Recovery: Bag-Making Style

I would say that I followed this tutorial except that following implies reading instructions well enough to actually, you know, do as they say. Which I, mostly unwittingly, did not. From the outset, I planned not to include the zippered divider pocket that the tutorial used. But aside from that, I planned to follow -- and until several hours in, thought I was following -- it. Except that I wasn't. If you click on the link, you'll notice, for example, that Kerri's bag is more square than mine. Mine is longer because I did not orient the front, back, and side panels correctly (in fact, I mistakenly picked up the bottom panel in place of the side panel).

But despite these errors and the sewing aggravation that ensued, I rather like the final product. I used denim that I had picked up at JoAnn's awhile back and combined it with a couple of Art Gallery fabrics. I made this bag for my friend Beth and there was something about the top yellow fabric that just made me think of her. So I planned the rest of the bag around that fabric.

I will say that I found the upper flap/handle-attachment process a little tricky. I want to try and make this bag again; however, I want to see if I can figure out how to assemble it the way I've assembled all the other totes I've made: by making the exterior and the lining separately and then bringing them together. This pattern requires making the bottom and top separately and I think I'm just more comfortable with the interior/exterior method. I think change will require making the sides differently as well. But I'm not sure....it's something to play around with and see what happens.

My favorite part of the bag may be these side pockets with just a touch of the lining fabric peeking out. I love the detail. I added the flower embellishment at the end: I had some extra pieces of fabric and thought the exterior could use some pop.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the final product. Even if the process was less than ideal, I learned a lot about bag assembly, different methods of piecing bags, and how to fix unexpected problems.