Omiyage2

Pinecone Bag

from Omiyage by Kumiko Sudo

In case you're curious, these are the primary fabrics I used for this bag.

This photo shows some of the stages that I found confusing in the book.
Top row left: The first image shows two squares sewn right sides together on only two sides and not turned. After that are the same squares sewn and turned, one shows the top fabric and one shows the bottom fabric. I used the dark purple for the bottom layer. I found I needed another 28 squares like those for the pairs; this is not listed in the pattern. I cut them from the lighter color fabric. After that is the top end piece which you are instructed to cut.
Second row left: This first shows the long piece for the end of each row--it makes the bottom of the bag. The top section assembled to sew follows that. Note that in this top section you stack a plain square right side up, a sewn square turned with the sewn corner to the bottom left and the light fabric up, and then the top piece face down follows that. You sew the right side of the stack.
Third row: This shows an assembled row edge on. Note that the pieces that are along the back of the row as you see it are single layers of fabric. The sewn square pairs are the pieces sewn between them--of the sewn square pairs, one double layer of unsewn edges is sewn in the seam between the single layers of squares. The remaining unsewn edge of the sewn square pair is aligned with the top of the row and is closest to you in this photo.
Bottom row: This shows the assembled row ready to join to another. Note that the bottom of the row as you see it here is 1/4" longer than the sewn squares; this extended edge is a single layer of fabric. All the top edges are even. Under each sewn pair is a plain square of fabric (those extra squares you need to cut). When you sew two rows like this together, sew all layers on the top of this row to only the single layer (like the bottom of this row) on another row. Pin the free edges of the pairs out of the way if you like. It makes things easier. From here on, the pattern was all right in the book.

This is the pinecone bag open. The lining in this was a third fabric. If I were to do this again, I'd make the lining a little longer--maybe a whole inch longer as it does not touch the bottom of the outside bag.

This shows the assembled pinecone bag. In particular, I wanted to show the bottom of the bag. All of this was machine sewn. I think the colors are most accurate here. You can see the purple underlayer for the "petals" of the pinecone here.

This is the finished pinecone bag. Note the hand-made Peruvian beads I had to finish the cords. They happened to have the exact colors of the bag and triangles too. A perfect match, I thought.

Cherry Surprise--A variation of Sudo's

This pincushion started out to be the Cherry Surprise that Sudo had in her Omiyage book. I found that it was simply too small, though, so I added the hot pink strips to it to make it larger. It has a button top on it, and the bottom is a circle of the gray fabric as she intended the original to have. Now, it's a size I can use. I also added some of her Fabled Flowers to it, and I used only about half the cherries she wanted used on that small pincushion. I put three on one side of the flowers and three on the other.
That crocheted pineapple item there is actually a needle keeper I got at a quilting seminar I attended one time at Edisto Island, SC. It has a piece of dark, dark pink felt between the two crocheted pineapples for the needles.
The doily is one I tatted ages ago.

This is a closer look at it. The fabrics in the pieced strip are two Japanese cottons.

Raindrop Bag

This started as Sudo's cone-shaped Raindrop Bag. I used a leafy fabric for the bag, and I made a whole flower, not just a flower face as she had. The cotton hand-dyed batik flower petals are folded here, and that makes for a stiff flower. If I use cottons again, I'll use a half circle folded in half for each petal. I appliqued leaves under a bias stem. The larger cord on this bag called for big buds at the tie ends. As a final touch, I added a ladybug button I had. If I do this bag again, I'll make it taller and not sew the flower over the casing as Sudo did. It's hard to close the bag and make the bag embellishment look nice. I'll also make the lining shorter, and cut the casing on the bias. The bag is resting on a piece of my crazy quilting. All the stitches on the crazy quilt piece were done with stitches from my Pfaff 1475.

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	In case you're curious, these are the primary fabrics I used for this bag.
	This photo shows some of the stages that I found confusing in the book. Top row left: The first image shows two squares sewn right sides together on only two sides and not turned. After that are the same squares sewn and turned, one shows the top fabric and one shows the bottom fabric. I used the dark purple for the bottom layer. I found I needed another 28 squares like those for the pairs; this is not listed in the pattern. I cut them from the lighter color fabric. After that is the top end piece which you are instructed to cut. Second row left: This first shows the long piece for the end of each row--it makes the bottom of the bag. The top section assembled to sew follows that. Note that in this top section you stack a plain square right side up, a sewn square turned with the sewn corner to the bottom left and the light fabric up, and then the top piece face down follows that. You sew the right side of the stack. Third row: This shows an assembled row edge on. Note that the pieces that are along the back of the row as you see it are single layers of fabric. The sewn square pairs are the pieces sewn between them--of the sewn square pairs, one double layer of unsewn edges is sewn in the seam between the single layers of squares. The remaining unsewn edge of the sewn square pair is aligned with the top of the row and is closest to you in this photo. Bottom row: This shows the assembled row ready to join to another. Note that the bottom of the row as you see it here is 1/4" longer than the sewn squares; this extended edge is a single layer of fabric. All the top edges are even. Under each sewn pair is a plain square of fabric (those extra squares you need to cut). When you sew two rows like this together, sew all layers on the top of this row to only the single layer (like the bottom of this row) on another row. Pin the free edges of the pairs out of the way if you like. It makes things easier. From here on, the pattern was all right in the book.
	This is the pinecone bag open. The lining in this was a third fabric. If I were to do this again, I'd make the lining a little longer--maybe a whole inch longer as it does not touch the bottom of the outside bag.
	This shows the assembled pinecone bag. In particular, I wanted to show the bottom of the bag. All of this was machine sewn. I think the colors are most accurate here. You can see the purple underlayer for the "petals" of the pinecone here.
	This is the finished pinecone bag. Note the hand-made Peruvian beads I had to finish the cords. They happened to have the exact colors of the bag and triangles too. A perfect match, I thought.