Tracy Sews - 40th Birthday Razzle Dazzle Bag Project at Threads, patterns, MORE!

May 9, 2005 -- My "40th Birthday" Bag -- This bag was made using the "Think Freddie" pattern by Nancy Ota as a guide. Instead of strictly following the pieced pattern, I made my bag wholecloth style and used "Razzle Dazzle" thread (in bobbin work/reverse quilting) as a surface embellishment. I also did the inside pockets differently from the pattern directions. My version features deep pockets/quilted "balloons" with a sky background lining. I love my new bag.

My new purse is the MOST comfortable bag I've ever owned. I can wear it and get into it (dig around) and it stays put. It is easy to wear and doesn't tire out my shoulder.

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My new bag sitting with my "Mom's Day" flowers (from Jeff & Jared & Jacob).

My bag sitting on the hearth...looks pretty to me.

My bag on the rocking chair to show the handle length, which is perfect for me. I can wear it over my shoulder and get into it at the same time. It is VERY comfortable.

My bag sitting on the steps...see the zipper pull I made by braiding a piece of fabric with Razzle Dazzle?

The inside of my bag. I have two wonderful, quilted balloon pOckets that are quite deep. They hold my cell phone and valuables that I do not want floating loose in my purse.

Here is my bag with the matching coin purse (see more about coin purse below). I am THRILLED. I had a great Mother's Day and a GREAT birthday and I FINISHED both my projects!!!

When Jeff asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told him I wanted the day off to sew "just for me". I know, it probably seems silly to you. As much as I L-O-V-E to sew (and I do love to sew for SewThankful), I almost never get to sew "stress free" anymore. Stress-free to me means, it's something I want to sew just for me and I don't have to "think about it too much".

Needless to say, this was a very special time for me and I'm ecstatic happy because I selected projects that were easily accomplished within the time I had available. I now have a wonderful new handbag and matching coin purse that I am proud of and thrilled to carry.

Not only that, I totally enjoyed playing with Razzle Dazzle in reverse quilting/bobbin work. The texture is amazing and the effect must be seen to be truly appreciated. The photos do not do justice to the finished pieces.

How did I do the reverse work quilting?

I wound my Razzle Dazzle filled bobbins (slowly) by machine and then adjusted my bobbin case tension to accommodate the thick, glitzy thread. Tip: I keep an extra bobbin case just for thick threads and fibers.
I used So Fine by John Flynn in the top. For the coin purse, I marked my backing side fabric and then layered with the top fabric and batting.
Then, putting the backing side up (to see my marking), I started quilting, following the lines marked on the backing fabric.

It was like Christmas morning to take the quilted piece out from under the presser foot and turn it over. The effect is simply AMAZING!

For my handbag, I simply free-motion meandered over the backing side of the sandwiched rectangle side pieces prior to construction, trimmed them after quilting and continued with bag construction. When free-motion quilting, be sure to drop your feed dogs and lower your presser foot before you start sewing or you will end up with a huge bird's nest underneath.

I encourage you to give this technique a try. It works great with Razzle Dazzle and virtually any thread/fiber that is too thick to go through the needle (although it does have some thickness limitations as the fiber must be able go through the bobbin case and your needle plate hole).