Vacation Sewing

That is sewing for vacation, not while on -- I am not quite up to that level yet! 

I meant to have this post ready to go before we jetted off, but things got in the way, etc. etc. etc., and we have now just returned from three weeks in London and southern England, including a lovely stretch renting a narrowboat along the Stratford-upon-Avon canal. 

I wanted the girls and myself to have hands-free bags in which to carry wallets, cameras, tickets, maps, etc. -- all of the things one accumulates while traveling.  I also -- since we had also spent rather a lot on new clothes, tending for the most part to be the kind of family who wears things out, and thus not always having the right things for a vacation -- wanted to spend as little as possible on the bags, so I took a good deal of my preparation time scouring the internet for free patterns.  I managed to get everything out of fabric I had left over from other projects (thought I did have to piece a few things!), so for the most part the only things I had to buy were notions.

My first project was my own bag, and although the pattern was not free, it is extremely reasonable, and a very good bargain.  This is the Summit Pack from Cloudsplitter Designs.  I read a number of reviews that said it's a great pattern, complex but not difficult for sewers with average experience -- which I would say is about right although it would certainly help if you've made bags before, or have access to someone who has, as this was a completely new experience for me and I was a bit puzzled by a few things.  (Unfortunately, when I asked for help via the designer's website, I never did get a response, so I would recommend anyone else to try the direct e-mail address.  I had managed to come up with a solution on my own before resorting to that avenue.)  I did find this review by Rochelle of eSheep Designs extremely helpful, since not only does she recount her experience with making the bag, but she also included quite a lot more photos of her finished bag, so that I could tell what I was aiming at -- which isn't always apparent in something this complex!

I also took Rochelle's lead in adding a hanging loop at the top of the bag and a sunglasses loop, which I put just inside the big compartment.  If -- no, probably when, since I'm really delighted with it -- when I make another one, I might modify the card pocket, since I prefer a wallet for those, although I must say it was a real kick and confidence-builder to make this feature and have it turn out so well!

So you can see that while I am by no means expert at making bags, even a determined novice can bring this off well enough to impress family and friends!  ("You made that?!" in disbelief ...)  I would just recommend taking every step carefully, without rushing -- and do pick out anything that isn't quite good enough!  I re-did some of the topstitching three or four times, but it was worth the trouble, since it really does look much better on the finished bag.

Ready to go! --

The second one was not as much of a success, but this was my fault as I tried to adapt it a little more than the pattern could really handle.  It is the "J Bag" by Nerissa, available at Sew Mama Sew.

It didn't occur to me until far too late that adding inner pockets and fusible interfacing would make the inside of the already-small bag considerably smaller than the outside of the bag, which of course means that the lining doesn't lie flat inside, and that there is much less room inside.  I would certainly make this again, as it's a very cute bag, but I would either make it bigger to start with, or interface only some of the pieces, or make patch pockets that don't intrude on the side seams (which just added more bulk).

I ended up pulling it back apart and restitching the two sides of the lining, then trimming it, though I can't really tell if that helped much.

Julia, however, is quite satisfied with it, since she is not generally a purse-carrier anyway so has the bare minimum of requirements, and it certainly fills my two, which were having a cross-body strap and a zip closure.  She will also be able to slip a bottle of water into an outer pocket, or perhaps a guide-book, which I suspect will accommodate most of her needs!

I made her a tissue pack as well, this one from Two Brown Birds.  It's very easy, and clever with the lining wrapping round to make an edging, but I think I would rather the opening be more snug.  Perhaps this will be the case once some of the tissues are taken out ...

 For Laura, I managed to persuade her of this one's charms, "The Sling Bag" by Mrs. H.  She was not convinced by the slouchiness, as it happens, wh. I would suspect makes it easier to carry things of various sizes, since the foldover top will accommodate quite a lot of variety -- although I will admit that the three-ring binder she was recently carrying made the snap impossible to close, but that was its only drawback! and quite understandable in those conditions.

There are also some examples of pattern-testers' variations in Mrs. H's post here.

The inside has a zippered pocket on one side and a partial-width slip pocket on the other, which I divided as per the pattern into two (pen and phone, perhaps?) -- these fabrics are all various colors of Linen Look from Jo-Ann's, and I made the inner pocket with the natural cream color so that it would be a bit easier to see inside a rather dark interior.  (Sharp-eyed readers might remember these fabrics from our first set of Faire garb!)  The only change I might recommend in making this bag is to fold the strap tabs with the raw edges in the middle -- I mean just folding a narrower strip than in the pattern so that the raw edges meet in the middle, edge-stitching the long sides, then folding it in half into the rectangle ring and catching it down as in the instructions -- as the stack of four interfaced layers in the pattern's version was quite awkward to top-stitch cleanly.  The strap might not be quite long enough for cross-body wearing on taller people, so test it first.  Other than that, this pattern is simple, clear, and thorough, and the results are excellent, giving you a roomy, convenient bag in just a few hours!

I am not usually the kind of person to match my accessories, but it just seemed right this time -- and of course I had the fabric! -- so I made a zippered pouch and another tissue holder for myself, these to tutorials at Skip to My Lou, here and here respectively.  I didn't have to buy anything for these, as the pink zipper was an ancient one in my box.  I'm glad I was able to use the little border on the fabric, as I think it adds a certain panache!

Photos of the trip itself coming shortly! ...

Comments

[Mary Lou Egan]

WOW!! Those are impressive. Now I want to hear more about the trip, especially the narrow boat!!

[Toffeeapple]

Goodness, those are rather marvellous. Was the weather good to you?