bag lady

[tielan]

I made a bag!

(okay, I've made several, but I'm kind of pleased with this one)



I called it the 'Parisville Bowl Bag' which is a smushname of the key fabric in the bag (the Parisville collection by the modern quilting designer Tula Pink) and the design (the Fireside Bowl Bag by modern quilting designer Sew Sweetness).







I'm pretty happy with it. It's large enough to carry a lot of light purchases (like a day's shopping), and has enough shape to it to not squish too weirdly when it's filled with stuff, and the strap and the base are leather.

I even added pockets!

There's a full post about the making of it here.

Anyway, now my mother wants one, made with the Alison Glass print in the pic below (which she spotted when she came to drop off a couple of warm undershirts for my sisters and I yesterday morning). She gets to wait; I have too many other projects over the next five months. And since she's away on Mother's Day I'll probably give it to her for Father's Day instead. :D



Oh dammit, I may have to get some dark grey or black leather to match the fabric.

Comments

[endeni]

Ooooh pretty! *_*

[tielan]

It is, rather! I'm planning on taking it out on a 'test run' this morning...

[karmageddon]

that's really cute!

[tielan]

Thank you! :)

[jenab]

That's very pretty. I like the print for both that one and the one your Mom wants.

[tielan]

They're both lovely prints - one of those ones that you 'save' for something special. I'm glad I was able to use it effectively!

[coeur_de_noir]

Jeez, how talented are you?! That looks great - really fantastic colour/fabric match.

[tielan]

Aw, thanks! (Seriously, sewing is just learning to follow instructions and being willing to keep going when you screw it up. Like most things.)

[james]

That looks so cool!

[tielan]

Heh. It turned out better than I hoped!

[sue_c]

Well, if you ever start taking orders... :-)

[tielan]

Hee. You could kidnap Alli's bag - this is the same pattern as the one she picked out of the 'prizes' at Estes Park last summer. :)

[sue_c]

But then I'd have to find Alli!

[bluemeridian]

It looks like excellent work and the fabric is lovely, as is the one you used for the protective case! I can't quite tell with the bag, is the handle lining the same fabric with the body panels avoiding the words or are they just very similar?

[tielan]

Ooh, good eyesight!

The handle with the words is what's called the selvage - it's the long edge of a bolt of fabric which is usually finished in a way that means it doesn't unravel.

In quilting fabric, they print the production company, the collection, and the designer, as well as the colours used in printing. For some ranges of fabric in modern quilt design, the selvage has a significant value - the Cotton+Steel design house prints not only the name of the fabric pattern designer, but also quotations intended to be inspirational.

So I used the main breadth of the print to cut out the panels of the bag, but I cut off the selvages and sewed them together for the underside of the strap.

[retsuko]

Nice! Love the lining. :)

[tielan]

See I'm not crash hot on the fabric or the colour, so using it as a lining is perfect for me! :D

[nrgburst]

Looks awesome! I love your Mom's choice as well!

[tielan]

Thank you! And my mother (as she likes to remind me) has good taste. :)

[deird1]

Anyway, now my mother wants one

Very sensible of her. I'd want one too - it's gorgeous!

[tielan]

Thank you! It's actually a fairly easy bag; this one I did a lot of dithering about adding the pockets and everything, but it's not that difficult when it comes down to it.

[syble4]

Oh wow, that's beautiful. Much better than anything in the stores.

[tielan]

But you can definitely buy it cheaper in the stores, and probably with less cursing. :)

[bridgetmkennitt]

Pretty bag!

[tielan]

Hee. Thanks!

[gaffsie]

That looks great!

[tielan]

It's a pretty good bag. A slightly odd shape, and it squishes a bit in transit, but definitely with the space to keep things in!

[ninja007]

I LOVE IT!! It's lovely!

[tielan]

Thank you! :)

[anotherslashfan]

Wow, it's cute AND beautiful! Love the colors and the print.

[tielan]

Thank you! I did rather like the print, and it worked so nicely with the leather!

[colls]

Wow, very well done! I would think combining the different materials would be challenging (but don't sew, so don't know). In any case, color me impressed! :)

[tielan]

It's a little tricky - sewing leather with anything is, because one side is slippery and tends to move at a different rate to the other fabrics its being sewn to. 'Walking feet' for sewing such slippery materials are wonderful things.!

[olivia_beige]

Ohhh those are utterly gorgeous prints! It's so great you can make a bag of your own and have control on how it looks! I'm so in awe.

[tielan]

The designer has done some pretty clever stuff - it starts off looking pretty ordinary but develops a slightly creepy or bizarre vibe once you take a good look at it.

And yeah, that's one of the reasons I've started making things like clothing and bags - it's nice to be able to make things that match my own style and what I want to wear/accessorise with.