This was my New Year’s project, the Sew Together Bag by Michelle at Sew Demented. After hemming and hawing over four different color combinations (brights? linen with a patchwork stripe? Liberty?), I settled on a pale gray crosshatch with an abstract arrangement of hexies featuring fussy cut Moon Bunnies from Rashida Coleman Hale’s Mochi line. I used Moon Bunnies for the lining as well.
It was important to me to pick fabrics for this project that I wouldn’t tire of quickly. It’s a daily-use bag, holding my scissors, rotary cutters, favorite thimble, and best glass head pins. The gray crosshatch is a favorite of mine, a shade of pale gray from Joann’s own line that pairs with just about everything. I’d been saving the Moon Bunnies for something special and love how the whimsical print appears when the bag is open. Those lively little bunnies make me smile.
You’ve probably seen this bag all over Pinterest and Instagram, with good reason. It’s a great combination of practical (stores lots of stuff!), flexible (looks great in lots of colors and prints!), and cute (accordion-style! handles made out of the zippers!). It’s well worth making. It is not, however, a throw-it-together-in-an-hour project. Parts of the bag are tricky to navigate due to bulk and require patience. There are a few steps in the pattern, like sewing on the side bindings, where an additional photo or two would be helpful. You’ll also need to guess at the placement of any decoration you put on the outside of the bag. It’s not immediately obvious how much of the exterior will become the bottom of the bag. (My suggestion: any horizontal decoration should be within 1.5” to 3” from the top zippered edge of the bag.) I found a Sew Together Bag sew-along at Quilt Barn that provided helpful step-by-step photos to supplement the pattern.
That said, this is one of those patterns that you’ll probably re-make for yourself and for gifts. Can’t you see this in a dark linen as a man’s toiletry bag, or a cheerful oilcloth for a child’s travel art kit?
(Speaking of oilcloth, did you know they make chalk oilcloth?? I just found out. Write on, wipe off. Holy moly. I see lots of smocks and aprons in my future.)
Oh, and one last word from the wise(ish): Buy those zippers a bit long. I used 12” zippers in place of the 9” ones and was able to avoid having to be precise about centering. It’s the little things.
Happy sewing!