When I first dreamed up this post, I decided I would find the ONE marker that would do it all. So I set out looking at all the different markers out there. I use my markers mostly for tracing my pattern pieces onto my fabric, but I also use them for marking my centres and placements of straps, plus various other (often temporary) marks I need to make. I looked at what I already used and liked. I also looked at what I did and didn’t like about the ones I already used.  I was thrilled when Nulagh from Stitch in the Ditch offered to send me her best selling markers to include in my review!

I love the Pilot Frixion Colors markers! They have a felt tip and I find they write equally well on fleece, foam and cotton. They erase with a quick iron. The downsides are that I find they dry up really quickly, and they don’t erase properly on all fabrics, sometimes leaving behind a white line – yikes! I also use Paper Mate Replay erasable pen, and it writes really well on foam, cotton, and interfacing, but not so great on fleece, as the fine point seems to snag and catch on the fleece. This pen also vanishes with heat, but the white line from the Frixion markers has me leery of heat erasable pens.

I’ve also tried air erasable markers, and I found they vanished too quickly, or not quickly enough, and they dried out quickly too. I just didn’t like the inconsistency and overall unreliability of them.

Nulagh from Stitch in the Ditch sent me: Clover Chaco Liner Pen in yellow, Fons & Porter Fabric Mechanical Pencil, and the Clover White Marking pen. I also picked up a Hera Marker from my local quilt shop. Did you know that a Hera Marker isn’t a marker at all? I didn’t…and after I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t marking anything I spent some time online and discovered it really just makes creases, which makes a lot more sense. I know, you’re probably laughing at me, and that’s ok, because I laughed at myself too. The package it came in said it leaves a light mark that “vanishes with a quick iron” so maybe you can understand where my confusion came from. Anyway, I tried it and I think it’s probably more suitable for quilting and marking quilting lines, but I found in bag making, that the creases or “marks” didn’t stay on long on enough through all the handling and I would have to remark my spot or line.

I tried them all out for over a one month period while sewing mostly bags. I wanted to see how they are in a real setting. I thought about setting up sample strips of fabrics and seeing how the marks would hold up, but I thought it would be better if I just started using them, and that way I’d truly see what I liked.

I was skeptical about this one – it seemed kind of like a gimmick to me. I must admit though, I liked it right away! Because the chalk sits on top of the fabric, the yellow works on dark fabrics really well, unlike a yellow marker, which wouldn’t be seen at all. The applicator has a small wheel at the tip to dispense the powdered chalk, so it writes really well on fleece and foam. The yellow shows up on the lighter coloured fabrics as well, making it pretty well rounded in terms of fabric colour. I did find it sometimes hard to get all the chalk off though, so I’m not sure I’d trust it to mark lines in places of my fabric that will be seen on the finished project.  After a month of using it, it’s still going strong too, which is more than I can say for my Frixion markers. You can also get refills, making it an affordable option instead of buying a whole new pen all over again.

This pencil surprised me the most! I wasn’t expecting to like it and was surprised Nulagh said this one of her best selling markers. It shows up so well though! It writes nicely on fabric, and even vinyl. It actually erases too! The pencil has an eraser at the other end, and you can use it to erase lines you don’t need anymore. I expected the eraser to make my fabric loosen its weave, or not erase fully, but it left no trace! The lead in my pencil is white, but you can also get a dark lead for it, which would work on light fabrics. After using this one, I’m thinking I will order one just to have for both light and dark fabrics. I never tried it on my interfacings or stabilizers, because the white wouldn’t show up anyway. I would definitely trust this marker for areas that will be visible on a finished project. In addition to erasing, you can wash out the marks. The pencil comes with 10 leads, and in the month I used it, I haven’t had to replace the lead yet, so even though this pencil seems pricier than other markers, I think it has a high value.

Okay, I’m not even sure how to be diplomatic about this one. “It’s not you, it’s me” “Can we still be friends?” or “I’m seeing someone else” all come to mind. I tried and tried and tried to like this pen, but I just couldn’t. I tried it on dark fabric and I could see that the ink was coming out: it looked like it was leaving a wet line, so I could see the line momentarily, but then it dried, and poof…nothing! I tried scribbling on some scraps, waited a bit, still nothing. I did note the next day that I could see the lines I had scribbled on my scraps – nice fine white lines! Soooo, if you have time to wait the next day for your lines to show up, then this is the marker for you! I really wondered about this, and it bugged me, so back to the internet I went. I discovered I am not the only one with this problem. I will say however, that for every person who hated this pen, was someone else who seemed to love it, although I’m not sure why.

Well, I’ve discovered that, for me, there isn’t one marker that does it all. I also discovered that I’m alright with that.  Once I got used to the markers, I knew which one to grab for each occasion, so I didn’t have to waste any time trying the wrong one first. I will say I use the Chaco Liner the most for tracing, but the other 2 I use for accuracy or smoother lines. Now I keep my PaperMate, my Chaco Liner, and my Fons & Porter all within reach. Here’s a little chart I made of my results:

Special thanks to Stitch in the Ditch for sending me these to try out and share my experiences with you all. Check out their online shop. The markers I reviewed are on sale right now, and a little birdie told me there’s another sale right around the corner!

This post contains affiliate links

Thread set sale plus free shipping to Canada over $75! Free Canadian shipping with purchase over $75 – this includes any customs or duties, as items are shipped from Canada, see this post for more details about Connecting Threads.

Dragonfly Fabric has a beautifully redesigned website and to celebrate is offering a 10% discount on all fabrics with code DF10, offer open until Thursday November 12th.

http://www.dragonflyfabric.ca/

As I was set to announce the winner of the Elixir Fat Quarter Bundle, I realized I haven’t announced the winners of some other contests I’ve been a part of.

Back in August I challenged my readers to send in cheerful pillowcases to Ryan’s Case for Smiles. As added incentive, my sponsor Fabric Spark offered up a prize of a pillowcase kit; each pillowcase sent in counted as one entry. Read more about the cause, and see my easy tutorial here: http://www.happyokapi.ca/blog/ryans-case-for-smiles-pillowcase-tutorial-kit-giveaway-and-challenge
Celine sent some pillowcases in right away, and also happened to be the random winner of a Tula Pink Pillowcase Kit from Fabric Spark. Thank you to everyone who sent in pillowcases! They were appreciated so very much. Pillowcases are accepted year round; right now there is a need for holiday themed pillowcases, as Ryan’s Case for Smiles gears up for hospital stays over Christmastime. Please see my original post for more information about how you can help. You can also still purchase Pillowcase Kits from Fabric Spark!

The sewalong actually took place over at Mrs H’s blog, and I hope you had a chance to check it out. The bags everyone came up with were simply amazing! Thank you to everyone who sent me pictures of your completed bags, or posted them on Instagram. Check out the winners: http://handmadebymrsh.blogspot.ca/2015/10/companion-carpet-bag-sew-along-winners.html

I really enjoyed reading all the comments about how everyone would use the bundle if they won. Of course many people said bags, but some mentioned pillows, or even a quilt! Congratulations to Marsha L! I’d love to see what you come up with. Thank you very much to my sponsor Stay Home Fabrics for offering up such a great prize!

Didn’t win this time? There’s one more contest going on right now that is finishing soon: The Blue Calla Iris Sewalong! Check out this post for all the details, including a discount and how to participate.

I’m also working on another giveaway happening very soon, so stay tuned for that!

I have so much to share with you today! It’s been in the works for a while and now I can finally show you. I had a chance to play with this brand new collection: Elixir, from Camelot Fabrics, available now at Stay Home Fabrics. If you love the collection as much as I do, you’re in luck, because you have a chance to win a bundle, plus discount details later on in this post.  I made a Blue Calla Tansy Zippered Tote, and guest blogged all about it over at Purse Palooza happening on the Sew Sweetness blog.

P.S. You can save 10% on the Tansy with code OKAPI10 at checkout

You probably know by now, I love testing new patterns for designers. I was happy the timing was right when Swoon Sewing Patterns Pearl Wallet Clutch became available to test. Pearl is part of the Vintage Collection, which is such a great value and I highly recommend it. It’s so fun each month anticipating the next pattern!

Pearl really has everything you need: card slots, bill slots, and zippered pocket, plus a detachable wristlet strap. The bill fold is technically detachable, but really only designed that way to make it easier to sew. Here is my test Pearl. You can see where the billfold attaches to the main pouch with a magnetic snap. I used regular magnetic snaps, because that’s what I had plenty of, but I would suggest following the pattern, and using thinner snaps. For my next Pearl, I tried using a Kam snap for the hidden magnetic snap, since Kam snaps are so strong, but I couldn’t get my pliers to reach that far into my piece, so I just stuck with magnetic snaps.

When I tested this pattern, I didn’t have too many pictures of the finished product to go by, so it really was a bit of blind faith in the pattern. Alicia really hit a home run with this one though, and her instructions were flawless again, so I didn’t run into any problems. The key to this pattern for me was reading carefully and paying attention to the diagrams. It really came together quickly. That’s saying a lot for me, since I’m really slow at sewing.

For this one, I wanted to try using a vinyl tab, because I made this wallet to match the Tansy Zippered Tote, which has quite a bit of vinyl. I failed miserably at just using the stabilizer pattern piece as a template for my vinyl tab and having exposed edges. I just couldn’t get my pieces to line up nicely during sewing. So I cut one piece of vinyl and one piece of interfaced cotton, and continued as directed in the pattern. I love how it turned out and suggest that method for others. I think compared to my first Pearl with just the cotton tab, this one looks more professional.

Since first seeing sneak peeks of this collection from  Camelot, I just knew I had to have it. The colors are really me! These colours combined with the geometric design really make it a winning collection for me. Just look at how funky those Triangles are in the card slots of Pearl! The Broken Herringbone makes for a wonderful binding too!
Here are the items I made with a few prints from Elixir:

My sponsor Stay Home Fabrics has generously offered up a FQ bundle of 8 prints from the Elixir line. There are several ways to enter. Contest closes November 2 at midnight PST (so you have until Sunday night to enter). Stay Home is also offering my readers (that’s you!) 10% off your order using promo code rpelixir valid through November 3rd at midnight.

Good luck everyone!

I’ve been just about bursting at the seams to share this project here! Sara of Sew Sweetness has come up with another winner of a pattern: the Filigree Double Zip Pouch.

I jumped at the opportunity to test this one because I saw that Sara offered instructions for how to add ribbon to the bag. I’ve had some Renaissance Ribbon in my stash for a while, but wasn’t really sure of a nice way to add it to my projects. Not to mention the functionality of a pouch with 2 separate zippered compartments.

Here’s what you can expect from the pattern:

• 3 different sizes included in pattern
• instructions for how to quilt exterior of bag (optional)
• instructions for adding ribbon to exterior of bag (optional)
• step-by-step instructions
• color photos for most steps in the process

I think this pattern is suitable for a confident beginner.

I had so much fun making this bag! There were a few firsts for me. I’ve never quilted vinyl before, and actually the pattern doesn’t call for vinyl, but I found this silver vinyl remnant and wanted to give it a try. I decided lime green thread would be really out there: crazy enough to tie in the Tula Pink fabric and ribbon to the silver vinyl. I’m pretty pleased with the result! As I mentioned earlier, digging in to my Renaissance Ribbon stash was also a first, and I’m so happy to have found the perfect project for the rest of my stash. The pattern walked me through both techniques quite nicely.
Word to the wise: if you’re going to use vinyl like I did, be smarter than me and make the zipper tabs out of cotton. They weren’t impossible in vinyl, but would have been nicer in cotton.

I need to talk about this bag! I made the large, and look at all the stuff that fits in there! Those are all full size products, and there was room for more. I could just about fit my iPad in there, but not quite.  You could easily use the large as a toiletry bag, with your hair products in one side, and makeup in the other. Sara is also genius enough to suggest using 2 different zipper colors in order to differentiate each side of the pouch. The pouch uses a foam stabilizer, so your items have a bit of padding, plus the bag maintains its shape and adds a lovely quilting effect.

I also love that you can use a few different fabrics for this pouch, and it really doesn’t require a whole lot. I got both these Tula Pink prints from Fabric Spark, and the Sea Debris in Seaweed (left) is actually one of my all time favourites, but it’s out of print, so I don’t want to use up a big chunk of it all at once.

The bag has a side/bottom panel, which allows it to stand up on its own and makes the pouch a bit roomier as well.

I can’t wait to make more of these, in the other sizes too! The small is going to be perfect in my purse, and I think the medium makes a really nice craft pouch. Any of the three sizes would make amazing gifts.

Quilting and adding the ribbons took a fair amount of time, but those are optional features, so I feel this bag can be a really quick sew, if you make it without the quilting and ribbons. I’m going to try a few in cotton next, and maybe some more adventurous quilting.

• Anna Maria Horner and Tula Pink Renaissance Ribbons, available at Hawthorne Threads
• Zipper tape and pulls from Paccana
• Zipper Charms from Tonic and Lime Designs
• Quilting cotton lining fabrics are both Tula Pink designs from Fabric Spark
• Pellon Flex Foam, available at Funky Monkey Fabrics

The pattern is now available, so head on over to Sew Sweetness and pick up a copy.
What will you put in yours?

Welcome back and thanks for joining us for the final day of the Iris Sewalong.  Here’s a recap:

• Day 1  – Fabric, interfacing, and hardware selection and gathering. Printing of pattern, and cutting and fusing fabric and interfacing.
• Day 2 – We begin sewing the bag.
• Day 3 (that’s today!) – Final assembly and completion of bag.

Line up the bottom edges of the assembled exterior panels. Stitch in place.

Fold seams open and topstitch.

Bring panels right sides together again and clip or pin in place and sew along each side, starting at corner of top band and ending at bottom corner, leaving notch unsewn. Pay special attention to where the top band meets the main panel, try to match those up on each side.

To sew the boxed corners, match a side seam with a bottom seam and fold notched corner, creating a straight line, clip in place and sew. Repeat for other corner.

Turn exterior bag right side out.

Take strap connectors and fold in half, inserting a D ring (or O-ring, as I’m using), then baste in place centered at each side seam.

Just as you did on the exterior, place lining top band right sides together on lining main panel, matching wide edge. Stitch in place. I like to press my pieces in half to make a crease and match the creases so my pieces line up nicely. Press seam allowance up toward the top of the bag and topstitch the seam.

Create the slip pocket by folding pocket piece in half right sides together to form a long folded piece, stitch raw edges together, turn tube right side out, press and topstitch the seam you just made, leaving the folded edge pressed crisply.

Place the slip pocket piece, folded edge at the bottom on the right side of a lining panel, about 1″ above the corner notch. I used a marker and ruler to create a line so my pocket goes on straight, pin and sew in place along folded edge. Flip over with wrong side up and baste pocket along edge of lining, then trim excess pocket piece. Sew dividing lines in slip pocket as desired.

For the zippered pocket, place one pocket piece right side down on remaining lining panel, just below top band and pin in place. Draw a rectangle starting about 1″ below the top of the piece, and centred. The pattern calls for 8″ wide and 3/8″ high, but you can adjust per your zipper. I use a #5 zipper, so I make my rectangle 1/2″ high. Sew along your rectangle, then add the center lines and corner triangle as in the pattern and cut along the lines you just drew, being very careful in the corners to get as close as possible without cutting your stitching.

Pull the pocket through to the back and press the hole open so you can’t see the pocket from the right side of the lining. You may choose to use wonder tape here. Now place the zipper carefully centered over the hole, teeth side down and secure. I use scotch tape and a bit of wonder tape. The scotch tape easily pulls out after stitching. Flip over and make sure the zipper is centered. From the right side of the lining, sew around the hole to secure the zipper. Place the remaining zipper pocket piece right sides together with the piece you’ve sewn on and clip or pin along all 4 sides and sew in place.

Assemble lining pieces by matching up right sides together and sewing along sides and bottom, leaving a turning hole at the bottom, about 5″. I actually prefer to switch to a basting stitch instead of lifting my needle; I still backstitch before and after the turning gap. Sew the boxed corners the same way as the exterior.

To install the magnetic snap for the top closure of the bag, I like to bring the side seams of the bag together in order to find my centers of the top bands. Use clips or pins to hold the seams together while you mark centers. Install the magnetic snap, each half of the snap approximately 1.5″ below the centers, including adding pieces of scrap backing to reinforce the snap.

Place exterior bag inside lining bag, right sides together. Match up side seams and centers, then clip or pin in between, including top of bag.

Sew all around the top, around all the curves and corners.

Trim seam allowance and clip corners, but make sure you leave the seam allowance over the turning gap inact. Remove basting stitch at turning gap if you used a basting stitch, and start pulling the bag right side out through the gap. Go slow and you’ll get there eventually!

Once you’ve turned the bag right side out, use a chop stick or similar tool to push out the corners along the top of the bag so they’re as sharp as possible. Tuck in the seam allowance at the turning gap, press and sew shut (some people choose to do this by hand with a ladder stitch).

Press along the top of the bag in preparation of topstitching. After pressing, I also use wonder clips to really help hold my seams straight and in place.

Almost done! Now we just have to sew the straps.

For my O-rings, I decided to hold them in place with rivets. Whether you’re sewing or using rivets, the process is about the same. Place one ring in a fold of a strap and have the strap fold in toward the inside of the bag about 1.75″ down from folded edge – refer to the pattern for more pictures of this step. Sew a rectangle to secure, or use 2 rivets in line. Repeat for remaining rings. To secure my shoulder straps I stitched 2 parallel lines. Make sure your straps aren’t twisted, and that the front strap ends up the same length as the back strap. If you chose to leave off the adjustable  strap, you’re done!

To sew the adjustable strap, pass one end of the strap through the middle bar of the slide, fold end over and sew in place about 1-2″ along the strap. Then take free end of strap and pass it through a swivel clip and then back over the center of the slide and out the other end, then attach remaining swivel clip and sew in place at end of strap by folding edge and stitching parallel lines or box.

Attach adjustable strap with swivel clips to side rings and you’re finished!

Enter your completed bag for a chance to win 2 patterns of your choice from Blue Calla and a $25 Gift Certificate to Funky Monkey Fabrics! To enter, post a picture of your completed bag on Instagram with #HappyOkapiBlueCallaSAL
or you can send me a picture of your bag through my contact page. You’ll have until November 8 to complete your bag and enter it. The winner will be randomly selected. Be sure to follow my facebook page for updates.