In the Bag

Told you I would be back…   First up in my “catching up from being gone way too long” posts is one of my handmade Christmas gifts.  Awhile ago, I mentioned that Amy Butler’s Cosmo Bag  was on my wish list.

So three days before Christmas this girl who has never sewn a bag before and had two Christmas quilts to finish decided to whip one up for her brother’s girlfriend.  And of course had to take it back to grab a picture of it after it was already given because it was too dark to snap a decent photo when it was finally finished. Because that’s how I always roll.

I love how it turned out.  And all the pockets on the sides and in the lining are so fun.  I knew she loved orange, so the printed fabrics I used were Sugar Pop by Liz Scott and the solid was a shot cotton.

The project is labeled “easy” in Amy’s book and it was not technically difficult if you have had some sewing experience.  But I would not label it a beginner project as I felt a little over my head at times (just like wise Sharon had commented when I mentioned sewing it).  And as for someone that does not have advanced sewing skills and has never made a bag before, it was very time consuming.  Let’s just say those Christmas quilts did not get done before Christmas.

The most time consuming part was cutting all the pieces.  This is what I cut just in fabric.  The majority of those also had to have interfacing attached to them, so I had to double cut everything you see and fuse it together.  Definitely took longer than the actual sewing.

But I loved how it turned out and the time was worth it.  Especially now that I have made one and understand how it goes together, I think I will be able to cut a lot of time off the second time around.  And this time maybe even make one for myself!