Anna from the office has been making beautiful Jelly Roll Liberty Bags. Each of the pink and blue bags have been made using a Liberty jelly roll to create a scrappy bag using the quilt as you go technique.
Anna tells us about her make: “I started out with a blue Liberty jelly roll as I wanted to make something gorgeous for my friends 50th birthday. She is more of a blue kind of a person rather than pink so I started with that colour way. To be honest, this could be made using any jelly roll – we have quite a selection now so choose the one to suit your taste. I took a jelly roll, snipped and ripped the piece of fabric in half – this does give you uneven sized pieces as they are rotary cut when produced so they tear on the weft. If you want perfectly sized strips you can cut each piece carefully down the middle to give you this look. I wanted a scrappy look to my bag so welcomed the unevenness of ripping the fabric – plus it is so super satisfying to rip fabric! Once I had my strips, I used the quilt as you go technique to sew them one by one to some wadding (I use the Heirloom brand 80% cotton 20% polyester). Sew one piece to the top of your wadding right side facing up. Then, for subsequent pieces, sew the next piece right sides together with the last piece sewn – then press down towards the wadding. Carry on with this until you have the required size. I’ve used a rectangle and cut out the corners at the bottom of the bag to create a box bottom.”
“I made the bag front and back in the same way before adding the handles directly onto the bag right side. When doing this, be careful to remove any twists in the handle before you sew onto the bag front and back leaving a gap at the top to sew the lining to the outer bag. Sew the bag outer together with right sides together along the sides and bottom seam and then sewing the box bottom together.”
“I lined my bag with Liberty white on white Lodden – to do this, simply make the bag again leaving a 6″ gap in the bottom. Then sew this to the bag outer on the top right sides together, turn through, top stitch and finish sewing the bag handles to the top part of the bag. Sew the gap in the lining together with by hand or machine. Ta da – gorgeous bag complete.”
“I loved the blue bag so much that I also made a pink scrappy Liberty jelly roll bag. I’ve yet to gift this but imagine it will make someone very happy.”
