So I’ve been having fun with Little Ruby fabric from Bonnie and Camille.

At first I made some larger bags from a layer cake.  Then I made a bunch of tiny little coin purse sized bags from a charm pack.

All of this is done with machine embroidery using software.

I took the simple design of the larger bag and reduced the sides and bottom, keeping the zipper positioning lines the same.  Then I switched to a larger hoop and made three copies of the bag.

I hooped sticky-back tearaway stabilizer, stitched out the zipper placement lines for all three.  Then, I placed the zippers and stitched out the line at the top of the zipper first for all three bags, then the bottom part of the zipper for all three.  Those fabrics top and bottom are just folded charm squares, with a small piece of batting in between.

After stitching the first batch, I went back to my software and moved them all a little farther apart from one another, so they don’t overlap.  I also added thread color changes between each step, just so the machine would stop stitching for me to place the fabric.

Finally, I put a tiny charm square quilt sandwich on top to form the back and lining of the bag.

Then an outline stitches around each of the bags. It is set as a triple stitch and goes over the same line three times.

NOTE: DON’T FORGET TO MOVE THE ZIPPER PULL INTO THE CENTER OF THE BAG BEFORE ADDING THE BACKING!

That note is mainly for myself…believe me, if you do it once, you’ll remember not to do it again.  It’s not a terrible fix, but takes a little time and fidgeting.  You have to rip the seam to get the zipper pull through, and then re-sew the outline seam on the machine (not embroidery.)

When I take them out of the hoop, the first thing I do is tear away all the stabilizer from the outside.  Then with a little more care, I tear away the stabilizer from the inside of the bag.  This is actually pretty easy…a little bit of fussing to get it out, but not much.  Because the outline of the bag is a triple stitch, as well as the lines holding in the zipper, the stabilizer tears away very easily.

The final step is to cut away the excess fabric and zipper, and turn the little goodies inside out.  I give them a quick press and done!

The final mini bags are about 4 1/4 inches by 3 inches.  My main goal was to use as much of the charm squares as possible without wasting.

If you own software…any kind…I encourage you to try building bags like this.  The digitizing is only rectangle and lines, and the corners are slightly curved.  Your expenses?  A charm pack and some matching zippers.  You likely have some scraps of batting lying around that can be used.

In a day, you can have stacks of lovely little bags to give away or to keep.  They are just about the perfect size for credit cards, ID, business cards, etc.

Here are some peonies for you, just for fun. Because they’re blooming and are gorgeous.