That's my bag, Baby

I won't comment on Big Brother other than to say I won't be watching the finale. I didn't watch last night either (it's good to be on the west coast!). Instead, I made bags to cheer myself up.

I started with a pattern I saw online, and it looked pretty simple. It was a good way to practice lining and piecing, so I gave it a shot. I'm actually pretty happy with the way it turned out except the opening is a bit on the small side. Jay says that's a good thing, because it'll prevent a lot of crap from going into the bag. Anyways, it'll be more for spring, since it's so pink and flowery:



I put a little pocket on the inside, and used a really pretty green and pink flowered cotten for the lining:



Next, I made a messenger bag for school. I only have one class this quarter, and the messenger bag I was using is really big, so I made one that'll be perfect for holding just a couple of books. Thank God I don't have to lug that Anatomy textbook around this quarter!

The messenger bag was actually pretty easy, because I found a really good pattern on crafster.org. I also had some great fabric that was perfect for the Fall/Winter months. I decided to jazz this bag up by using a belt for a strap instead of making the straps.



I put a little pocket on the front flap to hold my bus pass, and used this egyptian looking stitch around the pocket edges to give it a little flair.



I lined the inside with a cheery yellow/gold color, and put two pockets, one for pens and pencils, and one on the other side for whatever.



Perfect size for my books!



I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I love the belt as strap look. The only thing I might have done differently is used some interfacing on the fabric to give it just a little bit more stiffness, but it's not something I'll stress about because I think it's awesome and I will definitely use it.

Okay, that's it for the bag stuff for a while. I have to go pack now, because the girls and I are going camping this weekend and we're leaving in a few hours. I'm a bit excited because it turns out there's a quilt show where we're going to be, so I'm all over that.