I'm a Bag Lady

One little trip to Crimson Tate, and I was in love -- in love with the fabrics, in love with the shop, and in love with Heather, the completely cool and awesome owner.  If you love fabric/ love to sew/love to be around terrific people, get yourself to this shop ASAP.   

But first up, I'll show you my self-designed car bag:

There's just not a lot of room in the Mini Cooper.  In fact, the one criticism Clay had of the car before we bought it was that I wouldn't have "much room for all the crap I carry around."  He wasn't being mean, just honest -- I do tend to carry around a lot of crap.  Plus, the way the drink holders are designed in the Mini  isn't the greatest -- the front holders don't have enough clearance for anything much bigger than a Dixie cup, and to reach the holder behind the parking brake, I have to do a spine-twisting yoga pose.  Not good when you're driving.  So, I made up this little bag to sit on the passenger seat, primarily to hold my water cup, but also for some other necessary crap, like a little knitting for when I get stopped for a train.

The outside is a Wilendur red rose tablecloth I got for $2.00 because it has a nasty stain in one corner.  But there was plenty of good material for this bag and I think I have enough left  for a pillow or two.  The inside is some blue upholstery fabric left over from another project.  I used sheets of plastic canvas between the layers to make the bag a little sturdier, but I should have used something a little more substantial -- it was a little too flimsy and there are a lot of catch stitches all around this bag to hold it upright!  Then, I ironed some scraps of the tablecloth onto cardboard for the dividers, and made them stay in place with a poorly-engineered design involving hot glue, paper fasteners and crochet cotton.  Not perfect or what I had envisioned, but it works!  Ta-da!:

 Now, on to the good stuff.

Sometimes, things just fall right into place, don't they?  I had pinned a great messenger bag pattern by OCD: obsessive crafting disorder to my Sewing board almost a year ago.  The designer had used some felted sweaters/jackets in her designs, and at the time, I was felting things like crazy.  And, I had pinned some great Japanese fabric I had seen made into sachets at Sew4Home, but every other crafter out there must have loved the fabric, too, because everywhere I looked online was sold out.

But there it was at Crimson Tate.  A big beautiful stack of Ruby Star Shining by Michelle Miller.  So, I brought it home and made the messenger bag first:

Front (I added a little pocket cut from the pink typewriter fabric, just because):

Back:

Under the flap, where I added a little pocket for my cell phone:

Inside (I added a zippered pocket here): 

 I couldn't find the correct hardware for the strap as called for in the pattern, so I improvised a bit with these overall clasps: 

 This bag is perfect for all the crap I carry with me, but I think I need a little version for my wallet and keys for the grocery.  I still have plenty of fabric, even after making this bag:

This is another sweet pattern that's been hanging around on my pinterest sewing board, designed by Ayumi at Pink Penguin.  She used cotton duck for the outside and vinyl for the inside, as she designed this as a lunch bag.  When I saw it, however, I thought it would make a perfect sock-knitting bag for my writer pal, Christie.  You can't see it here, but I added a little fabric loop and a dog-leash type hook so she could clip this to her purse or belt loop while she sits knitting on the baseball bleachers!

I am itching to make some more bags, but must first finish the 3 baby quilts I have in the works.  Pictures soon!

Peace,