A Tale of Two Ram-a-Lambs Part 1

In addition to the coffee-themed Super Shopper, a friend also placed a special order for two Ram-a-Lambs she wants to give as Christmas gifts. OK... who am I fooling? It's Shelli, my bestest bagaholic. :) Anyway, she ordered two RALs for two special women in her life!

In this post, I'm going to cover the start of RAL1, for RBB. (If those are your initials, and it's before Christmas, please stop reading!!!) So basically, "bag guts", since you all seem to like seeing the process!

Assorted pieces

The biggest and coolest special touch is that I sent her a piece of denim for each bag, so she could monogram them! (I don't usually collaborate on bags, but I'm very familiar with her work and LOVE it!) Here's RBB's monogram:

Shelli used a lovely pink to coordinate with the purple/multi-colored fabric (I also sent her a swatch of that), so I chose to quilt in a variegated pink to tie everything together. Can you see the sort of frame I built around the monogram?

On the plain blocks, I did a triple wavy criss-cross - it looks like ribbons, twisted yarn, or rope.

I did a pocket for each side, out of the purple/multi, and did a cute decorative stitch along the top:

Here's the front panel:

I was so in love with this fabric (it's one I bought in Korea and have used it for some very special things - it's just SO rich and yummy!) that I didn't want to have it for just the pockets and inside. I decided to turn the side panels so the focus fab would be on the outside, like so:

I did a triple wave down the side - and along the bottom, too. I have the denim on the bottom, which you'll see later. I figured it will wear better that way.

Originally, I was going to use fabric for the handles/straps, like on Kathie's, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try something else. That's when I realized I was (figuratively) sitting on some pink and some purple polypro. Why not?!!? I called Shelli.

We decided to go with the pink, and in my opinion, it was a great choice. It really brings out the embroidered monogram and the quilting!

Before I started the grommet process, I shot a quick video of the bag to show Shelli. And you know, not all of you realize how hard my Guide Dog for the Color Blind works. He's in the video, so you can see him in action. Trust me, if (1) I hadn't had Sergio Mendes playing for us to enjoy and (2) my colors hadn't been so RIGHT, he would have been wooing up a storm. But in the vid, you'll see just how contented he is with my choices. Without further ado (please turn up your speakers):

Seriously.

Let's not forget about the Hold the Phone! Bag! Here are the "guts" for that; you saw them laying on my table in the video:

No explanation needed there, I don't think. I did put more detail on the denim straps than I usually do just because the pink totally rocked the denim! And since I was on a roll (ha, rock and roll...), I finished the HTP! Bag early. That's usually my last step.

How can you not love that fab?

Here's the scary part of the grommet installation.

That's right... now that you've sewn a nice bag, cut some holes in it! Yikes, I do NOT care for that part!

After I hammered in the grommets and clipped along every seam (you can see the process here, if you're interested - yes, I used to write that blog; the Bernina Shoppe is now closed) I threw the bag in the washing machine and dryer, then put the straps on.

Next post - the finished RAL! Please stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!
KZK