Some New Bags!

As you probably have realized I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to making bags. I have an entire corner of my closet full. Silly thing is, most of the time I use the same one for months on end. It doesn't actually even occur to me, usually, to switch bags. Crazy.

So today's first bag is the one I mentioned in my last posting. I've just finished it up and while I love the concept and the pattern is really well written, I feel kind of "meh" about the whole thing. The pattern is Betz White's Metro Hipster Bag.  It's a great cross-body bag that has a roomy "bellows" pocket on the front and a padded pocket on the inside that fits an iPad. The outside base, pocket flap and top trim as well as the zipper panel is made using waxed canvas.

I'd never used waxed canvas before, but was intrigued and quite excited to give it a try. Sadly, my machine did not share my enthusiasm and refused to sew nicely on it. The thing with waxed canvas is you really need to be committed to what you are sewing because if you have to stitch rip, those rogue stitches will haunt you forever by way of the very visible holes they leave in the fabric. Of course I managed to make a billion mistakes on my bag, so I'll get to be annoyed with myself every time I use my bag from here on in.

I don't know exactly what my issue was. I swear it was though I've never sewn before I was that clueless. It's by no fault of the pattern. Betz, as always, is very thorough in her instructions and all the diagrams were very clear. I was just out to lunch on this one.

Hopefully I'll grow to like it more with time. I think it'll be a great "out and about" bag for me. I'll just have to learn to ignore the wonky top stitching and sort of mismatched side seam on the one side and the fact I hate the lining fabric I used (just a boring beige heavy cotton I had in my stash).

My other bag is one I did as a test for Anna of Charmed Liebling. I did my version of her Pink Peony Bag quite some time ago then actually forgot about it. (Told you I have a lot of bags!!) It was a nice surprise when she emailed to say that the pattern had been released on the Sew Mama Sew website! It's a great little clutch for spring with either a shoulder strap or a wristlet strap. Best thing is her free pattern is super easy and designed for a beginner sewist.

I made my version with a denim outer and quilt cotton lining. I love the little birds on the lining fabric. So much so that right after finishing up my bag for Anna I made myself a Bowie cel phone case using the same fabrics (which I use all the time making it more surprising that I forgot about my clutch in the corner of my closet!)

So I think between my Necessary Clutch Wallet that I made last week, my Metro Hipster of this week and my Pink Peony and Bowie of a few months ago I should pretty much be completely set for bags for spring...