In Love With...

my Zakka Style Stem Messenger Bag!!  I have been looking forward to this project since the sew-along began.  I haven't kept up with the projects as much as I had hoped, mostly due to the last month of school activities and our town's community-built playground effort, but thankfully things seem to be calming down.

I jumped ahead a few weeks ago and made the zip organizer.  You'll have to wait til next week to see the finished product.  But I made the Stem Messenger Bag to match my organizer!  I absolutely love it.  Working with this book has me using linen for the first time, and it has such a great weight and feel to it.  Aside from having issues keeping it squared up when cutting out project pieces, I really enjoy the natural fibers.  (I have fixed that issue by ironing interfacing onto the linen of the correct size and shape before cutting the linen out.)

Sooo...here's my new favorite bag!  Completed just in time for the Great Alaskan Road Trip next week that my kids and I are taking...from Homer to Fairbanks and back, via Denali National Park.  This bag will hold all of my travel necessities- phone, wallet, notebook, iPad, Kindle (techie, here!), Alaska TourSaver Book, smaller camera, snacks... It has lots of pockets, and I added a magnetic snap closure on the flap so that things don't fly out while I'm chasing my 4-year-old.

Gray linen with Outfoxed and Fly a Kite

I made my own double-fold bias binding for the first time...I can see how that could get addicting!  I envisioned an entire Etsy shop with handmade binding.

Fab design in the Zakka Style book- outside pockets and inside pockets to hold just about everything.

I made my strap out of two pieces of black cotton webbing zig-zagged together with teal thread.  My loops are nylon from my local marine hardware supplier.

Pocket on the back.  Attaching the flap this way was tricky and it doesn't look very neat on the inside top edge.  Next time I'd probably put it on the "regular" way.

Just the right size.

Zakka Style Sew-Along Week 1: Zig Zag Tote

I have been hoarding my stash of Washi fabric, waiting for just the right project to come along.  As soon as I saw the first project in the Zakka Style Sew-Along, I knew this was it!  The project is a tote bag, which I don't really need.  But I have been filing away ideas for a handbag for myself for quite awhile, adding to my list as I have made new patterns.  I love the quilted zig zag design of the sew-along tote, so I followed the directions in the book for that portion and then made the rest up as I went along.  It was fun to get back into quilting again after a very long break!

The bag started out with cutting quarter-square triangles.  I was a little unsure how this print would turn out when made into the zig zag shape because the color is not evenly distributed throughout the fabric.

But it turned out just fine.

I constructed the full zig zag portion of the bag as instructed.

Then I designed my bag shape, taking some construction tips I learned when making my Honolulu Bag.

The gray brushed twill was left over from another project, so I made my bag as large as my scraps would allow.  Then came the quilting!  I have never used fusible fleece before and loved it.  I put on my walking foot and the quilting was a breeze. 

For the lining, I took the tip offered by Terri and made my pocket a contrasting color.  

Then I decided to get really fancy and add a straight wide band at the top of my bag, set a zipper down inside, and attach my straps with nylon D-rings that I have been waiting to use.  I learned this basic top and zipper construction from my newest favorite pattern from Keyka Lou.  I followed the strap construction directions from the book and was very pleased with them.  My least favorite part of making bags is turning the straps right-side-out, and this method eliminates that completely!

The result is quite fabulous, if I do say so myself.  I love everything about it and am a little amazed that I was able to figure this all out on my own.

I added some darts in the top to give a little shape.