Today I want to show you a couple more examples of Abby’s Alley – The first of my Easy Street Sew and Sell patterns. First up we have Daryl’s Abby’s Alley:
Daryl thought she would try her hand at sewing faux leather. She thought given that it is an ‘easy’ pattern, sewing it with faux leather would be easy too, right?
Well….not really LOL Admittedly sewing with faux leather can take a little practice….but despite her struggles, I think her bag looks AWESOME! You can read more about Daryl’s fun with faux leather on her Blog HERE! I also LOVE the way Daryl braided yarn in the colors she used in the bag for the handles and knotted them on the inside, rather than the outside of the bag. AWESOME!
Next up we have Ellen’s Abby’s Alley:
Ellen used a home deco weight fabric with a linen lining.
I also LOVE Ellen’s unique way of attaching her straps:
Here’s a little description of how Ellen attaches her grommets. Ellen wrote this description for Alison in our Facebook group however I thought it would be nice to share it with you here:
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Well I used the back as a template, pencil in a square, sew a square around the outside of the pencil square about 3 or 4 mm away from the line and try and keep it a nice square.
Then cut the hole between the sewn line and the pencil line. Again keeping it as square as you can. Try the front grommet for size .. May need to trim into the corners. When you think it’s right then put some glue around the fabric edge at the front. Put the front grommet on and working from the back go around the edge with a quick un pick.. Just poking any stray threads and the edge down into the channel of the grommet …
Fit the back on and check for threads…… If any .. Poke them in using the point of your seam ripper. Bend down two prongs just enough to hold in place, turn over and adjust front so it’s straight and in the right place. This has to be done quickly as the glue dries quickly.
Turn back and finish turning in the prongs. And your done. Hope that helps. Well that’s how I do it. Lol
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You can get your copy of Abby’s Alley in my shop HERE!
I’ll be back soon to share a post with you on an alternative way to make your straps for Abby’s Alley, graciously shared and written by Judith of Judith Stitches.
Great work Ellen. I’m going to make 2 more for Xmas gifts. Love how quickly Abby’s Alley comes together and the 2 tone options as well.
Oh how cool.. I really love this bag.. It’s easy and quick and can be made to look so different depending on fabric and handles. I have another half made already.. Lol .. This pretty one I made has already gone to its new lovely home and is being loved more than I loved I think.. Lol
Thanks for sharing my bag and hope my little mini write up on the grommets helps some people not be so afraid of them as I once was.. Lol..
Thanks Pat… Think I might make some as Xmas gifts too.. Sshh don’t tell her but my daughter in-law was eyeing one off.. Lol
Thank you Ellen….I love showing off all the bags on my blog! Such FUN and yes….I am sure your little tutorial will help a few people out there! LOL
Thank you Christine for letting me test this pattern. I knew I had to give faux leather a go at least once. Now that I have that out of my system, I will stick with cotton fabrics from now on! LOL!!!
I love Ellen’s bag and the way she did the handles is great! Thanks for the mini tute Ellen.
Hi Daryl,
Thanks for stopping by the blog and thanks for testing for ME! I agree with you though….faux leathers aren’t so easy and take some practice …..I too tend to mostly stick with cottons too….so my stash of faux leathers is shrinking very slowly LOL