Brookfield Cross Body Bag with Faux Cork & Painted Textured Fabric

I wanted to make another Brookfield Bag (the others I made in the past had sold). Last year I was playing around with some Shiva Paintstiks in Metallic and Rubbing Texture Plates and created some small pieces of fabric. I wanted to use those fabric pieces in a bag someday, but wasn't sure what bag and if I would have enough of the painted fabric. So I was looking at my patterns one day and I measured the Brookfield and it would work! Yay! I paired it with cotton-looking cork fabric and made a matching Little Wallet to match. I am quite pleased how this bag turned out.

The bag measures 11" wide x 7" high.

I added a back zippered pocket to the bag.

Inside is a divided pocket that fits a pen on each side and the wallet fits perfectly in the center pocket.

If you would like to purchase this bag, contact me. This bag sold at a craft show 11/21

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Brookfield Bag in Cowgirl Boots & Hats Fabric

I listed this bag on Etsy recently and it sold right away. Yay! So now I will show you the bag. This is the Brookfield Bag by Sew Sweetness. I used a cute Cowgirl Boot & Hat fabric paired with the red to accent the bag. I like this bag style and have made several in the past.

A cross body adjustable bag with a turn lock closure.

I love how cute the boots and hats are. Just had to pair this fabric with red.

Back of the bag.

Inside is a slip pocket of the exterior fabric. 

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Brookfield Bag with Boxed Corners

I wanted to play around with a few bags that I have made before and make even more changes, so I decided to try boxing the corners of the Brookfield Bag (by Sew Sweetness). I really like how this one came out. It gives the bag a bit more room inside. I added an accent strip on the bottom instead of the 4 corner patches. I really like the sweet look of the four patches, but I thought it would be nicer to provide more space. It's still a small-medium sized bag measuring 8 1/2" wide x 8 1/2" high x 3" deep. (Which could be small to some and medium sized to others depending on your point of view).

Since I chose to make another hot air balloon fabric bag, I didn't want to add any exterior pockets on the back to interfere with the design. The next Brookfield with boxed corners I make will have a back exterior pocket; either a zippered pocket, a slip pocket or a welt pocket. See I still need to play around and see what I think looks best, so I may need to make 3 more Brookfield Bags and try a different pocket on each bag.

Brookfield Bag made with boxed corners.

Instead of adding the 4 corner patches, I boxed the corners and added an accent strip where the 4 corner patches would have gone.  By boxing the corners, the bag is a bit roomier inside.

Back of the bag.

The bag is slightly deeper with the boxed corners.

A slip pocket with a pen pocket inside.

Seems a bit roomier with the corners of the bag being boxed.

This one will be going to the local shows(s) in November to see if anyone loves it enough to want to purchase it and take it home with them. 

I am making some changes to another bag design that I making right now to see how it turns out. I will be posting that one later this month.
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Brookfield Bag in Hot Air Balloon Fabric

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is almost here! Always starts the first Saturday in October and runs for 9 days. So to celebrate the annual event here, I made a few bags with hot air balloon fabric. I will post a different bag with hot air balloon fabric on my blog here a few times a week. I am also selling these bags, so contact me ASAP if you are interested in purchasing this or any others that I do post.

The bags will be added to my Etsy shop as time permits. Since it takes quite a bit of time to upload and write a description and answer all the questions Etsy asks, like the categories it should be placed in, the main color, keywords, etc., I would rather sell my bags and things here from my blog. I understand why they need to ask all that so it makes searching easier, but even so type in a few keywords on any subject on Etsy and you get a million or so hits and who has time to even look at all that? And since I post here anyway, I would much rather not have to spend the extra time to sell on Etsy, but it seems that in order to be a real shop, I must cave in and use Etsy to sell, even though this is a hobby, not a real business of mine. Time will tell if Etsy is worth the time or not. I opened Etsy way back in 2009 and didn't do well at all since you have to be known first in order to be found. So after blogging now for over 10 years, I am hoping I will be a bit more known in order to make a few sales. It's not about the money either, it's that I have to sew for my sanity and creativity, so it's my therapy really. And I don't have the room to keep all I make. I do donate quite a bit a year to various places as well. Okay enough about that and on with my bag!

This is the Brookfield Bag, (a free pattern from Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness).  I made an adjustable strap so it can be worn on the shoulder or across the body. The bag closes with a flap tab and turn or twist lock closure.  Inside the bag is a slip pocket that I divided to include a pen pocket. It is a sweet small-medium size bag that measures 11" wide x 7" high (not including the straps). Made of 100% cotton fabric, woven fusible interfacing and fusible fleece. Metal rings, an adjustable slider, turn lock and rivets all add a nice silver accent to the bag.

The Hot Air balloon fabric is a digitally printed fabric so it really looks realistic.

Twist or turn lock closure.

Back of the Brookfield Bag.

Inside is a slip pocket with a pen pocket. Roomy for a smallish sized bag.

If you would like to purchase this Brookfield Bag before I add it to my Etsy shop, please email me ASAP. This bag has SOLD!
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Small Savannah Bag #4 & Brookfield Bag

I made 2 bags recently on a commission, one is a small Savannah Bag, which is a bag pattern from Chris W Designs that I reduced in size and added a zippered pocket under the flap and eliminated several of the other pockets that weren't needed for this smaller sized bag.

The second bag is the Brookfield Bag that is a a free pattern from Sew Sweetness. I made some changes on this bag too. Funny thing is the instructions say to use 1/2" seams unless otherwise noted on this bag, yet on each step you were instructed to sew a 1/4" seam or 1/8" seam and there was not one time when you even sewed a 1/2" seam! I guess no one caught that when testing this bag, lol!!! I really like this small bag and it will be perfect for a young girl. It's a gift for a 10-year old girl, from the woman who commissioned it.

Baseball fabric was requested for this bag as it's a gift for someone who loves baseball. I didn't have any baseball fabric so I had to purchase some. I found this fabric with the baseball bats and balls and it has a retro feeling to it. I made a magnetic closure for this bag instead of the swivel hook closure. It makes it easier to open and close the flap.

The back of the bag has a zippered pocket.

Inside I added slip pockets on both sides of the bag, one with a pen pocket in the center. I also added a swivel hook to hold keys.

I added a swivel hook to hold keys inside the bag.

I made 2 zipper pulls, one for each zippered pocket.

This is the Brookfield Bag that I made. I used a magnetic snap for the closure of the bag and I used D-rings, but no swivel hooks. I don't like to use swivel hooks on straps. I guess I don't see the point unless there is a reason to remove them. The kind of swivel hooks that I have can get caught on knitwear too if you are wearing a sweater. But the nicer swivel hooks like the kind that most bags makers use don't have a little latch thingee on them like mine do.

This lining fabric is actually a sage green, but looks gray in the photo. The purple accent fabric is much brighter in person too. Royal purple never photographs true, even in the viewfinder of the camera it looks more blue than purple! I didn't make the pocket with elastic as the pattern calls for. I made slip pockets and added a pen pocket in the center of one. I also added a purple trim to the top of the pockets.

This is the back of the bag.

I cut the strap of the bag down quite a bit as it was too long. So I made a key ring fob with the extra strap fabric that I cut off. 

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