2nd Bag Down!

I have finished the second bag! This is the largest of the three, and perfect for carrying my sketchbook and pencils in style. I tried the bag out the other night at a star party held by the San Bernardino Valley Amateur Astronomers (www.sbvaa.org). After viewing the quarter moon, and Saturn, through so many different types of telescopes, Sophie (my little grand daughter) and I found a spot for our chairs, then we began drawing the people moving about in the light of the parking lot. The bag held my larger sketchbook, pencil roll, and a change of clothes for Sophie.

The fun part of making these bags is finding the contrasting fabrics, buttons, or jewelry ornaments that add your own special touch to the pattern. For this bag I did make a few changes to accommodate the extra weight I knew the drawing supplies would have. So for the interfacing I used stiffer, craft weight fusible on the handles, and both inside/outside pockets. For the bottom, I used a super stiff, double side fusible interfacing and a piece of foam core board (instead of the cardboard the pattern called for) that made the bottom harder and strong enough to hold the weight of the sketchbook.

The smaller bag is just right for my crochet and knitting projects. The inner pockets could use a little redesigning to better hold needles and hooks; I also thought about making a bag with a skein holder that will keep the yarn in place when I take my work out of the bag.

I have just enough scraps left to make the third and smallest of the bags. The smaller bag will be perfect for carrying the daily needs stuff, plus a good book to read or my smaller notebooks. Actually, I've just gotten caught up in making these bags and I'm looking for any excuse to make the next one!

I'm using McCall's pattern M6409 for this set of 3 bags (http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m6409-products-14672.php?page_id=104). Simplicity patterns have come up with a good selection and I have also found a Butterick pattern, B5197, that I would like to make for an everyday bag. I'm planning on making the overnight bag (pictured above, center, Simplicity 2274) for Autumn (my teen grand daughter); this would be great for the summertime slumber parties.