Serendipity Hip Bag in Triangle Print Fabric

I made this Serendipity Hip Bag (a ChrisW Design bag) last year. I have been making them with a straight across top instead of the curved top because it seems that most of the people who buy this style bag, prefer the straight top. I have had this fabric for so long, that I just had to use it in a bag and Serendipity Hip seemed the best bag for this print.

There is a zippered closure, zippered front pocket, and a hidden cell phone pocket behind the zippered pocket.

A zippered pocket in the front.

Back of bag.

Inside is a zippered pocket and credit card pockets with a cash pocket behind it.

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The Strapfield Convertible Size Small Bag

I tested the large version of the Strapfield Convertible Bag (denim with koala applique) recently and I wanted to make the small size too, so this is my small version of the Strapfield. The pattern (and video available too) is a ChrisW Design pattern.

The convertible part of this bag is that you can wear it on one shoulder, or as a backpack, or unhook the hook and re-hook into the upper rings on the bag and now it becomes a cross body bag. There are adjustable straps so you can fit it to how you like to wear the bag.

I made this one for myself, so I decided to go bright! I started with a woven plaid material (it was once a table cloth because I bought it at a thrift shop). I love this bright plaid and all the colors in it, so I wanted to use as many of the colors in this plaid in the bag itself.

I also wanted to add some of my own variations and touches to this bag. One thing I did was I took apart 2 zippers, one in turquoise and one in orange and then zipped them back together using one side of each of the colors. That added a bit of whimsy to the bag.
I added 3 rivets on the top front pocket instead of dividing the pocket in half. I used different colors and prints of fabrics for the strap, lining and the pockets too. It's so fun and makes me smile when I see how colorful it is.

So here she is, my small Strapfield Converible Bag:

The zipper I made with an orange and a turquoise zipper that I took apart and made using the 2 colors. I didn't get a close photo of the zipper end, but you can see that orange and white polka dot button I sewed onto the zipper tab end sticking up.

Like the front zippered pocket, the zippered closure I made with 2 halves of different colored zippers (turquoise and orange).

The cell phone pocket on the back of the bag is so handy and Christine has an updated way of making this pocket that is great!

Bag back.

I wanted to use all the colors that are in the plaid and so I used 2 different fabrics inside the front zippered pocket,

Inside the bag the gusset is a purple-periwinkle color and one lining side is turquoise and the other lining side is orange.

On the orange lining side, I added a turquoise pocket with a yellow binding at the top.

I quilted the bottom and side gussets. I wanted to make sure the heavy interfacing stayed in place on the bottom.

My stuff inside.

Closer look at my stuff inside. 

Straps how it would be worn as a backpack. 

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Laminated Card Wallets

I had been wanting to try laminating fabric and I read about Heat and Bond and Pellon iron on vinyl products and what others had to say about them and decided on the Pellon brand. Pellon according to some reviewers wrinkles less than Heat and Bond does when you turn the project right side out. Well for my first project to try, I wanted something easy and quick and no turning involved, so I made a couple of card wallets.

This first wallet I made, I laminated the fabric on the outside and the lining side too. It worked okay, but when placing my cards into the wallet I found I could only place 3 cards on each side or the cards stuck to the laminated plastic and would be too hard to remove or add more. So first lesson learned.

My next attempt was to only laminate the exterior fabric and keep the lining as just cotton fabric. This worked better and allowed me to add a few more cards inside without anything sticking.

The process of ironing the vinyl onto to fabric was easy to do. It was easy to sew as well. I will make other items as needed using the iron on vinyl. Since I prefer sewing with fabric, the laminated fabric can come in handy for a variety of projects. There are some free patterns for other wallets online using cork or leather, but I could make them with laminated fabric instead. Why not? I already have what I need and simple wallets can use up all those tons of fabric scraps accumulating in my scrap bags!

The first wallet I showed will be included in a zippered pouch I made as a custom order. She asked for me to include some of my cards in the bag, so I thought it would be great if she had a little wallet to keep the cards in.
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Sunshine Cross Body Bag in Hot Air Balloon Print

I made the Sunshine Cross Body bag, which is a free pdf from Bagstock Sewing Patterns. I love how this one came out. It is a sweet style and not too large or small of a bag. I chose this hot air balloon print and the gray Uncorked fabric print and love them together. The bag features a zippered closure, a front zippered pocket, a zippered interior pocket and I also added a slip pocket inside too.

This bag is currently listed for sale in my Etsy Shop. When it's gone it's gone. I may make more of this style bag, but not in the same fabrics.

I even added a hot air balloon charm zipper pull to the front zippered pocket.

Inside is a zippered pocket and I added a slip pocket with a pen pocket.

This is the back side of the bag.

I made another Sunshine Cross Body bag that I will be posting soon. I also enlarged the pattern so I can try making a larger one too.
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Churn Dash Quilt Block with Bee Applique

A dear friend had a significant birthday in December, so I asked all the members of our applique group to make any quilt block for her, in any size and any colors they wanted to but to add ab applique bee on it and sign their name and the year. Our applique group has the word bee in it, so I thought was appropriate. Here is the block that I made her, a churn dash with an applique bee in the center. I do love the churn dash block and so does my friend, which I didn't know until I gave it to her.

I used a shimmery fabric for the wings and did all the stitching by machine. Not my best work because my shoulder was in pain and I was having trouble keeping this neat for a small piece. 

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The Strapfield Convertible Bag

I loved testing this bag, The Strapfield Convertible Bag from ChrisW Designs. I tested the size large and the pdf or video course includes both the large and the small size. I will be making the small size next.

As you can see below from the photos, this bag can be worn as a backpack, a shoulder bag or remove the strap with the hooks and hook it on the top round rings and voila a cross body bag too! This bag would be great for hikes or as a on the go diaper bag, all day shopping event, a theme park day, day at the beach, school bag, etc... the list goes one and on!

There are so many cool features too, including oodles of pockets inside and out. I left off the optional cargo pocket with the flap that could be added to the front over the divided pocket where I added a koala applique and butterflies instead. The front pocket can be divided in half yielding 2 pockets or don't sew the dividing line and you have a large pocket, great for a water bottle. Above the front slip pocket is a zippered pocket. There are pockets inside and a great phone pocket on the back of the bag. So you can really specialize the bag to your tastes and needs by adding pockets or not.

The bag closes with a zippered closure to keep it all nice and secure.

Here is my version in denim with a touch of applique (Koala from Shiny Happy People).

The bottom has a heavy weight interfacing fused in place, but I also quilted through it to make sure it stayed nice and secure.

Zippered bag closure and on the upper back of the bag is the phone pocket with rivets on the sides.

I added Pocket Supplement A to this bag. You can purchase this pocket supplement separately for a few dollars. It features a pen pocket on the left side, a pleated pocket and a slip pocket in the red polka dot fabric and behind that is another pocket that is divided in half. so just right here you have 5 pockets!

Zippered inside pocket across the street from the Supplement A slip pockets.

Outside front zippered pocket.

This large bag is nice and roomy. If you make this bag with the cargo pocket on the front and the Supplement A pockets inside, plus the other pockets you would have a total of eleven pockets in all! Mine has only ten pockets, lol!

You can purchase the pdf only or the video course which includes the pdf. I tested the video course and it's fabulous! if you sign up for Christine's newsletter you can get a discount code for this bag and any future bag patterns, but the code expires Thursday, Australia time.
By signing up to receive Christine's newsletter, you will also get the free Coco bag pattern and get all the latest updates and info on future bag patterns.

To see more versions of this bag in the 2 sizes, visit the blog that shows the other tester versions. Plus you can see the cargo pocket on most of the test versions to decide if you would like to add that pocket to your bag or not.

And see Christine show you both sizes and how the bag converts in her preview video here.
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