I made this bag using various techniques and ideas learned from patterns and tutorials I’ve been using, and I combined them to make a bag of my own design. I wanted to end up with something not too large, but large enough! I love the size and shape of it. I also wanted to make sure all seams were bound as I’m not a fan of raw edges or loose bag linings (I think I’m repeating myself after having mentioned that before!)
I’m drawn to this particular fabric each time I’m browsing in my local quilt shop, but I was never convinced I needed it enough to make a quilt with it. When I went looking for something floral yet whimsical for my new bag, it definitely fit the bill, so I was finally able to justify buying it! It turned into a super cute project 🙂
It has a zippered pocket on the front, with a slip pocket behind that, another slip pocket on the back, and two side pockets with elastic at the top of them and pleats in the bottom so they expand a little, which I thought would be handy depending on what will be carried by the owner of the bag (it’s for sale!). Inside I put two large mesh pockets – I like Annie Unrein’s idea of using mesh inside heavier bags because there’s no extra weight to it, and you can see what the pockets contain.
Personally, I don’t normally like a lot of inside pockets in my own bags because things tend to fall into them and get lost when they’re out of my sight. Mesh is a great alternative to having to turn a bag upside down to empty it out in hopes of finding that tube of lipstick you KNOW is in there somewhere.
Of course I’m getting sucked in by all the nifty hardware too, and I had to put a metal label on this one to see how it looked. Not sure there’s any going back from this now …
And just for your viewing pleasure, here are some of the open wide bags made with the Lily & Loom fabric I raved about recently (pattern from byannie.com).
They are fun to make and even more fun to look at once they’re done. I love the handbag zippers (wider zipper tape and bigger pulls) and I have to do a lot of testing by opening them and closing them, and opening them, and closing them and …………….. OK, I’m back.
We’ve had a few cooler days this week, so piling a quilt on my lap to hand stitch binding is looking more do-able and there just might be a new quilt to post in the near future 🙂
Here’s a flashy video of the bags I’ve made so far, because it’s just fun to watch them all with background music! LOL
Ann Walsh Quilting 