Three Bags

I didn't mean to disappear for a week but it happened. I'm learning that my summer is filled with bursts of activity -- reading for school in big spurts, crafting in chunks of "time off," and taking care of errands once they've built up so as to be necessary (would anyone like to grocery shop for me?). Such is summer 2010.

Over the past couple of months, I've been working on my bag-making skills. I started with playing with tote bags, such as this one.

I had made a few totes before, but this is the first one I used canvas-weight fabric (that's Jessica Jones' Green Sprig fabric). The canvas gives the bag a nice weight without interfacing and works especially well for handles -- they're nice and sturdy. I lined this one with some Dazzling Wheels from Art Gallery's Sugar collection.

A friend asked me to make her a buttercup bag about 10 months ago. I regret that it took so long, but the time lag meant that I acquired this neat piece of vintage fabric from the SMS fat quarter swap.

I made some modifications to the bag pattern. I interfaced the lining and the strap to give it more heft and left out the tab/buttons. The last bag I made felt a little light so I hope this one will stand up to longer use. I lined it with some Night Glowing Daisies from Art Gallery's Sugar collection (notice a pattern here...).

Finally a birthday present tote bag for an amazing friend. Purple was the key color here and I used some purple seeds for the lining and a couple Anna Maria Horner prints for the exterior and straps. What does the whole bag look like?

I had the hardest time getting a good picture of the whole bag in good light, so ultimately I opted for the modeling shot, with my bed as the backdrop. I suppose the red sheet doesn't exactly let the bag stand out, but it was better than the other options. I love those big centerpiece flowers from the AMH's Garden Party line and wanted to highlight it accordingly. The white strip between the focus flower and the falling flowers (technically I think it's called "receiving line") came into being when I realized that the fabrics would work better if each got to bask in its own glow. I think the white separator helps do that.

More bags on the way...