Berry Bag

I made a cute little berry bag for a partner in a recent craft swap on Craftster.  She had it on her Wist, and she mentioned it as a big wish in another swap, but it didn't appear that she had received one yet, probably because the pattern isn't available online.  A little research led me to the pattern in this book:

...and because I was in a hurry and didn't want to wait for it to come in the mail, I decided to download "21 Sensational Patchwork Bags" to my iPad.  I wondered how I would copy the patterns, but I threw caution to the wind and went ahead and bought the download.

Just as I suspected, buying the e-version of a pattern book wasn't that great.  I ended up enlarging the patterns (to the size I though was right) on the screen, then placing paper on my iPad and tracing them.  The bag is made of two differnt petal-shaped pieces (one for the berry and one for the leaves), and I was surprised that the "test" bag I made came together perfectly!  The only problem was, I added interfacing (I seem to be addicted to interfacing!) and the bag was too stiff to close properly, so I removed the drawstrings and now I'm using is as a threadcatcher in my sewing area.  I love my "reject" bag!

The berry bag in the book is made of patchwork, but my partner had "Wisted" some that were made in batiks, so I used these beautiful batik fabrics for hers.

Making the little balls for the ends of the cords was trickier than I expected it to be.  It took a LOT of stitching around the tops to get the shape just right.

The bag is really small, about 4" wide and tall.

I used the same fabric for the lining as for the outside, but it would be pretty with a different fabric inside.

My partner loves her berry bag!

Going back to the book for a moment--I highly recommend "21 Sensational Patchwork Bags" if you have any interest in patchwork or bags.  There is a lot of information, and a lot of interesting bags in all sizes and styles.  Just do yourself a favor and buy the PAPER version!