Giving Back Never Felt So Fabulous
Mt Pleasant’s In the Bag Launches Charity Trunk-Show Campaign for July

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Summertime shopping for the women of South Carolina will feel better than ever in the month of July, thanks to a special charitable-giving campaign launched by Mt. Pleasant’s In the Bag store where customers can design their own handbag.
Through the month-long “In the Bag Gives Back” initiative, anyone who hosts a trunk show (at the In the Bag store, the host’s home or another location of their choosing) will receive 10-15% of that show’s revenue for the charity of their choice.

The owners of In the Bag invite the public to host a trunk show of their own or attend one of the scheduled shows from 5-8 p.m. on the following dates:
July 10 – Women Making a Difference
July 15 – Honduras Outreach, Inc.
July 30 – Communities in Schools
July 31 – American Heart Association

“We’re so excited about this campaign,” says Lissa Kemp Myers, owner of In the Bag. “As much as we all love the fun of designing our own handbags, nothing feels as good as giving back to the community.”

About In the Bag
In the Bag, located at 976 Houston Northcutt Blvd. in Mt. Pleasant, lets customers design a custom handbag from a selection of 200 of the trendiest fabrics, leathers, styles and hardware. Orders are sent to New York City where within five weeks they are completed by a manufacturer who works with designers, including Donna Karan and Marc Jacobs. Prices range from $50-$325.

But if it turns up once, perhaps it will turn up again?

I found it at Miss Helene’s, trying to find that Bolero Princess Dress at DaD.

And that back yoke is NOT beyond your skill!!!

When you are working with your fitted shift pattern, first get through all the “fitting” parts. Once that’s done, you’re ready to do the back yoke. If your original shift does not have a two-piece back, cut it so it’s two pieces. Instead of cutting it on the fold, just add a seam allowance down the center back as you’re cutting it out.

Make a duplicate of the back piece. Mark the DUPLICATE, not your original! Take your handy ruler and pencil. Draw a line across the back pattern piece where you want the seam. Mark “Add seam allowance!” on the pattern piece. Mark two lines next to the center back seam – not too far from the seam. They will be perpendicular to the horizontal seam, parallel to the center back seam (from what I can see; the one farthest away from the CB may be angled), and they will go partway up the back, to about the bottom of the shoulder blade. Use the picture on the envelope as a guide to where you want them. Slash along the two new lines Spread the pattern along each of the slashes approximately 1″ – 2″, and mark them AS IF they were going to be darts. However, they won’t be darts, they’ll be tucks. (By this time, you’ll be adding pieces of paper at the bottom of your new back pattern.) Draw a line across the bottom, not forgetting that the “darts” will extend out a bit, making a shallow scoop shape. Add your seam allowance. Add the seam allowance to the bottom piece! Make a test muslin, at least of the back. FOLD the “Darts” together, fingerpress the folds, and stitch across the bottom.

If that belty thing is not an add-on, where I’ve written “add a seam allowance”, you will actually SHORTEN the back pieces, and “make a band insertion” instead. “Make bow and tack on middle of band insertion.”

So what you’ve done is: split the back horizontally, shortened the upper back piece, drawn a band insertion piece, split the upper back piece, and made a bow (check seam allowances need to go from back piece-band insertion-skirt).

Copy your pattern, as needed; you’ll probably find it easiest to redraw the new pattern at least once, so you don’t have too many scotch-taped bits to work with.

It’s not hard, I promise you. It’s just time-consuming.

Suggestion: The band may look more graceful if you cut it as a shallow downward curve, rather than straight across. Yes, it is more work that way, since your band will be cut curved, too. You may also prefer a straight line. You may also have realized that, now that you have mastered the Ruler and Rule the Yoke, you can make variations with a V-shaped back yoke! V it up! V it down!

N.B.: If you are short through the back, or have a round backside that takes up a Certain Amount of Room, a STRAIGHT line will look best. If you are very long through the back, you may prefer the curved line.

What size are you looking for?