Currently Stitching: Sweet Little Bags

Hello all! I hope you find yourself well as we drift through summer. We've had some pretty extreme weather here, along with a ton of bugs. Other than when I'm checking on my plants in the morning, I am happily staying cool and insect free in my quilt room. 

I've gotten a few quilt tops done recently and have been looking for a change of pace. So I thought I would try my hand at some new bag patterns! I haven't made very many so far and I'm excited to see how these turn out.

As always, the sewing adventures cannot begin until I have a cup of coffee in hand. Truthfully, this is not the first cup. #highlycaffeinated#highlymotivated#notashamed

I picked up some charm packs at a quilt shop outside of town. The gal who owns it has a fantastic selection! She's got such a varied and fun collection, and you can always find little gems tucked in all the table displays. There's a huge assortment of beautiful fabrics by the bolt as well. I originally ended up at her shop for machine service. And while I did get my machine serviced, I tried really hard to get in and out without looking at anything... it did not work out that way. 

Today I'm sticking with these smaller bags and trying to make a couple of them. They are extremely useful and make wonderful gifts. I also thought this would be a great opportunity to work through some of my stash and scraps. Most of what I've chosen to work on today can be mixed and matched with any fabric. It's nice to have the creative freedom!

As with any design, it starts by choosing and laying out the fabric you like in the order you want. I really enjoyed hows simple these were to lay out. I stuck with bright and summery colors because duh! It's summer! But I think these would look great in any theme or palette. 

I sewed and pressed the rows, then laid them on some 80/20 batting. There's always options to use stiffer fusible or stabilizer, but with these I wanted them to stay soft and flexible. With bigger bags I prefer something with more body. 

I did not use basting pins or adhesive, I felt comfortable holding these in place as I worked because of the size. I marked the tops with this Clover tool - the Frixxon pens also work great. Then I did a straight stitch with my sewing machine to make the crosshatch. I really like the simple but classic quilted look.

I went ahead and pieced some other bag tops/ outsides. On some of the other tops I did a freehand wavy stitch instead of the criss cross pattern. I cut them down to size and matched them with lining, zippers and top stitching thread. 

Next it was time to start building the bag. I had better luck using the clips to hold the layers together, instead of pins. 

I was excited to learn a new way to install zippers. This was a method I had not tried before! 

I love all the different colored zippers available these days! It made mixing and matching these such a delight! 

Here's how they turned out! I like that they can stand up on their own without being too stiff. 

They're a great size for small things, like makeup items, or even your keys. Generally anything that usually falls to the bottom of my purse. 

I machine sewed the bottom of this one. 

I love that each one is unique. There will never be two of the same bag! 

I hand sewed the inseam on this one. Then I tacked down the corners to keep the lining from moving. I really like the look and the stability much better.

Overall I'm extremely happy with how these turned out! 

I hope you feel inspired to try and make a bag or two! If I could offer any advice I would suggest looking through patterns for instructions that you're really comfortable with. A lot of them have tutorials online as well, which is incredibly helpful. I would also say, don't be afraid of zippers! These were such a breeze to put in! All my life everyone has told me they hate putting zippers in. I'm sure there are bigger projects where it's more complicated. But don't be scared! If I can figure it out, you can too! 

Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I'm currently stitching. Check back in when I try my hand at tote bags! Share your bag projects and inspiration with me on instagram.