I am in love...

With my new bag!

My old bag is getting rather tatty at the edges and I snagged this Lotta Jansdotter fabric in the bargain bin a while ago thinking it would be perfect for a bag but then I couldn't decide on what style of bag until I saw the dapper day bag in Meg's Sew Liberated book. So, I decided Friday night that I had to make it but that meant using things entirely from my stash...hmmm well, the only bias binding I had enough of was bright pink and I had plenty of fabric left over from Spotty's bridle so pinky red lining it would be!

This is the first time I have attempted piping and it was surprisingly painless, I did consider skipping it but I am so glad I didn't, it gives the finished bag a more professional touch. Everything else was easy enough and explained clearly, even for me, the written directions challenged person that I am.

I did however have to make a few additions of my own, the first was a hoop to clip my keys onto, a pet hate is having to ferret around in the bottom of my bag to try and find them, I have found a hoop and a climbing caribina type clip on my keyring works wonders for my sanity. The second was an inside pocket, when you have a kid who has nose bleeds as often as mine you need to be able to grab tissues in a matter of seconds, I kind of wish I had added a pocket on the other side too but it is too late now.
I took it for a test run yesterday when I went fabric shopping and it is great, plenty big enough to fit all my junk in, mom's who are still carrying around a spare change of clothes for little ones, no problem, plenty of space. I even had a lovely little old lady in one of the stores ask if I had made it myself, when I said yes, she exclaimed 'subarashii' (superb) in a pitch that only little old Japanese ladies manage to obtain :o)

All in all a big thumbs up from me :O)