Gabbie's Grove: A ChrisW Design Pattern

Christine of ChrisW Designs has designed another bag for her Easy Street Collection of bags and this one is called Gabbie's Grove. Easy Street Collection patterns have fewer pattern pieces and the bag designs are faster and easier to sew, compared to Christine's other bag patterns. Even though these bags are easier to sew they are still loaded with great design features! I loved testing this bag!

This bag can be worn across the body with an adjustable strap. You can also take off the adjustable strap and carry it like a clutch and it can be converted to a backpack as well by looping the adjustable strap through the top carry handle. It can also be carried as a tote bag by the two handles that are on the front of the bag. Such versatility in one bag! I am keeping this bag for myself because it will be a great bag to use for quilt shows and a day out shopping. As I shop, and the bag gets full, it will be able to hold a lot.

The bag is made using a foam stabilizer so when opened up into a tote the shape of the bag will stand up nicely and not flop over.

See testers versions here. Newsletter subscribers only can get the SALE price through March 17 (Australian Eastern Standard time) get 20% off the pattern, but only on Christine's website here. But you need to subscribe to her newsletter to get the discount and get the code.


The Celestial Fabric seemed a perfect choice for me with not only moons, but suns and stars too.

I used a Celestial fabric I had for a long time and a faux cork fabric, called Uncorked that is a quilting cotton that is made to look like cork. I love the look of the faux cork and it comes in several colors. I got 3 colors to use on future bags too.

The back of the bag has a phone/key pocket.

A grab handle, which you can loop the adjustable strap through to convert it to a backpack.

The front of the bag folds over when wearing as a cross body bag or on the shoulder.

A zippered pocket is located on the front of the bag under the folded over front.

The front opens up into a tote bag and can be carried by the shorter handles when you have it full of  goodies from your day of shopping. 

Inside the bag. The bag snaps closed with 2 magnetic snaps, so when it is folded over everything stays nicely inside the bag. And as long as you don't stuff it too much when fully opened, you can snap it closed in this position too.

I added a divided slip pocket inside the bag to hold a couple of pens and a pad of paper.

Opened up showing the back

Opened up showing the front.

Front folded over. 

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Fiona's Freeway Bag in Purple 2

This is the 3rd Fiona's Freeway Bag that I have made. The first one I sold and the woman who bought it requested I make another Fiona in purple. Well her friend liked the purple Fiona so much that she too wanted a Fiona in purple! They are not 100% identical. I did stitch decorative stitches on the flap like I did with the first 2 Fiona's, but not the exact same stitches or the same thread colors. On the first Fiona in purple I appliqued a cat on the interior slip pocket because I knew she liked cats. That was my little surprise for her. Her friend wanted a butterfly on her slip pocket, so I appliqued a butterfly on her pocket. I also used a different lining fabric on purple #2 Fiona.

Fiona's Freeway Bag pattern is from ChrisW Designs Easy Street Collection. Easy Street doesn't mean they are all beginner easy, but just easier with fewer pattern pieces than Christine's other bag patterns. I would say you need some bag making experience before tackling this one, but Christine's instructions are excellent, so as long as you take it step-by-step, you should have success as long as you have done some sewing before.

I must admit I do love my decorative stitched flaps! I enjoy creating them and love how they turn out. Takes an ordinary flap and turns it into an extraordinary flap, lol!

Inside is a zippered pocket and a slip pocket.

The zippered pocket with zipper pull that I make.

Here is the appliqued butterfly that I appliqued onto the slip pocket. Such a sweet surprise when you look into the bag.

The bag's backside is pretty too, lol!

For comparison, here is Purple Fiona #1 and #2 side-by-side:

Linking to Elm Street Quilts Bag It 2017
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Fiona's Freeway in Purple

After I tested Fiona's Freeway, (from the Easy Street Collection of bags) for Christine of ChrisW Designs, I decided to sell it and one of my blog followers purchased her. Then after she received Fiona, I got an email from her asking if I could make another Fiona in purples. You see she gave the 1st Fiona to a cat rescue place for them to auction off. How sweet is that?! I hope Fiona fetched a lot of money for the cat rescue.

So here is Fiona in purples. I again machine stitched decorative stitches on the flap and added some French knots by hand and a few buttons too. My favorite part of making this bag was creating the flap and that is not even in the instructions, but my own artistic nature coming out to make this Fiona special. It was hard seeing Fiona go, but she went to a good home and that makes me happy.

I chose a batik print for the body of the bag and a hand dyed dark purple for the accent fabric.

Fiona's backside.

I took this before I added the large bead for the drawstring.

Inside is a slip pocket and a zippered pocket.

This is the slip pocket inside. I added an applique kitty to the pocket.

I used a large bead instead of cord stops for the drawstring.

 

To give you an idea of the size of the bag I put Fiona on my dress form.

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Fiona's Freeway an Easy Street Bag Pattern

ChrisW Designs has a new bag in her Easy Street Collection of bag patterns, called Fiona's Freeway. Easy Street patterns are faster and easier to sew than her regular patterns and cost a bit less too. Pop over to see all the tester's bag versions too.

I enjoyed making this bag. I got all artsy and sewed decorative stitches on the flap and that was fun! So here is my Fiona's Freeway~

Fiona is a bucket style bag with a drawstring and a flap with a magnetic snap closure. She is a medium sized bag with an adjustable strap so you can wear it across your body. There is a front zippered pocket that is perfect for holding a cell phone.

I had fun using fancy stitches machine stitches as well as making French knots by hand and couching a piece of rickrack in place. I also sewed on a few tiny buttons.

Side view shows the strap tab and the grommets for the drawstring you can see too.

My signature zipper pull on the front zippered pocket.

Fiona's backside is pretty too!

Here you can see the drawstring and magnetic snap closure.

I didn't have a large enough cord stop to use, so I rummaged around my craft stuff and found this large bead which looks nicer than a cord stop and works really well as an alternative to keeping the cord cinched in.

Inside there is a slip pocket on one side and zippered pocket on the other side.

Slip pocket with my label.

Zippered pocket with another zipper pull I made.

To give you an idea of space I put my wallet, reading glasses and sunglasses cases inside. Not a large bag, but not too small either.

Here you an see the entire flap.

Fiona is having fun swinging in the tree!

This one-of-a-kind Fiona is for sale for $54 plus shipping. Email me if you are interested in purchasing her. SOLD!
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