Monday, February 23, 2009

The "Be Prepared" Bag

My absolutely favorite things to sew are quilts, hands down, but lately I've been finding it frustrating. My sewing machine (which in the interests of propriety shall remain unnamed) is fairly capable of sewing a straight line...most of the time. Trying to free motion quilt, however, is completely out of the question. This means that I can never really finish things. I have to wait to quilt my tops until I go visit my mom and can use her machine. I HATE not finishing things!

This weekend, therefore, I decided to take a break from my giant log cabin quilt and make something else. I used my Alexander Henry pin up fabric that I've been hoarding and made this start to finish...behold the "Be Prepared" bag!!!

On the whole, I'm really thrilled with the way this came out. I didn't follow a specific pattern, so I really got to make it precisely to my specifications. The straps are a tad longer than they need to be, and the lining would work better if it was a bit smaller, but other than that, I'm completely satisfied. I have another piece of canvas in my stash, so I'm going to make another tote and tweak this pattern a bit. With a few tiny changes, I think the bag could be even better! Then, after I have everything all worked out, I hope to put together a tutorial. As long as I went to all the effort of figuring out how to make it, I may as well share... :)

Forgive my crummy photography. The bag is actually much cuter in person, but for the life of me, I can't get it to translate to film. Boo.

2 comments:

Margaret said...

CUTE! I think it turned out well and I'm glad you got to use the hot man fabric :)

Kate said...

That fabric with the guys on it is awesome! I got your fat quarter in the mail and I love it. Not sure what to do with it yet! That fabric in one of your earlier posts, the circus fabric, reminds me of these awesome barkcloth vintage curtains I sold on ebay years ago. I love that vintage look and feel. I'll keep checking out your blog. I like your writing!
And thanks again for the fun in the mail!