Tag Archives: purse

A Linen/Cotton Version of the Hobo Bag

I told you I wanted one of these shoulder bags for myself! I have made two for Julia which you can see here and here. The pattern is a freebie from Very Purple Person.

They are so fun to make, don’t take too much time and not a lot of fabric so why not? It is a great way to use this sweet Japanese fabric that was given to me by my friend Patty. She vacationed in Japan about a year ago and when she returned she sent me five pieces of fun fabrics. Three of them were a beautiful cotton-linen blend and I have been holding on to them and thinking of how I wanted to use them.

Each cut is 1/2 yard and I was happy to be able to squeak a bag out of this one! I had to piece the shoulder strap a bit but you can’t even see it. The fabric has a great weight to it. I washed and dried it first because I suspected there would be some shrinkage. It was minimal though. Rather than sewing a gusset into the bottom of the bag for width, the designer simply used two wide darts at the bottom corners of the outer and interior fabrics. Very easy!

As usual, I added two interior patch pockets. Purses need pockets to keep the little things from always ending up at the bottom of the bag. The lining is an older print that has been in my stash forever. How great to use it up and have one less piece in the pile!

A simple hair elastic was added to loop around the button as a closure. I did this after the fact (meaning I forgot to stitch it in while constructing the bag.) But this was not a big deal. I basted the elastic (with my machine) where I wanted it. Then I folded up a square of fabric so no raw edges showed and stitched it over the bottom of the elastic. Let’s call it a design element, shall we?

This button has been in my button jar for a very long while and it is perfect! I am happy to add this bag to my collection. A selection of different purses is fun to have – I am one who changes them out all the time. This one will be great for the fall which is just around the corner! If you are intimidated by making a bag, this is the pattern to try. It truly is simple. The most difficult part is turning the whole thing right side out as you pull it through the shoulder strap as it is bulky and can feel awkward. If you try it and have any problems, email me. Happy to help.

Adding a pocket or two to the interior (or exterior) is simple as well. Here is a link to a great tutorial if you need more information. Again, if you need help, send me a note.

Finally, I have a great giveaway happening on Instagram today and tomorrow. Be sure to click over and check it out!!

Love this New Purse!

14 Replies

This is the second purse I have made for Julia. When she asked me to make her a new purse, she said she wanted the same pattern as the first one. This was fine with me because I really love the pattern. It is a free tutorial found over at Very Purple Person. The intention is to make a reversible bag but Julia wanted an interior pocket so this one isn’t truly reversible.

It is a great looking hobo style bag. Very casual and soft. Julia didn’t want any sort of batting or interfacing in it so it hangs with a cute slouchy look.

I did put the pocket on the interior. The corners are a bit puckered though so not my best pocket ever. It is nice and deep which means it will hold plenty of the small items that end up at the bottom of the purse.

The first purse didn’t have any sort of closure so this time, I added a fabric loop and a nice big button. She also likes longer straps than the pattern calls for so with both purses, I added a 15 inch strip to the straps.

What makes the bag though is Julia’s fabric choice, Harmony with Nature. I really love this print. It has a great watery look to it. The gray circles have this taupe color in the middles looks like wet sand. The lining is called Mystic Gray and is a Pure Solid by Art Gallery Fabric.

I am thinking I will make a bag for me. This pattern is simple and shows off fabric nicely. I think it took about an hour to sew (other than cutting pieces out) so it is a quick finish. It would be fun to have a new bag for fall.

Shop Update

Just a little news about my shop! I have changed my shipping policy a bit and wanted to share that with you. Orders that are $35 and more will ship free in the USA! Orders less than $35 still ship for a flat rate of $6.99. Also, many items ship free regardless. Examples are most notions and the quilt patterns I stock. Hope you will check this out! Makes your online shopping really economical. 🙂

OK – that’s it for now. Hope you are working on a fun project or two. Have a great week all!

Linking up at a few different sites – including the Meadow Mist Designs Favorite Finish Monthly Link-Up.

Cross Body Bag for Travel

13 Replies

Most of the time, I use a big purse. I carry all sorts of stuff, probably more than I really need to. But that doesn’t work as well when I am traveling. If I bring a tote bag or backpack on a plane (for a book, iPad, food etc) it becomes cumbersome to also have a purse.

I decided to make a slim, simple cross body bag for these, not-very-frequent, travel days. This way I will have a purse with my wallet and phone in it while I am traveling and it won’t take up tons of room in the carry-on bag. Brilliant, you say? Aw, shucks…

I chose the Grid fabric from Sarah Golden’s Maker Maker fabric. It is a wonderful cotton and linen blend with great texture. Andover makes it and I have a selection in my shop. I washed the fabric before I started so it would soften up a bit.

When I was thinking about this project, I decided to model it after the 30 Minute Pouch on KelbySews.com. I have made tons of these as gifts. One Christmas I gave them to a number of my friends, my sisters, my mom and mother-in-law. You can check those out here. Anyway, I thought if I just made it substantially larger, added an interior pocket, and loops for a strap, it would be a cute bag. Guess what? I was right! It turned out great. Here are some photos of my process.

I cut the exterior piece, the batting and the lining all the same size, 9″ x 20″. Then I quilted the batting to the exterior piece with three seams. The quilting doesn’t show at all, black thread on a black print, but it held the batting in place while making the bag.

The interior pocket came next. It is a bit of a trick to explain but I took a 5″ square and placed it on top of the lining piece, right sides together. I drew a rectangle toward the top, on the back side of the square and stitched around that rectangle. Next I clipped out the interior of the rectangle so I could turn the fabric to the other side of the lining.

Finally, I took a second 5″ square and sewed it to the flap of fabric that was now on the wrong side of the lining. (I know this is hard to follow and if anyone wants further info, I can write a tutorial. It is a nice way to add a pocket to any bag you are working on. Let me know if you would be interested.)

Interior pocket sewed to lining fabric.

Once the pocket was in place, I set the zipper – I won’t go into detail here because I used the exact process described in the KelbySews tutorial. It is very simple.

Before sewing the side seams, I placed two loops of twill tape, one on each side, to be stitched into the side seam. Then I sewed the side seams.

This bag has exposed seams (the lining doesn’t hide them) so I did run a tight zig zag stitch along each side to finish the fabric.

Once the bag was flipped right side out, it looked like this.

The final piece was to make a long strap. I pieced together two lengths of fabric that were two inches wide. By pressing the raw edges to the center first, then pressing the whole strip in half, and finally stitching the strap all the way down the length of it, I quickly had a shoulder strap. I looped one end through each of the twill tape loops and stitched them together. This means it isn’t adjustable. If you wanted something more flexible, you could buy the hardware to make a little looped finish on the end of one strap.

Peeking at the interior of the bag.

The lining was a scrap from a thrift store but I love it with the Grid fabric.

For measurements, in case you are curious, the bag finishes at 8″ wide, 10″ tall, with a strap that is 50″ long. I think the size is just what I wanted. The only change I would make is to move the zipper up about two inches so I would have a bit more usable space inside the bag. The most functional space is below the zipper and it would be better to have less space above the zipper.