Book bags

The Indie Patterns Month challenge this week on The Monthly Stitch is "Anything but Clothes". My first plan was to make the Fremont Tote Bag by Klum House, which also happens to be this month pattern for #SewMyStyle. I ordered all the necessary supplies last week-end and they arrived during the week but unfortunately I received the wrong colour of waxed canvas. I had ordered the golden colour and received the copper chestnut which wouldn't necessarily go well with the leather straps I had. So I put this one on the back burner and picked the book bag/tote bag pattern from The Maker's Atelier Essential Collection book for the Monthly Stitch challenge.

I found this faux-leather daisy cut out in my stash that I had bought from Minerva Crafts last year with the idea of making a jacket, than never materialised, so I thought it would be good to use it for the bag outside. And while I was at it, I decided I could cut 3 bags to make them as Christmas presents.

Since the daisy are cut out and the faux-leather is slightly stretchy, I decided to make the lined bags. I used some IKEA fabric I had in my stash for the lining. The red one is a  pillowcase which is rather thin, and I am wondering if I should have interfaced but then the interfacing would have shown through the outside.

The white backgroung fabric is more canvas weight so more sturdy.

I bought some webbing straps from my local habberdashery shop yesterday morning. I stitch some to the top of the red bag but didn't make the straps in the same way as described in the book. I didn't stitch tap to the top of the white one since the lining is thicker and actually I like it that way.

I finished 2 out of the 3 bags I cut (the third one is still a work in progress as the top stitch is just horrible and needs to be unpicked). Sewing the bag together was easy enough, finishing the bags with top-stitching was more challenging because the faux-leather was sticking and puckering, despite using a Teflon foot. So here are my 2 bags modeled by my 2 eldest, indoors as the rain is pouring down outside.

I think these will make very nice Christmas presents and I might even cut more, who knows? For now, these 2 are finished and I am rather pleased with how they look as well as having used up some of my stash.

And these are 2 OPAMs as well as 2 off my Q4 FAL list.
Linking to Whoop Whoop Friday.

Celine