Bag pursuits

I started out by making a paper pattern according to the diagram shown in yesterday's post, then folded it together to make sure that it would fit itself - and not be too big for my height.

I didn't make patterns for the pockets. I tend to like to do that as I go along, figuring out where they would be most useful.

The bag will be constructed in three layers, then all the layers put together at the end. I'm making the outside layer first.

The outside of the bag is brown batik, the lining is going to be a combination of some of my minty hand dye (I knew it would eventually come in handy!), and a lovely blue/green batik.

Anyone who followed my last bag construction project knows that I'm the pocket queen! This one needs a zip pocket on the closing flap (for keys, hotel keys, anything I don't really want to have to dig for).
The first step was to piece the top edge of the flap - this is where that great strip pieced yardage from yesterday came in (just as an accent, don't worry - I'll use more later). Second step was to put the zipper into what will be the bottom edge of the flap, or the top of the pocket. You can see here that the lining is green, the outer bag is brown.

Once the zip was in, the bottom edge of the pocket fabric was folded up until it met the top edge of the unsewn edge of the zipper. (This creates the pocket - before it was just two pieces of fabric with a zipper at the top)

Then, I brought over the top edge of the pocket, my accent strip. This was placed on top of the zipper so that the fold edge covered the zipper itself, and the raw edge was even with the top (unsewn) edge of the zipper and the pocket fabric. Then I sewed through all the layers, stitching near the ditch of the accent strip.

I put the zipper in the very middle with a bit of room on either side as I knew that the whole works would have to be trimmed to size.

The last photo here shows how the bag looks when folded roughly into shape. It will be as wide as the flap once it is all done. The black you can see in the final photo is a layer of black 80/20 batting. It's not attached yet and is there to see how it changes the weight of the piece.

The final bag dimensions that I'm aiming for are 15" wide X 10" high X 3" deep.

I'll find 15 minutes later today to put the other front pockets on the outside (under the flap, on the front of the bag).

Happy stitching,

Lisa