The World Painted in Airport Runways

That's a lot of pavement...

The World, Drawn with Airports/Runways infographic by jradavenport.

Argyle Matryoshka What???

Disclaimer - This will become evident if you read any of the below BUT I am not a seamstress. You should know this going in. 

What do you get the girl who loves argyle and matryoshka? How about a custom mod on a Ralph Lauren sweater vest? Yeah, I had my doubts too but sometimes you just have to trust the idea and dive in. Below is a simple tutorial - no pattern, just go with it and keep on until it turns into something.

Start with a wool vest and wash it with super duper hot water and toss in the dryer on high. This will give you more of a felted feel to your fabric and you will feel like a total rebel when you deliberately do exactly what the label says not to. Once dry lay flat and cut just below the lowest part of the neck.

Lay out with the arm holes in the middle, this will be the front and back of your bag - now it's here that I would recommend you do what I didn't and that is cut the tube of the vest into two pieces to make the quilting easier. You will thank me. Cut out a piece of fusible facing for each side and iron on.

I tried to find the sheerest fabric I could to cover and protect the knit and give it some dimension, but ended up using a colored tulle. One note - Tulle is WILEY!! Pin the heck out of it. Again if you took my advice and cut your vest-tube into two this part will be much easier. The lessons we learn...

Now start topstitching over the lines in the argyle, the knit is stretchy even with the facing so try not to pull... you will be tempted. Also, be mindful if your vest is still in one piece that it is very easy to inadvertently sew the back to the front. Don't ask how I know. Keep sewing until all lines are covered.

It is at this point that you will want to use your tortie to press any unsightly wrinkles out of your vest. I know what you're saying, this part probably isn't that important but trust me all the best bags come preloaded with cat hair. If you don't have a tortie at your disposal, I have one I can loan you. 

If you are working with two pieces now is where you will want to sew them back together with front and back facing each other, then turn right side out and move arm holes back to each side. 

The nice thing about good argyle is that the diamonds line up perfectly so you can use them as a guide to place your straps and trim. I used my eye and the knit pattern to determine where to pin the belting. I left a gap in the horizontal strap where it crosses the vertical band so it wouldn't bind when folded

I left the ends loose until I was done with the rest of the trim so I wouldn't have to deal with the handles until it was absolutely necessary. I sewed back and forth a few times to make sure it would hold well.

Now let's turn this thing upside down (literally) and turn our tube into a sack. I turned it inside out and sewed a seam across the bottom leaving the last inch or so open so when it's folded it will lay flat. Then fold each end toward the middle and tack down by hand with heavy duty thread creating a little bucket.

 It's starting to take shape. Next fold your lining in half so you have two layers and lay the bag on top as flat as possible, tracing around it with your pizza cutter scissors. I'm sure those things have an actual name but you know what I mean. The thing that looks like a mini pizza cutter. 

I made a rectangle pocket by cutting out a little pillow case-shaped piece of fabric, folding it in half right sides together and sewing around two sides then turning it right-side out and sewing it to one of the lining pieces turning the raw edge under to clean it up. I also sewed a couple dividers into it for pens, phone, keys, etc. Ok, now put right sides of the liner together and sew around the bottom and stuff it in the bag. I also used a left over piece of the sweater to make a tab attaching velcro on the end. Then I pinned the lining to the periphery of the bag and ran a seam all the way around, getting close to done!

  

To clean up the edge I wrapped it with some black belting and basted all the way around by hand, one time on the inside, one time on the outside. Now if you were feeling brave, or possibly have better sewing skills than I do, you could probably do the last two steps with one seam - securing the liner to the exterior and the belting to each side - but I didn't want to get this far and have a major failure so I played it safe. Sue me. Here is a picture of the belting after pinning and before basting. 

 So! This is it! 

I am pretty happy with how it came out and since this one is a gift to the aforementioned lover of argyle and matryoshka I will now commence to making one for myself... maybe stripes and bikes?