Category: Fabric

I cut out the pieces to make this bag last July, and they’ve been sitting on the ‘to do’ pile ever since!

Finally I got round to digging them out and finishing it off. It started off as a pile like this: And after several days of working on it it ended up like this: It is made from a pattern by Pattern Play. I used this blue monkey fabric with plain blue for the inside and straps.

The one adjustment I made was to add a drawstring at the top as I thought it would hold things in better than just a flap with vecro: I used iron-on letters on white felt to add a name onto the top of the front pocket: The straps on the back are adjustable using the metal rings: After a bit of persuasion I managed to convince my little monkey to model his new monkey backpack for the camera: He seems to like it! 🙂

The second of my scheduled posts (because I’m not really on the computer on Christmas Day)!

This is another bag  (like the one I made my Mum for her birthday) from the show-off bag pattern from Made by Rae, this time for my (soon-to-be) sister-in-law.

I made it the same as the last one, this time with owls cotton at the bottom and pink cord at the top, with one pocket inside and boxed bottom corners.

I must be improving – my seams are much more in line on this one! 🙂

Another bag finished today – I think that puts me about a third of the way through my bag to-do list!

This bag has been on my list to make for over a year, when I bought the pattern and the material, and I finally dug it out of the cupboard last week to finish it.

This is another Made by Rae pattern. The original pattern is available free here, and there is also a larger version with a license to sell the bags that you can buy on the site too. This one that I have made is the larger version. The fabric is a Michael Miller print which I bought from an etsy seller.

I made mine with a zip rather than a magnetic clasp (which is what is in the instructions). I’m likely to lose everything in it when I inadvertently turn it upside down without a zip! To put the zip in I used an online tutorial I found here.

I made the buttons to go on the front using some of the material from the lining and a button covering tool:

The inside is spotty, with a little pocket – because you can never have too many pockets!

And this is it from the outside, all finished 🙂

I told you there’d be more bags didn’t I 🙂

I’ve discovered that for all those people that you don’t know what to buy – a bag is just right!

This one I made for my Mother-In-Law’s birthday. It comes from a pattern shop I found on etsy.

I’m quite impressed with how this one turned out. It’s my first attempt with a zip – so the first time I’ve experimented with the zipper foot on my sewing machine!

Let’s have a look at it:

It has a long strap secured to nice shiny silver D-rings.

It has boxed corners at the bottom.

It has not one zip, but two – one on the top for the main compartment and one into a pocket on the front.

Doesn’t it look cool?! I like it so much I’m going to make myself one – after I finish the long list of other bags on my list! I may end up with quite a bag collection if I carry on like this…

I’ve got a long list of bags to make on my to-do list. This was the very first one I’ve made (that’s sewn, I did make the crochet owl bag a while back) but is likely to be first of many bag posts 🙂

I made this bag for my Mum’s birthday (which was yesterday, so it’s safe to post photos now!). I used the Showoff Bag PDF Sewing Pattern which can be purchased from Made by Rae. It took me ages walking round the fabric shop to pick a fabric I though would look good for the big bottom panel, and decided on this pretty bird fabric. The top panel needs to be a thicker material than cotton really and cord was all I had in the cupboard at home. I compared the birdie fabric with lots of colours and the green was the best match, so it’s bright but looks quite good!!

Inside I put a pocket on both sides, and the top is quite simple as it doesn’t have any zip or snap closure.

I learnt quite a few new things along the way: what a baste stitch is, how to box the corners, and that actually, bags aren’t as hard to make as I’d got them down to be 🙂

So here it is, my first bag!