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Not-so-Ugly-Now Bag

Monday, April 10, 2006

The ugly fabric metamorphosed into a beautiful bag! While I may never carry this particular bag anywhere, I really like the way it turned out. It's a nice size and all my "stuff" fits inside with room to spare. Other than dealing with the bulky materials, it was a breeze to sew, and a nice trial for a bag that will complement my wardrobe.

Should I reach a point where I actually have adequate clothing and can spend the time making another purse, this is the one.

My design for this bag was actually sparked a while back. Remember Hot Patterns free Nairobi bag pattern? Like most everyone else in the internet sewing community, I downloaded the pattern as soon as HP made it available. When I printed it, I could tell immediately that the bag was too big for me. Looking at photos of the finished bags, I knew that I shouldn't waste my time working on anything that big--I'd have to cut it down. The short handle was impractical for me and I didn't particularly care for the "vee" at the top, either.

When the Ugly Fabric swap project came down to the wire, I decided to design a bag incorporating the one feature of the Nairobi that I really loved--the piecing on the outside. To suit my lifestyle better, though, my bag is smaller and shaped a bit differently. I gave it a shoulder strap, three inside pockets and a nice flat bottom.

I decided that cutting my front panels on the bias would show off the fabric to best advantage. With the fusible interfacing, I shouldn't have to worry about any wonky stretching.

On the front of the bag, I added metallic gold middy (?) braid to accent the seam lines. I tried several different trims to complement the gold threads that are shot through the fabric. The middy braid was the only one that wasn't *too much*. When I finished applying the braid, the look of it really bowled me over--it looked great, even on the half-finished bag. I didn't want the braid on both sides, though, so on the back of the bag, I topstitched close to each side of the seamline. That looked so much more understated and elegant that I wanted to rip the middy braid off the front. I resisted the urge, and now am glad I did. The middy braid suits this bag.

The topstitching, however, will be the treatment of choice for my next bag of this style.

Inside, I used the companion fabric that my friends helped me select a few weeks ago. There are pockets on both the front and back of the bag. If this bag were destined to see heavy use, I would have added a magnetic snap.

For structure, I used the new to me Decor Bond interfacing. It adhered very well to the ugly fabric and made it look much more stable. I actually used the interfacing on every single layer of the bag, including the pockets and lining. At the handle, this meant sewing through 14 layers. You *know* I broke some needles. Even when I traded up to the size 18 needle, the machine balked. At least the needle did not break.

I'm thrilled with the bag--it's pretty, and the right size. I can't imagine myself carrying it, but you never know what trends will show up next year.

I hear gold is coming back.