Hi everybody!
Today I would like to introduce my new bag design to you, which will be released shortly as a PDF sewing pattern. But first I need a little help from you: I am looking for a fun and fitting name for this new pattern.

It is a medium-sized bag with two handles and a flap. The bag has a zipper pocket and two slip pockets on the inside.
My favorite feature however is this: a removable tablet sleeve!

This sleeve closes with a zipper and it is padded for more protection for your tablet. It can be attached to the inside of the handbag with two buttons (or snaps). The sleeve measures 8.25” x 11.25” (21 x 28.5 cm) so it should fit most common tablets. I usually carry my iPad mini with me wherever I go and although I keep it in a (handmade) case it bothers me that it is thrown loosely into the bag and there isn’t a designated compartment for it in my handbags. That was the idea behind my new design. And you can use the sleeve separately as well.

I hope you like this design. Please have a look at the bag and all its features and if you can come up with a nice name you are welcome to leave me a comment. I will pick one winner, choose the name they suggested for my new bag design AND as a thank you she (or he?) will get the new pattern for free! You can either leave me a comment, send me a message or email me to anna(at)charmed-liebling(dot)com.
Please leave your name suggestion for the bag pattern, your name and your email address, so that I can contact you in case you win! I am looking forward to your suggestions. I will leave this contest open until April 27 and then pick a winner :) The pattern will be available in my pattern store in late April.

Today I would like to show you one of my custom orders that I just finished a few days ago. A friend of mine asked me for a handmade handbag for her sister-in-law. Her only two specifications were the color - the bag would have to be blue - and the size: big!

I love orders like these since I can let my creativity run free :) First thing I did was check online for lots of samples of nice (blue) fabrics to show my friend. We started out looking for floral patterns but I found this really gorgeous and a little abstract pattern and just thought I'd put it on the list as well. In the end she went with exactly this print and I was really thrilled about it! To me it looks like a fairytale forest. I see a print like that and my imagination takes over...

As for the design: She saw my Rhine-Valley-Bag a couple of times and really liked the size and the style of it. She decided to go with an adjustable strap instead of two handles so I slightly altered the shape of the original bag pattern, making it a little more rounded at the top edges.
With 19 " the bag is also slightly wider. When using a recessed top zipper as a closure I always want to make sure the bag has a certain width (at least 12 "), otherwise it will be less comfortable to reach inside or take things out.

Inside there is a 9" zipper pocket and two large 3D-shaped slip pockets. I use them in the original pattern and love them in my bag! They keep everything so organized and I don't have to waste time looking for my stuff any more. I have a free tutorial lined up to be posted the first week of April which will show you how to simply add these kind of slip pockets to any bag pattern, so stay tuned!

I am really happy how the bag turned out and had a lot of fun making it. I like this altered version of the original pattern and might even make some more bags with it :)
Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a great week with lots of sewing ahead!

I remember that a few years ago there was this cool tutorial in one of my Burda magazines which showed you how to paint a city skyline onto a scarf. There was a stencil included in the magazine which portrayed some random fake city skyline. I thought the idea was pretty cool but if I am going to have a skyline on my clothing I want it to be a real one! So why not put Rochester, NY onto a dress?? If you are interested in making something like this for your city, here's what I did:

You need:
- a picture of your city. Print it onto a letter size sheet of paper
- tracing paper
- cardboard
- scissors and ideally a carpet cutter
- doublesided tape
- black fabric spray paint (I used Tulip Fabric Spray Paint "Asphalt")
- a fabric pen matching your fabric - I used a red one with glitter effect (make sure it is a "pen" and not "slick" fabric paint which is dimensional!)

1. Trace the outlines of the city onto tracing paper. Then cut out the interior parts and discard them. Place the cut out picture onto your cardboard
(You may also cut the original picture if you don't have tracing paper or don't want to do the extra step but I thought using tracing paper was a little easier)
Trace the outlines onto the cardboard and then cut out the interior parts of the cardboard. This is going to be your stencil.

Before proceeding: I highly recommend trying your stencil on an old piece of fabric or muslin. You want to make sure you like the silhouette before you spraypaint the fabric of your garment! I am glad I used some simple yellow lining fabric to try out my stencil and my pens. I accidently bought a slick fabric paint pen which is dimensional and the result didn't really look nice. And I had cut out the bridge in the foreground of the cardboard at first which I also did not like. I removed the bridge part from the stencil so that I would have exclusively the outlines of the skyline. Everything structuring the skyline would have to be painted in later with a fabric pen. 

2. Tape the stencil to the fabric with doublesided tape. Make sure to cover all edges of the stencil with tape. It is important that the stencil will be attached securely to the fabric to prevent the spray paint from running over the edges. You also want to make sure to cover up the rest of the fabric with newspaper or some old fabric from your stash. For my garment I found this cotton/rayon knit fabric and love the pinkish/purplish color. I only bought a yard and thus knew that I only had one try to make this happen. No pressure at all :-)

Spray paint your fabric. Make sure to evenly distribute the paint and to get every corner. Let your fabric dry for at least a few hours before proceeding.

3. Take off the stencil and admire your work! So far so good - I actually procrastinated for about two days before proceeding to the next step. I was too scared I would screw up my nice skyline silhouette.

4. Now it's time to turn the silhouette into an actual skyline. I used the picture of Rochester for help and looked for significant details on the skyscrapers. E. g. the one in the center has a roof with slanted edges that reflects the sun. This part would be painted red to stand out more. The building on the left-hand side again has a very structured look with all those vertical lines, so I tried to draw in as many red lines as possible. The building on the right-hand side however is very dark, so I just draw the outlines and nothing else. As you can see I used the original stencil part to draw the bridge. I didn't want to eyeball this one since I am pretty sure I would have messed up on the proportions.

All done! After letting the paint dry for another few hours it was time to sew up the dress.

As for the dress I made with the fabric: it is a very simple pattern taken from Burda style magazine (April 2013, but they have the same pattern in the Spring 2014 edition which is available in stores right now). The pattern just uses one panel (cut on the fold) for the front and back and two facing pieces for the neckline. There are four pleats folded into the upper front part but I went with six since the neckline was a little too wide. I neglected the pockets. I like this pattern a lot and think the dress looks really good with a belt. Otherwise I would have probably made a more fitted version. 

And I really do like the skyline on the dress! Not everybody carries their city on their back :) Thanks for reading and if you like this tutorial please leave me a comment below!
Have a great week everyone!

I am so excited that Caroline at Sew Can She wrote a review of one of my sewing patterns this week! It is one of my favorites, the Working Girl Laptop Bag pattern.
If you are interested in what she thinks about my pattern please head over to her blog. She picked some really nice fabrics for her project and I very much enjoyed seeing her finished laptop bag.
Click here if you want to learn more about the pattern and to see all the bags of my pattern testers. Maybe this will inspire you to make your own Working Girl Laptop Bag? In this case you may head over to my pattern shop on Craftsy!

Have a great week everyone (with hopefully lots of sewing)!

This is the second part of my series of tutorials on different kinds of pockets to add to your handmade handbag. For the first part ("How to make an inner elasticized pocket") click here.

Customize your handmade handbag by adding a very practical and spacious pouch on either the front or the back! Not only is this pouch 3D-shaped so that you can fit more items into it – it also closes with a flap, to look more stylish and to make sure all your things stay in place.
I used this pocket in my All Day Out Bag sewing pattern. I like it because it gives you a little extra space for all the things you need to carry around.

--- If you would rather prefer to download this complete tutorial as a PDF file you may
purchase it here for only $2 ---

Finished measurements:
20 x 25 cm (8“ x 10“)
Please note: The bag you are making should measure at least 25 cm (10") in height and
28 cm (11") in width to make sure this pouch fits onto it.  
The pouch will be attached to one of your main body panels. Make it and stitch it to your bag lining BEFORE assembling the handbag!

Please read all instructions before you begin.

All cutting measurements given are height x width.

All seam allowances are 1 cm (3/8”) unless stated otherwise.

Download the pattern pieces from the PDF file below and cut them out.

You need:
- Exterior fabric: 1 fat quarter
- Lining fabric: 1 fat quarter
- Fusible fleece e. g. Pellon 987F: a 20 x 55 cm (8” x 22”) piece is sufficient
- Fusible interfacing e. g. Pellon 931TD: 0.25 m (1/4 yd)
- 1 magnetic snap
- pattern pieces #1, #2 and #3 (download them from the PDF file below)

Cut:
From exterior fabric:
(1 x) pattern piece #1 on the fold – pouch
(1 x) pattern piece #2 on the fold – pouch flap (outer part, with pleats)

From lining fabric:
(1 x) pattern piece #1 on the fold – pouch 
(1 x) pattern piece #3 on the fold – pouch flap (inner part, without pleats)

From fusible fleece:
(1 x) pattern piece #1 on the fold – pouch
(1 x) pattern piece #3 on the fold – pouch flap 

From fusible interfacing:
(1 x) pattern piece #1 on the fold – pouch
(1 x) pattern piece #2 on the fold – pouch flap

Instructions

1) Make the pouch flap:
On the inner pouch flap piece (cut with pattern piece #3, the one you interfaced with fusible fleece) measure and mark 3 cm (1.25”) up from the bottom (rounded) center edge.

This spot marks the center of the magnetic snap, so make sure to position the snap with its center right on top of your marking.

Install the male part of the magnetic snap in that spot, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Set aside.

Fold the pleats at the bottom (rounded) edge of the outer pouch flap piece (cut with pattern piece #2):

On the left-hand side of the pouch flap, bring the marking for the pleat up and over to the center and pin the fold in place.

 

Repeat for the right-hand side pleat. Baste across the pleats at the bottom edge of the pouch flap (approx. 0.5 cm (3/16”) from the edges) to make sure they stay in place.

Put the two pouch flap pieces right sides together, all edges matching.

 Pin in place and stitch around all edges of the flap but leave an opening of approx. 12 cm (4.75”) at the top edge. Trim the seam allowance and notch the curves (i. e. cut small “v”s into the fabric). Be careful not to cut into the stitching. Turn the flap right side out.

Fold the seam allowance of the opening down to the inside, pin in place and press the flap. Topstitch along the rounded edge of the flap using a 0.5 cm (3/16”) seam allowance. Set the pouch flap aside.

2) Make the pouch:
On one of the pouch pieces (cut with pattern piece #1), fold the top corner down so that the two edges of the bottom darts match. Pin in place and stitch along the straight edge of the dart. Repeat with the other edge of the fabric piece and then with the two edges of the second pouch piece.

On the outer pouch piece (interfaced with fusible fleece) insert the female part of the magnetic snap by following the manufacturer’s instructions, at the spot you marked.

Put the two pouch pieces right sides together, all edges matching. Make sure the seams of the darts of both inner and outer piece match. Pin in place and stitch around the edges but leave an opening at the bottom edge of approx. 10 cm (4”). Clip the seam allowance on the curves.

Turn the pouch right side out through the opening. Fold the seam allowance of the opening down towards the inside and pin in place. Press and topstitch along the top edge of the pouch using a 0.5 cm (3/16”) seam allowance. Set aside.

3) Attach the pouch to the bag main body panel

Decide where you want your pouch to be positioned on your bag and put the pouch flap with the pleated side up onto one of the exterior main body panels of your bag (the pouch flap should be at least 3.5 cm  (1.25”) down from the top edge of the main body panel). Pin in place and attach the pouch flap to the main body panel by stitching along the straight top edge of the pouch flap, at the same time closing the opening of the pouch flap.

Put the pouch with the magnetic snap up onto the exterior main panel of your bag and match both parts of the magnetic snap (of pouch and pouch flap) as if closing the pouch. This is how you find the correct placement for the pouch. With the magnetic snap closed, make sure the pouch sits centered on the exterior main panel and that its top edge is straight. Pin the pouch in place.
Attach the pouch to the exterior main panel by stitching along the side edges, curves, and bottom edge, at the same time closing the opening at the bottom. Be careful when sewing over the corners to prevent pleats. Leave the top (straight) edge open.

Your pouch is all set! Proceed with assembling your handbag.

If you would rather prefer to download this complete tutorial as a pdf file you may purchase it here for only $2.
--- I have received many emails with questions, tips and tricks on my tutorials. Thank you all! If you would like to weigh in with a short comment please feel free to let me know what you think of my tutorial below. I am interested to hear your feedback! ---

As some of you might know I have a little addiction to Project Runway. I love this show and think it's a nice way to get inspired by all the different styles and aesthetics the designers bring to the runway (and well, don't we all love the little drama of castinghows??).
Anyway, anybody remember Sonjia from season 10? She was eliminated in episode 12, right before the finale. She created a lot of interesting looks during the show but the one that I loved most was a jacket she made in episode 8 ("Starving Artists"):

When I saw that jacket I knew that I would try and make one for myself that was similar to hers. Fast forward 1.5 years and here we are :) I am really into sewing clothes lately and this jacket is my newest project. I used a thin, soft wool fabric that I had gotten from my mom several years ago. To make a nice contrast I picked an orange/white/gray colored lining.

For the top part of the jacket I used a pattern from Burda style magazine (December 2009).
I simply cut the pattern right at the waistline since this is were the peplum starts. I sewed up the top part and while I like the asymmetric look of the original jacket I decided to keep the front panels straight - mostly because I couldn't wrap my head around how to design this part of the jacket to be quite honest.

For the first time ever I used muslin to construct the jacket. This was due to the fact that I had to come up with the pattern pieces for the peplum by myself and did not want to risk wasting my precious wool fabric.
For the peplum I pretty much just looked at the picture of the Project Runway jacket, drafted the pieces and cut them out from the muslin and attached them to the top part. And then I keep altering the pieces until they had the look I intended and that matched with the look on the picture. Let's say it took me a while :)

I put three gray buttons onto the front panel and went for a decorative orange botton to go on the collar, just to pick up the colors from the lining. I found the same buttons in a smaller size and decided to put them onto the back of the sleeves as an additional accessory (you can see them in the picture below).

I have only sewn maybe a handful of jackets/coats so far and I find it quite a challenge. Especially fitting in the lining properly is still a mystery to me. That being said I think my jacket could have turned out a lot worse LOL! Of course it doesn't look as polished as the original (also because I think Sonjia used cashmere... I wish!!) but overall I am pretty happy with the outcome. It is just too bad that it's still only 10°F in the Rochester area, so this is another item that will still have to sit in my closet for a while...