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Diane's Archie


by Linda Theil

Diane Spencer-Ogg, owner of Spencer-Ogg, Ltd. in Greater Manchester, UK, released a new mini-duffle pattern she calls "Arch Zipper Pouches" in two sizes with printable pattern pieces and video tuturial. Her video introduction can be viewed at the end of this post.

As always, Spencer-Ogg has hit the ball out of the park with the elegance of her design and the precision of her process. I have made two of the 10x8x4-inch large-sized Archies -- as her  fans have dubbed the new pattern. The bag shown above is made of Mora Faux Leather in grape from Emmaline Bags of Alberta, Canada. The interior, shown below, is cotton from the "Art History" collection by Marcia Derse for Windham Fabrics.



For my second Archie, I quilted a panel from the "Guess How Much I Love You" collection by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram for Clothworks.



With this new design, Spencer-Ogg debuts an updated pattern-production method that provides printable pattern pieces and a comprehensive video tutorial; but without the previously standard written-instructions accompanied by full-color photos of each step in the bag-making process. This change is a nod to current practice of many makers who rely on video tutorials instead of written instructions as learning tools. Spencer-Ogg has shared with thirty-thousand devotees in her  Spencer-Ogg Bag Sewing Group on FaceBook that the lower-priced format is an experiment that she will not use on every pattern in the future,

I have said before that pattern-making has come a long way from the days of a single photograph, a few line drawings, and inadequate instructions to today's sophisticated and demanding audience requiring instructional videos with each pattern. Diane Spencer-Ogg is premier in innovation, precision, and reliability. I've been making her bags for five years and every bag has been interesting and exciting to create.

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