Thank you Keyka Lou

Many of you have likely seen dancing about the Flickr pages these cute little "Dumpling" bags by designer Keyka Lou.

She has provided  directions and 2 free downloadable patterns via her blog. After seeing these cuties cropping up all over the place I thought I'd give them a try. (They looked quite tasty). There are 2 "models", the "Easier" and the "Harder" Dumpling. After making both- I felt they were constructed pretty much the same to me. The small pattern is small, but the directions are clear- Perhaps I'm missing something- hope not!  Do take note of the measurements, because- the "harder one" is really small!!  As I was pleasurably cutting out fabric and lining and interfacing, in the quiet of my corner of the basement, that I call my sewing room- I had a thought- that these dumplings would make a great set, especially in coordinating fabrics- but not a set of 2, a set of 4!
So, wishing that I had some Matryoshka fabric to test my plan, but settling for the the DS Quilts fabrics I purchased this summer at Joann's but had not yet used, I pulled out 5 fabrics that I felt went pretty well together.

I used the left most fabric as a lining. Fabrics- all DS Quilts for Joann's

Then I did this. I layered the smallest dumpling pattern on top of the larger (so to speak) dumpling pattern and lowered the arc of the top curve so that the little pattern now nested within the larger pattern (with about 1/2" difference all around)- following me? If you have downloaded these patterns and cut them out, you will note that the top most point of the arc in the smaller (harder) dumpling meets the top of the arc in the larger (easier) dumpling. If you use one of those curvy rulers, you can easily make the arc smaller, which I did, and then I cut out another template.
I then took the larger pattern and enlarged it 115%, I cut this out and set it aside. Going back to the larger "easier" original pattern I enlarged that 130%. I cut this out and set it aside. In the end- I had 4 dumpling bag patterns,  each about 1/2" higher and wider than the next- more or less.

Dumpling patterns showing how they gradually increase in size. A. is a modified version of the smaller of the 2 patterns. The next (kelly green) is the original easier dumpling pattern. The forest green- enlarged 115%, the outer white, enlarged 130%. 

(My master plan was to have them fit one inside the other). I used 4 of my DS fabrics for the outsides of the dumplings, and 1 for the inside- along with some other red and white fabrics I had on hand.

Fabric and lining cut and interfaced (is that even a verb??)

 I ended up using 4 different blue zippers (they are all blue- right), because- 1. I had them on hand and 2. I couldn't find one blue that went uniformly well with the 4 different fabrics I had chosen.

There is one zipper missing- it turned out to be the same color as the dominant blue in the left most fabric. All different, but all blue.

Following the great directions given here- I put all 4 together and guess what-

Largest (made from the pattern at 130%)

Next largest (made from the pattern at 115%)

Original "easier" dumpling- original pattern

The smallest- modified from the original smaller "harder" dumpling pattern.
Don't let the mountains in the background trick you into thinking they are big.

I thought this was a great way to show the gradual increase in size.
Measurements: front to back, w x h x d- all in inches
4.5 x 3 x 2.125
6 x 3.5 x 2.25
7 x 4 x 2.5
7.5 x 4.5 x 2.75

 they fit perfectly one inside the other, just like those Russian Matryoshka Nesting Dolls-

 now if I could just get my hands on some of that cute Russian nesting doll fabric……...