Quatro Bag in Paris Print

I found the pattern to the Quatro Bag at a thrift shop and bought it. I had seen this bag online before and thought it was a cute style. It's a Studio Kat Design.

When I started to sew this bag, there was a lot of confusing parts. First the pattern was printed in such a tiny size font and in a light brown color, that it was hard for me to even read it. I literally had to scan the pages into my computer and enlarge the size in order to read it clearly. This is my number one reason for loving and preferring pdf patterns versus paper patterns, is that I can read them and enlarge if need be on my screen.

Next the text and diagrams were crammed onto the page too, making it hard to follow and know what went with what. Some of the instructions were very good and some questionable. Some things had no explanation whatsoever, such as the pocket that is open on both sides. What in the world is that pocket used for? Nothing mentioned in the bag description, nothing mentioned in the instructions. I am still baffled as to what you would use it for exactly.

I had to make some changes such as adding interfacing to the interior pieces and outer pieces, and adding a firm interfacing to the bottom, as well as adding a zipper pocket to the interior.

Overall this bag did really turn out cute and I am pleased with it. Would I make it again? Probably not. This took a lot of time to make and had too many pieces to sew, with hard to read instructions.

On the front here is a pocket thingee that is open along both ling sides. See the topstitching? You can put a magazine, newspaper and closed small umbrella or? through this slide through pocket, but no mention on the pattern anywhere what this is supposed to be used for. Maybe you take off your cardigan when it's hot and slide it through the opening? Would you lose it stuck in there? Things could fall out or be pulled out by someone else. So unless you know what you would use that for, it seems rather useless and a waste of material and time to sew it to the bag. I should have put something in there so you could see it better. I couldn't even find one photo online of this pocket being used either.

And on the sides, there is only one pocket and what looks like a pocket but isn't. You can see the gap between the red and aqua fabric, that is the pocket. But where the aqua and Paris print fabric meet, no pocket. 

The bag has a recessed zipper

The back of the bag has a zippered pocket.

I added a zipper pocket inside as there weren't any pockets for the inside of the bag.

I sewed the lining with a larger seam allowance to try and make the lining fit snugger, but it still is a bit loose. The directions had you use the same seam allowance as the exterior, which would make for an even baggier lining.

A pretty button on the zipper end.

I didn't show the bottom of the bag because it is an oval that is sewn to the bag and you are told to ease in the larger bag to the oval shape and make pleats evenly around. I didn't care for that. I think the bag would have looked better if the oval fit the bottom (making the bag taper at the base perhaps) or there were designated places around the bottom to make a pleat so that it fit better. No one really sees the bottom of this bag, but the person using it, but it bothered me it wasn't a better fit. I did add a thick interfacing to make it a bit more sturdy at least.

The pattern for this bag is rather pricey and I would never have purchased it if I hadn't found it at a thrift shop for cheap. I really do not like how in most paper patterns that they cram so much into as much space as they can and that makes it hard to read and hard to follow and some things seem to be missing or confusing. For a bag like this that is quite involved to make, it should have been a pdf and had photos, lots of them to help you understand clearly each step and written in black and a larger font so it could be easier to read.

I also prefer each step to be on one page and not have to scroll down and then back up (like newspaper columns), before moving on to the next page and then repeating the scrolling. That is a pain to do the scrolling and makes it easy to skip something. There are even pdf instructions for bags that have this format and I don't understand why they use that format? Most people I know do not like that format. Those designers who sell both pdf and printed patterns, I guess they want to use less paper? There are those people who print out the entire directions too, (why I will never understand) and not just the template pieces, but all of it. Some pdf instructions can be 50-70 pages long, so why would you print all that out, especially without knowing yet if you even want to make that pattern again? Talk about being an expensive pattern! Even the free patterns would cost a lot of $ if you printed every word.
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