01 October, 2017

M and M Bags




 I've made several of these lately. All scrap except for the zipper. I've made them with straight sides and a logo (bottom panel) stitched to the lining. I've boxed the corners for a softer, rounder, coin purse shape. This time, I kept my bag intact at the middle and did some fiddly zipper sewing. These lie flatter. Overall, I'm liking the resulting shape.

The candy people have encased their M&M's in plastic. I suppose it keeps the candy fresher - longer. I saw a tutorial about re-purposing these bags years ago but it involved iron-on vinyl to give strength to the paper/plastic bag. The plastic nowadays is pretty tough - especially for a novelty purse. Who wants to deal with possible melted plastic on their iron - glad to have skipped straight past a vinyl overlay.


That's my cut basil as a backdrop. We won't get a freeze until November so I'll probably get one more cutting in before the basil dissolves into mush.



 I am supposed to be finishing these lipsense bags with the cute hedgehog. But I hit a zipper end roadblock. I don't like how they appear, how they came together - at all. I think I have figured out what to do to make them work, but it involves seam ripping and a few choice words.




This is my first end. It disappears into the side seam, but could flip up raw if you were, somehow, to push up into that corner.


 My second end - I sewed a fabric tab onto the end of the zipper. It's all bulky and bunches up there.
Don't like that one neither.

 I'm gonna try my third thing to remove some fabric bulk and then just get on with my life.

These bags are for Lipsense Lipsticks and will be sold in my etsy shop. That's why I'm making my sewing life miserable. I want these to look awesome - like the first one I sold. I'm over-thinking these zipper ends - that's for sure. Why I derailed for sewing candy bags.






Some fall garden photos.


Volunteer Putunia

 My exciting still life of fresh tomatoes and purple grapes nestled on a bed of basil. yep.


Ice Cream sundae Hydrangea


Cosmo plus some awesome raspberries

We've had some recent rains which helps to throw everything onto the ground.
Most of the sunflowers are in resistance.  This dahlia is so much fun. It has been my favorite this year.



  I had a chance to attend my local library book sale and really hit the jackpot. This is my first haul. Some are destined to be Christmas presents, Some will wing their way over to Japan. Some will be read. And one will be sold on Amazon to pay for the lot.

I actually went back when I had to return to work in the afternoon and got a second (and much bigger) haul. It was a really good sale.

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts - 2017 bag competition.

9 comments:

  1. Have you tried Elizabeth Hartman's perfect zip bags pattern? She recently brought it out of retirement and it's THE BEST ZIP bag pattern EVER! I use it all the time. It's totally worth the $10. You might find the techniques she uses to be helpful in being more happy with your zipper ends. LaurieEMatthews at gmail dot com

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    1. Thanks for the heads up. I'm normally happy with my zipper ends - these are just not cooperating.

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  2. It looks like you're enjoying life with sewing and book buying and gardening galore! I also love that Dahlia.. what a beauty. We're still a mess due to our new deck project.. argh. Have a super week. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  3. Love the bags. I also struggle with those zipper ends. Your flowers are also very pretty.

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  4. I've tried a method before that worked quite well - add folded fabric tabs to the ends of your zipper, and ensure that the entire length, including tabs, is smaller than the width of the outside pieces by enough that the ends of the tabs won't get caught in the side seams. Example - zipper with tabbed ends is 9" long - cut fabric pieces 10" wide, and stitch with a 1/4" seam allowance (I would actually do 10 1/2" wide because I use width of foot for most seam allowances). The ends of the tabs won't bulk up the seam allowance. This method is from a blog post I found ages ago - I thought I had it pinned but I have a few zipper bags pinned (LOL) and I haven't found it yet :D

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    1. OOPs - sorry - cute bags - I see them @ the Bag It linky :) How bad is it that I would really REALLY enjoy getting the "fabric" for those bags? LOL! ;)

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    2. That's basically, in a nutshell, the elizabeth hartman pattern. I just have to rip a bunch of unpicking seams. I should bring them to do in my car during my long lunch.

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  5. Great set of bags. Thanks for sharing as part of Elm Street Quilts Bag It.

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  6. I love your M&M bags!! So much fun!

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