a brace of bags ...

I finished a second bias bag today. This time I opted for brighter binding a gorgeous hot pink. I also made some of the changes to the pattern. I decided to just have the two pockets at the front rather than the four in the original, the handles were also made slightly narrower and a little longer so that it would sit more easily on my shoulder.
It also has a gusset (not the most attractive of words but it does offer the best description) to help make it wider so I can fit more stuff in it without it bulging too much.It is quite a flimsy bag so I'm not sure how well it will stand up to the daily rigors and trials I put bags through. In fact I made sure that I stitched all the elements togther before sewing on the binding just to add an extra layer of stitching to hopefully make it a little stronger.

I plan to road test it tomorrow - which means that I can give my Lotta bag a bit of a rest. After not being entirely complimentary when I first made it I have now fallen in love with it. The floppiness that annoyed me when I made it now seems totally right and prefect. I can just shove loads of stuff into it and it happily copes with it all. It doesn't gape open nearly as much as I thought it would and when I wear on my shoulder I feel quite confident that it would be quite hard to 'dip'.

The little pocket at the end where I keep my bottle of water is so useful, and I just love that I can always find my keys at the bottom of the bag because of the special key strap thingy. The only thing I did do was add a piece of mountboard covered in the lining fabric to the base of the bag to offer a little structure - thanks for the idea rebecca.

I'm not sure how much sewing I will get done between now and Sunday as I have family visting for a couple of days and a couple of events to attend. Which is slightly frustrating as I have top I want to make. I have the fabric and the pattern, I just need to cut it out and sew it up! I have also realised that I am a few days away from my blogiversary so I would like to plan a little celebratory giveaway but need to get my thinking cap on for that one....