Fiona's Freeway Cross Body Bag (Enlarged)

I have made 3 Fiona's Freeway bags in the past, but this time I wanted to enlarge it a bit, so I made this one at 115%. I really like this size a lot and I love how this one turned out. After making this one, the wheels started churning in my head about other ideas for this bag too, so one day (hopefully soon) I will make another one in this size with some other changes. I love making bags and putting my own spin on them. Oh and this is a ChrisW Design Bag. If you want to make one check out the pdf here.

This enlarged Fiona measures approximately 10 3/8" wide x 11 1/2" high x 4" deep. I also made a matching Little Wallet to go with this bag too.

Exterior is batik cotton fabric paired with a purple cotton grunge fabric and interior is a hand dyed fabric. For sale in my PayHip Shop.

The bag features a flap with an interesting shape. This one is the small flap. The pattern also includes a large flap and a non-grommet version as well.

The strap tabs and the side accent add a nice touch to the bag too.

While not called for in the pattern, I decided to add purse feet to the bottom of this bag, since it can stand up on its own and it helps to keep the bottom of the bag cleaner.

This is how the back side of the bag looks.

Flip up the flap and you see the drawstrings.

Pull open the drawstrings and you have a lot of nice space inside. A slip pocket plus a zippered pocket too.

I like to divide my slip pockets so they can hold a pen. The Little Wallet fits perfectly in the larger slip pocket section.

The Little Wallet is included with my bags that I make (except my earlier bags I did not make wallets then).

No more of the lining fabric left, so I used the purple grunge fabric and the batik only for this wallet.

The front zip pocket is handy for your phone or keys.

For sale in my PayHip Shop.

Made with love in my smoke free, perfume free, pet free  New Mexico home. 

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The Drawstring Sling Bag

I tested a bag for a new designer this month. The bag is called the Drawstring Sling. It's an easy to sew bag and it's large and roomy inside too. There were several of us testing the bag and as we tested and communicated, we experimented and found out some things. I used one layer of Craft Fuse interfacing rather than the 3 layers of interfacing that was called for in the pattern. I figured that one layer of what I had would about equal the 3 layers, but my bag came out stiffer than I expected it to. Of course I also used the Craft Fuse on the lining as well instead of another 3 layers of interfacing. I think I was the first tester who finished the bag, which can be good or bad. The other testers started to use other things. Since I didn't know what interfacing the designer had used before I began, (I should have asked before cutting anything), I thought what I used would work as the bag was supposed to stand up on it's own. My bag does stand up on it's own just fine, but something not so stiff would have allowed the drawstrings to pull easier. Well I suppose that is why there are several testers and after hearing what worked or didn't work for each tester, that's when the other testers tried different things. I would have opted to use fusible fleece or Soft and Stable instead of the interfacing if I was doing my own bag and not following the instructions. I added a casing instead of the eyelets that were called for. I should have used the eyelets. The casing along with the stiffer interfacing didn't work well for me. I just had such an awful time when I made a bag with grommets a couple of years ago because the grommets were not working and were falling out as I put them in. I was afraid of having a bag with 14 holes! I suppose I should have put in the eyelets and if they didn't work I could have then made a casing to cover the holes.

After everyone made this bag and gave their input, the pattern was reworked several times and now will be so much easier to make with the updated instructions. I know what I will need to do if I make another bag, LOL!!! You can go to the Fashion Clique page website to purchase this pattern if you would like to make your own Drawstring Sling and follow the updated and revised pattern, lol!!! I'm sure you will enjoy making this bag knowing the instructions are spot on now. It's not difficult to sew and goes together quickly too. Go here to see all the tester's bags. You can get the pattern with a 10% discount now too by using this code: 10off  Discount good until October 20, 2014.

Here is my version of the bag~

I used a home dec fabric and a piece of fabric that I had painted and stamped a couple of years ago as the bottom.

The flap of this bag is a great place to decorate using applique or hand or machine embroidery or fussy cut a pretty fabric piece like I did above on mine.

There is a magnetic snap closure for the flap and the drawstrings to cinch in the bag. I made a casing rather than the called for 14 eyelets around the bag. If my interfacing had not been so stiff, this would have worked fine.

The lining and the strap are the same fabric. In fact this fabric was some fabric that my mom had given to me last year that she still had that was from her quilt shop that she owned in California in the mid-1970's! I still have a few yards of this left.

Back of the bag.

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