but for a work-in-progress, scraps, etc it’s perfect.
Very awesome bag, you have more patience then I have!!! I have several bag patterns that I want to try out and I’d like to design one for myself, that is as far as it has gotten on the bag making list!!!
Now to re-read the copyright info!!! Thanks for sharing :^)
Well think twice before making one-they sure can be formidable and have their own set of rules. Glad you enjoy the blog Martha!