Happy Birthday E

Last Saturday night, mum suggested I make a bag for E's birthday on Wednesday. It was a bit last minute, but how could I say no? E is a beautiful friend of mum's who I claim as *my* friend too :-D

With a full day already planned for Sunday, I whizzed off to Spotlight for some fabric on Sunday morning, knowing only that E liked "earthy" colours. I would have much preferred to order some fabric from Etsy but alas, not enough time.

I loved the combination I chose but then halfway through the bag I started having doubts that it would suit E's tastes. On completion of the bag, I changed my mind again and love the choice of fabric. (That is the Libran in me!)

I wanted the bag to be really structured so I used a heavy interfacing on the lining and then sewed pellon on top of that. It was fusible pellon but I didn't realise you can't fuse pellon onto interfacing, hence why I had to baste it in first. At least now my fear of using pellon has been confronted.

Both fabrics were furnishing fabrics which helped to add body to the bag. The weight of the fabric combined with the interfaced lining and the pellon made for a very thick bag. I'm glad I left such a wide gap in the lining for the turn through. I was dreading sewing the straps in but was surprised at how my (ok my mum's) machine handled it. It was thick and sometimes needed a hand but overall it did a great job.

I'm disappointed with the length of the zipper, I bought one a tad too small and can hardly fit my hand into the pocket. Maybe E can keep a 50 stashed in there for emergencies.

Other than the zipper, I love this bag. I love the size of it (not too big, not too small) and I loved making it. I think I was so much more confident making this bag more so than the Dick and Jane bag that I made for the bag swap and will definitely be using this pattern again.

Thank you so much to Emma for sharing this pattern with me.