More Bags of the Month

I'm still catching up with recording what I have sewn.  These are both from the 2015 Bag of the Month club, which is over now, but the patterns are on sale through the individual designers, as far as I know.

The first one is April's bag from Emmaline Bags. It's called the Manhattan, mine is the momma size and it's a pretty good size bag for me.  The pattern was good and fit together well.

 

 

 

The only issue I found was that I was told to cut 2 pieces of exterior fabric and 2 pieces of the lining for the inset pocket.  I only used 1 of each.

Otherwise I followed the pattern almost exactly except for I added some more interior slip pockets inside and I used the sew-in invisible magnets.  I didn't have any magnets in the stash that matched my hardware and I didn't want to wait on an order.

I haven't got the wristlet that goes in here sewn yet. Funny aside, my husband's first thought when he saw this was "look a place to stash my snacks!"

The second one is from Betz White and is called the Seneca Creek Bag.  This a very nice, easy pattern and would have been very quick pattern if I hadn't made some changes.  Even with addition of some extra interior slip pockets and an additional zipper pocket on the back, it was still pretty quick.  It is very small, it is designed so that it can be worn cross-body or around the waist. I am never going to wear it around my waist, so I am thinking about making this again, just enlarging it to get a little more room and giving this one to my dear daughter. She seems to leaning towards the smaller sized bags lately.

 

 

I am currently working on June's pattern - still! - and then I have several tote bags and diaper bags planned.  One of these days I have to get around to sewing on some clothing options for me.

As always, Happy Sewing - Suzanne

Midtown Messenger Bag

This pattern is by Betz White and is called the Midtown Messenger Bag. Great well written instructions and illustrations.

I met my completely self-imposed deadline of sewing each Bag-of-the-Month in the same month that I received it.  By the skin of my teeth, but still it was done in April. I probably could've gotten this done sooner if I had quit waffling over all my decisions.


First the pattern recommended waxed canvas - there is no waxed canvas to be found locally.  Didn't even look.  Then there is the issue(s) that when you find it on line it is - a) limited colors, b) hideously expensive (at least to my budget) c) in some cases there was a 5 yard minimum per color to order or d) any combination of the above.  So off I go to Google it - there must be a better way.  I found this easy tutorial that I pretty much followed to the letter, Hah! Except my proportions were closer to 1 part beeswax to 2 parts paraffin, and I waxed a yard of canvas before cutting it out a sewing it.  It was actually pretty fun to do, but time consuming.  I see now why it's so expensive. 

Waxed, waiting to be melted into canvas

OK then, now that's done, it's on to the cutting and sewing.  And another horse change midstream - I had my hardware all lined up, nickel finish.  First I'm debating over the thumb catches that I have, they're heavy, more suitable for leather I think.  Then I decide I don't really like the nickel finish with the material I'm using, so off to Etsy to purchase rectangular loops, sliders, and thumb catches in antique bronze.  There are some great vendors on Etsy and I highly recommend both Sewing Supplies and Michelle Patterns.  Order my parts from both on Thursday morning and received the following Monday afternoon! That's pretty stinking quick.

Since this bag was made with my daughter in mind, I got her to help with the picture taking and modeling.

Front

I think she likes it!

Inside

Back

A couple of points about this bag -

1. I would call it and intermediate to advanced pattern.  Mostly because of the layers involved in several places, waxed canvas is heavy and stiff.  There was seam matching across the gusset, front and back.  Fitting a waxed canvas gusset around a curved piece is no picnic. Did I mention it's heavy and stiff?
2. I highly recommend using a jeans or topstitching needle - refer to 1st point.
3. I used Annie's Soft and Stable in the flap instead of the batting called for.  It just made it look nicer to me.  The rest of bag was made with batting as the pattern called for.
4. Take your time with your topstitching, there is a lot of very visible stitching on this bag.
5. I left ends on both sides of the zipper, giving my daughter a place to pull open and closed.

Overall a really great, challenging pattern and pretty much the perfect size.

Silly out-take

The face I got, when I told her she would have to wait
to actually get the bag

Happy Sewing, Suzanne