Contain It! A By Annie Pattern Challenge

This month the Island Batik Ambassadors were challenged make a container, bag or organizer from a By Annie pattern. I chose the Contain Yourself pattern. These are containers that can be used to organize supplies, clothing, crafts and more.

I chose the Island Batik Cheers fabric line designed by Carl and Linda Sullivan for Colourwerx. It is full of cheer as the name suggests. It is comprised of fun designs that include drink glasses, ice cubes and lemons. I just love it! It makes me happy.

Upon reading the directions, I found them easy to follow. I have used By Annie's patterns before. They have tons of options for bags, quilts and decor patterns. For the pattern I chose, I decided to sew up three different sizes of the containers. I sewed a small, medium and large container. The pattern also provides an option to customize a size of container that you want to make. A description to make customized sizes is included.

The pattern uses sew in foam (Soft And Stable). I like using sew in foam as it gives a bag or container structure but it is not difficult to sew through. I use sew in foam for many of my bags. The foam backs the exterior fabric.

For the inside of the container, woven stabilizer is used. It is a fusible interfacing that gives the interior fabric some weight.

The interior and exterior are prepped by basting on the sew in stabilizer and fusing the interfacing. Fabric is marked and the sections are cut out to form the exterior container shape. This step is repeated with the interior.

The sides are joined and sewed at the seams. This is repeated with the interior of the container.

The interior is taller than the exterior because it will form a faux binding. One the interior and exterior are sewn, the interior is tucked inside the exterior with right sides facing each other and sewn (A small gap is left open to turn the container right side out).

The process is repeated for the each container. If a container has a handle or a vinyl pocket for a label, those are applied prior to forming the container.

I found this pattern to be fun and quick. It's a great introductory pattern for someone who hasn't tried making a container or bag. It doesn't have a lot of pieces either. These containers can be made as a set or separately. They are also perfect to make as a gift and put fun items inside. The small containers are great to make for the holidays to share with friends or family.

It was a wonderful project and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Thank you By Annie, Island Batik, Schmetz Needles and Aurifil Thread. All of these products were provided as part of the Island Batik Ambassador program. Check out my fellow Island Batik Ambassador's projects. Their projects are fun and unique. Thank you for reading my blog and have a great day.

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs Megan Best ~ Bestquilter Pamela Boatright ~ Pamelaquilts Elizabeth DeCroos ~ Epida Studio Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch By Stitch Custom Quilting Reed Johnson ~ Blue Bear Quilts Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs . Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood Denise Looney ~ For The Love Of Geese Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine Anorina Morris – sameliasmum.com Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion Claudia Porter ~ Create with Claudia Gail Renna ~ Quilt Haven Threads Brianna Roberts ~ Sew Cute And Quirky Michelle Roberts ~ Creative Blonde Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail Andi Stanfield ~ True Blue Quilts Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt