The second bag I made this week was using these fabrics that I purchased last April in Paducah with the intent of making a purse/bag out of it sometime. Getting it stitched up within a year is doing good for me. This bag started again with Geta Grama’s Belle bag pattern from her web page Romanian Quilt Studio, even though it doesn’t look like it now. I wanted a smaller bag again and since I had trouble with the pink bag being too narrow at the top and too long I took care of that right away by reducing the pattern 75% then straightened the sides instead of leaving them tapered like the original pattern. I played with the type and size of the different pockets again too. It is good to have a good basic pattern even though I made the changes that I did.
I fused interfacing to the lining pieces and quilted them just to keep the interfacing attached with use over time. Sometimes fusible interfacing comes loose if bent enough times and this will keep that from happening hopefully. The inside has pockets of course….I made a pleated pocket with Velcro on the strap to hold my wallet inside the pocket. Above it is a zippered pocket to hold my check book and on the other side is another pocket with a Velcro strap plus a skinny pocket for a pen. I quilted the front fabrics to fusible fleece to give them some body. The outside back has a zippered pocket and the front has a curved front pocket that is divided into two sections and decorated with buttons.
On this bag I used cording inside the purple fabric stitched to the sides of the strap and to the top of the bag. I did use a larger cord for the top of the bag and a smaller cord inside the fabric to trim the edges of the strap. I really like the way this looks and think it will add some strength to the strap and maybe keep the top of the bag from sagging after using it for a while. If I wouldn’t have already had the front pocket finished I would have added cording to the top of it too but wasn’t going to rip it apart just for that. Originally I made this pocket wider and was going to insert elastic to sort of gather it up but after putting it in I didn’t like it so removed the elastic.
The first two photos are of the outside of the bag and then I turned the bag inside out so you could see the pockets in the lining. As you can see I also have a magnetic snap at the top of the bag. I love those snaps as they really hold the bag together.
I am not so sure those buttons on the front of the bag are such a good idea. They look great on the bag but only carried it once and ripped off the large black button when it caught on something in my car when I was getting out. I did sew it back on but if continue to have problems with them they might have to be removed.
This bag too has a long shoulder strap….my favorite way to carry a bag. I just have to remember not to fill the bag too full so it can be as light as possible. I have pared down and pared down the items I carry so have a fairly light weight purse/bag to carry. I picked up one of my daughter’s purses last weekend and I swear she had at least a couple of bricks or maybe a cement block in there. My back and shoulders would complain if I carried a heavy bag.
Not sure what I will work on next….guess we will all have to wait and see.
Lynn
2 comments:
Your bag came out great! I'm with you on lightening the shoulder-bag...I find the larger the bag the more stuff I keep in it and the heavier it gets!
Lynn, you was so creative in making this bag. It turned out great. What a clever way to strengthen the top edges ! I can't use cord because I wasn't able in years to buy the proper foot.
You should start designing bags!
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