Anyway I do also have a finish to share: a bag I mostly made last weekend but finished today. It is for a special friend whose birthday was a week ago (only a week late then). I used the two-way shopper pattern which I bought from The Bramble Patch when I was at NEC in August. I pulled Japanese indigo fabric from my stash and lined it with a print from Janet Clare's latest line which I think is called Nocturne.
The bag is a simple tote but it does have inner pockets and a magnetic snap /tab closure which gives the bag a more interesting shape. Here is an inside out picture to show the inner pocket strip.
I really want to make more bags - Anna Graham's Noodlehead patterns look wonderful - but it is always the bother of getting hold of lots of different supplies, and cutting odd shaped and sized pieces which puts me off with bags. However this was a fairly straightforward pattern and clearly explained so I think I shall make it again.
My theory is that it always takes a long time to make a pattern the first time but that the making should speed up once you know what you are doing - like trying a new recipe; once you have made it a few times (and like it) you may hardly have to refer to the cookbook, but that first time it can be quite challenging.
Anyway I shall be looking in my stash for more bag-suitable materials to make one of these shoppers for myself, and posting this one off to my friend tomorrow. Linking today to Crazy Mom Quilts.
Have a fun weekend and if you are in the UK, enjoy the last blast of sunshine before autumn truly sets in.
Great work on the bags! I know what you mean about sewing instead of doing other things (I have a funds grant for Scouts to do, plus a whole lot of school work to prep for our last term of the year... but the Frozen (Disney movie) pillows that I have been making keep calling me to the machine..._
ReplyDeleteThe bag is going to be very useful for your friend. Great idea! You're right, once you work out the kinks in a pattern, it's so much easier the next time. One of the things I do is to the pieces for 2-3 bags while I'm cutting the first one. Just stack multiple layers of fabric before cutting. Choose very different colors so you don't get them confused. After cutting separate the pieces into stacks for each bag, and pin the stack together. Then sew up the first bag. When you want to make the other bags, they are already cut. If they never get sewn, the pieces can go in the scraps. I find this is a way to get more things finished and the pattern expense seems worth the money since I'm getting more than project from it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, Mary - thanks, I shall definitely do that. And thank you too, Jen, for commenting: I hope your Scout group gets its funding.
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