Very Belated

One good thing about being my friend is that I might make you a cool birthday present. However, the downside to that is that you can't really expect it on your birthday. Or maybe for several birthdays.

I made this bag for a friend's birthday in February of 2008. (No, it's not crooked in real life; that's just the tree.) I didn't like the way the interior pockets turned out, so I partially ripped them out and then never finished the bag. It sat for more than two years, and was even transported through our move. This is how I am.

Anyway, I finally reconstructed the pockets and gave the bag to my friend. And she really liked it, despite the wait!

The pattern is the Tiny Happy Shoulder Bag tutorial, which I've made three times. (This was the first one, and the other was a dolly diaper bag for Elisabeth's 6th birthday, which you can see here.) After working on this again last week, I think it's time to make another of these! I really like them.

For this bag, I increased the length of the strap so she could carry it messenger-style, and also the overall size of the bag, so it can accomodate a good sized knitting project as well as some other gear. (My friend ends up having to carry a lot of stuff around with her, as a busy mom and midwife!) I used fusible fleece in this bag, as I did with the first one. I really like the added structure it gives the bag. In hindsight, I wish I had adhered the fleece to the lining fabric and then maybe used a lightweight interfacing on the outer fabric. This would have kept the outer fabric looking just as smooth and structured as it does, but added some stability for the pockets in the lining. However, it still works and looks nice.

I'm sorry that I don't know what this fabric is. I'd already had it in my stash for about a year before I made this bag, which was two years ago. So I don't have any information on that. The button is vintage from my stash and matches the small dots on the fabric perfectly!

I designed the pockets to accomodate a 1-liter Sigg water bottle, a cell phone, and a good-sized wallet. I used the outer fabric and some fold-over elastic. The bottoms of the pockets have gussets. Constructing the pockets, and figuring out how to attach them without causing the lining fabric to pull, was the trickiest part of this project. You can see that the lining is still wrinkled from the way the were attached before. I ended up figuring out a good way, and they are going to work really nicely, I think. There is also a standard flat pocket which can be used for smaller or more light-weight objects.

I may take my time on delivering things, but I'm happy that they are at least well-received!