Ever heard the saying “the cobbler’s children have no shoes”? That’s what it’s been like (a bit) around here. This handbag making mama was carrying a purse that I made over a year ago and it was showing its age quite a lot. I’ve been wanting to make myself a new bag using the Katie Jump Rope fabrics. And last week I got my hands on a pattern for the Run Mama Run bag and decided to test it with KJR.
The original pattern yields quite a large bag, almost a tote, really, and far too big for my everyday use. You all know what happens when one carries too large a purse…everything ends up in there and then nothing can be found. So I downsized the pattern, by hand, because I didn’t want to take all five of my dear blessings out to the copy store. Dear hubby had accepted a last minute invite to a baseball game and wasn’t home yesterday when I decided to do this. I trimmed a little here, a little there and started laying out fabric and cutting.
This pattern has several pieces, but it is fairly straighforward. My biggest pet peeve about bag patterns does make an appearance in this pattern: the pattern for the outer and the lining are the same size. I think this is because the bag *can* be made to be reversible, but I do think that there should be an explanation on how to make the lining smaller for a traditional bag. I find it very annoying when a lining won’t sit properly flat in the bottom of the bag because there is too much of it.
I did make a cutting error…when I downsized the pattern, I forgot to downsize the width of my straps when I cut them, so they were too wide. I just put little pleats at the bottom, which I actually like, but it wasn’t part of the original pattern.
Here is my lovely model with my new bag:
The other problem I ran into was that for some reason the outer bag fabric developed a few wrinkles during the process. I used fusible fleece (which I’ve used many times before without a problem) for the outer and all looked good until I turned the bag. I’ve steamed it a bit and some of the wrinkles left, but I guess I need to get more steamy.
One thing I do like about this bag is that it stands up by itself. I was worried that because I narrowed the width, it would be too narrow to do this, but there it is, standing up.
I put pockets on both sides, one is divided to hold my cell phone and keys. The other is long and will hold my yearly planner calendar thingie.
Did I mention it’s still a little big for me? That’s my new wallet way down there. Looks a little lost. I’ll probably trek off to the copy center later this week. I really like this pattern, the style and looks appeal to me, but I need something smaller…just big enough for my wallet, phone, keys. This version will be great to use when I need to also take a couple of diapers or a book or bottle of water.
Speaking of wallets, I made a new one of those for me, too. Below, the old one is on the top, my bright shiny new one is on the bottom. (duh, right?)
My wallet pattern is based on the tutorial at that*darn*kat (the link is over there –> ). This time, I added a zipper compartment instead of more card slots. If I had any cash, it would be artfully peeking out from behind either the cards or the zipper compartment.
So, that is how I spent my Sunday. Now, its “clean-up Monday” at our house. Mt. Laundry and Mt. Dishes await. I have several sewing projects to do for local clients and a custom bag to start. And I hope to post a review of a new book I snagged: A is for Apron.
Have a great Monday!!
