Friday, July 20, 2012

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!

6 comments:

Alexandra Abarca said...

Hi Leslie your berry bag is too cute, thanks for the advice of the book.

Have a nice weekend.

Ale
Costa Rica

wendiek said...

That is a very cute bag!

You shouldn't advice me about books, hahaha I already have so many :-)

Wasn't it possible to enlarge the pattern and print it?
Or print it and then enlarge with a photocopy machine??

BTW, amy butler's style stitches is also a great book WITH the patterns added in paper!

Kay said...

I have never seen a berry bag before, just fun and cute.

Drawstring Bags said...

Your berry bag is so cute. Thanks for your Nice thought.

LimeRiot said...

How cute!! These would be adorable for wrapping little gifts. Plus, it's a gift in itself!!

Thanks for the feedback on the pattern download. Good to know.

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