Monday, September 12, 2011

A bag for me!

Yep, I'm still a bag lady. This time I actually made a bag for myself. I don't have to part with it! ;)

I think I searched the Internet and saw practically every bag pattern there was, before I finally decided on this one. Its style is similar to a couple of bags I've had in the past that have been favorites.

It didn't look too hard.

Famous last words.

I'll never say that about a pattern again!!!

This time, it wasn't the bag itself that was so hard. It was the pattern and the way the instructions were written up. I bought the pattern from an Etsy shop. I'm not even going to say which one (but if you happen to be looking for a similar pattern, email me and I'll tell you which one not to buy!). The author's writing skills left a LOT to be desired, and made for a lot of confusion. I had to 'think' so long and hard over this pattern, that my brain is about worn out. I had to always keep looking ahead in my mind to figure out "now if I do it this way, how will that work out?".

The pattern itself was sloppy. A couple of the pattern pieces that were meant to fit together, didn't! Seam allowances were marked on the pattern pieces, and they varied from ¼" to over ½"! Plus the instructions said to sew ¼" to 3/8" seams. Ummm... okay, which?! Crazy! There were lots of photos, which helped, but some of them weren't very clear, like you couldn't tell which side of a zipper was 'up' as it laid on the fabric.

There were other things, but you get the idea. I relied very heavily on what I learned from making the Weekender bag. So I'm finally thankful for how difficult that one was to make, and what I learned from its very clear, concise directions!

Anyway, here's my new bag, made from the Dawn Picket print from Jess's latest fabric line, Outside Oslo:


I altered the pattern in that I made the bag 1½" taller, plus I added a magnetic snap to the outside pocket:



There are lots of inside pockets, which I require in a bag. :) There's a cell phone pocket, too, but since I don't have a cell phone, I still made the pocket and decided it'd be a good place for my car keys:



More pockets on the other side:



And here's a little size perspective for you. Do you know that it's very hard to take a photo of yourself modeling a bag? LOL



So that's my latest project. DONE! Hurray! Now for some furious housecleaning before a long, fun weekend of "guests". And then a couple more sewing projects already in the queue.

7 comments:

The Luedtke Family said...

I like it! Pockets in a bag always, always, always, come in handy!

Jessica Jones said...

Oooooo, it looks great! I love the size. I think I will come visit it in person.

Grandma G said...

Thank you!

Jess, I'm sure it would love to have a visit from you... and from your Weekender. A family reunion of sorts?

LiEr said...

I really like the size of this bag! And even with the unsatisfactory instructions, your workmanship is impeccable. I'd be curious to see how the designer explained doing that zipper. It's not a straightforward one to start with, even with good instructions. Well, brava for your having figured the bag out, then! Do you really not have a cell phone? Hurrah for you! Use that pocket for purse-size tubes of hand cream. Heaven knows we'll need those soon enough, with winter coming. Ugh, hellooooooo lizard skin.

But back to the bag - I've always been a fan of blue, so I really love the colors on this one. And that little zipper-pull - I must try this on my bags sometime.

He he - the word verif is "depain". Like de-pain, like de-frost, and de-tox. Funny, given that we're now celebrating the completion of this bag!

grace said...

Nice job, Love the print. Just picked 5 gal pail of green and yellow beans so I will not be sewing a beautiful bag --But snipping beans.

Live a Colorful Life said...

The bag is beautiful--one of my favorite fabrics in Outside Oslo. (Nice picture too!). More bags in the queue??

Grandma G said...

Thank you, all!

LiEr... it's nice to have the affirmation from somebody who understands the trickery of bag making. ;) And yes, depain is over on this one! LOL

Grace... I'd rather make bags than do beans. Maybe that's why I didn't plant any this year. ;)

Cindy... yes, bags 'of a sort'. ;)