Jo's newly stitched Miranda Day Bag has completed her first set of airline adventures, flying through - in alphabetical order - Asheville, Atlanta, Cleveland, JFK, and Hartford. Here's a photo showing how handy all those pockets around the base of the bag are, and how roomy the interior is. The only thing I might add next time is a clear vinyl pocket with a flap on the inside of the tab - a place to keep my photo ID handy when going through security. Miranda is a great travel bag - she even got compliments from other travelers!

I learn something from nearly every sewing project, and this one was no exception. Why is the interfacing for the handles cut 1/4" narrower than the batting? I didn't figure it out until I did the edgestitching. The edges of the straps - where there's no stiff stabilizer - are soft and flexible, with the batting adding enough bulk to "fill" the edge. The center of the handle - with stabilizer - is stiff and sturdier than even additional layers of batting would have been. Stability without bulk :)

By now you probably recognize the foot in the photo - my favorite Edgestitch Foot #10, with the guide in the center. Here I've moved my needle about 1/8" to the left, just about even with the inside of the left toe. I'm using a stiletto to hold the edges together as they move under the foot. I could have pinned them together instead, but using the stiletto is faster and easier. This one has been my favorite for a few years - it's Nifty Notions' Brass Stiletto from Brewer Quilting & Sewing Supplies. The handle comes off to make a cover (or the cover comes off to extend the handle) so I can put it in my pocket without danger of stabbing myself, and there's a little ring on the end for attaching it to a chatelaine or a string around my neck.

After holding the tab up to the bag I decided it needed a little "oomph," so I pulled out some gorgeous hand-dyed gimpe I got a few weeks ago at a thread seminar by Jane Garrison, the "Thread Lady" from YLI. They have a new line of hand-dyed cords and threads and postcards and artists trading cards in scrumptious colorways, each named for a different artist. Take a peek by going to YLI's website, clicking on New Products, then selecting any of the first five items on the list. The mostly-brown variegated gimpe I used is named for Paul Klee, one of my favorite Expressionist painters. I cut three strands about 6" longer than I needed to go around the tab, then tied them together at one end to make them easier to load into Cording Foot #22. In the photo you can see a little black latch (over the rust-colored cord). After all three cords are in place in the grooves, the latch swings over them and holds them in place. This keeps them aligned and parallel, "combing" them as they move under the foot. This is a really fuzzy photo - sorry about that - but you can still see how it works. The cords are nearly the same size and color as the mini-piping between sections, and I like how the corded "box" echoes the shape of the bag :) Tip: Check to see how much bobbin thread you have left before you start couching. Not that I stitched three inches and then ran out or anything like that...

After that, all that was left was to attach the handles and tab to the bag. Just in case I change my mind about the handles I've also made the little tabs for attaching a store-bought set of handles, and I'm keeping a watch on the bags that come through my local Goodwill for a set of wooden handles to recycle.

Finished! My new Miranda bag makes her debut this evening at a get-together with some of my knitting friends, then flies to the Midwest and New England with me next week :)

After stitching the outside covers of my Miranda bag, the next step was to make the pockets for the inside. The instructions call for just one fabric, but since I have lots of little batik pieces that kind-of-sort-of coordinate, I pieced them together and used them instead. I followed the instructions for the main pocket stitching at the corners of the bag, but then also stitched-in-the-ditch at the patchwork seamlines using Edgestitch Foot #10. This will make it easy to tell which pocket is which...as long as I remember to always put my phone in the brown pocket, my inhaler in the blue one, my PDA in the purple one... I stitched a few extra pen/pencil pockets - they're just the right size for knitting needles - Miranda's going with me on my next trip, and knitting's a great way to pass the time while waiting for planes to arrive.

Edgestitch Foot #10 (left) is also great for attaching hook-and-loop tape; just align the edge of the tape with the guide and move the needle position a few steps to the left.  

I also like Piping Foot #38 (the same one I used for the mini-piping in the first Midanda post), especially for thick loop tape; there's lots of room for the bulky tape to move under the foot.

After stitching the lining to the covers, it's starting to look like a bag! To finish the faux-binding at the top edge (actually the lining peeking out over the top) I pulled out Edgestitch Foot #10 again, placing the guide in the well of the seam and sewing with the needle in the center position. 

Have you noticed that Edgestitch Foot #10 and Piping Foot #38 are two of my favorites?

Only the handles and tab left to go!

Can one have too many tote bags? I never seem to have enough for all my projects - knitting, sewing classes, dog school, lunch bag, shopping bags - plus an empty one left over to take with me when I travel. I need an "airport" bag large enough to hold a water bottle, a few magazines, my wallet, sketchbook, pens and pencils...and still small enough to fit under an airplane seat. And I fly on some very little planes!

The bag I'm making - the Miranda Day Bag from Lazy Girl Designs - is about 10" x 12" x 6", with lots of pockets for keeping me organized. If you've never used Lazy Girl patterns, give them a try. The instructions are great! Each step has illustrations AND well-written text instructions - perfect for those of us who are visual learners. Of course, I never make anything exactly according to the instructions...

Assembling Materials: When I finally located the perfect batiks in my stash I found that I didn't have enough of my favorite - the little triangles - for the cover. A trip to my local quilt yielded a few more coordinating pieces - including Benartex Triple Dye Bali batiks - and their monthly Stitch & B**** night was the perfect time to cut out all the pieces.

Machine Quilting: I found the perfect embellishing thread - Oliver Twists hand-dyed thread in the same colors as my triangle batik - which I used for machine quilting using the BERNINA Stitch Regulator.

Seam Cover Pieces Together: I wanted to bring more of the triangle colors out, so I added teeny tiny mini piping between the panels - a red clay batik on the vertical seams, blue/green on the horizontal seams. It's easy to make - cut fabric strips the twice the width of the seam allowance and place a strand of gimp or other fine cord in the center. Sew right next to the cord. I stitched mine using Piping Foot #38; Clear Applique Foot #23 also works well. When stitching to the second hald of the cover, follow the previous stitching line on the wrong side. For the topstitching I used the Oliver Twists again.

Finished Cover Pieces: More on my progress in a few days!