Changing It Up

What is so fun about handbag patterns you purchase is the ability for the sewist to alter the pattern.  If you have large amounts of tracing paper or other preferred pattern making paper your options are endless.  Personally, I use craft paper for initial patterns (Actually it is a big-honkin’ roll of 18″ coloring paper I bought for my kids last summer that I use more then they do!).  Craft paper is nice because while it is strong enough for pattern making, it is easy to see through to trace specific lines and notes. I continue to use craft paper at this point for all my patterns, but for you established sewists/pattern makers, what do you use for your permanent patterns or patterns you use a lot of? I would love to find something that withstands the cutting, pinning, tracing I do daily. Anyone?!?!?!

Last year I purchased a wonderful tote pattern designed by Made By Rae.  The pattern is called the “Showoff Bag” and is fabulous and so easy to follow. You can easily whip one up in a few hours.  It has gone just about everywhere with me. Love it!  So this week I took a break from working on my Etsy shop and got out Rae’s pattern.  The blue nautical bag you see above is the long original version of Rae’s original pattern I made. Again, very easy to stitch up and a few interior pockets for my cell and receipts.  Over the weekend, I took her pattern and tweaked it a bit to create this:

As you can see, it is a bit smaller and structured.  The fabric I used was a heavier weight linen exterior which made two double stitched front pleats on each side a necessity for me. The interior is a red polka-dot home decor weight. I lightly lined both with Pellon 931TD. As for the look, you will notice the sides are the same as the original but I also took out the extra room on the bottom part of the bag to reduce the bulk. It is still roomy enough for all my goodies but has a more tailored look.  The bag top I also reduced and boxed up a bit eliminating the rounded look of the original. Again, I used her pattern but curved here and cut here.  I am happy with how it turned out and it was a great way to use up some fabric scraps and mishaps I had in my scrap bin! Thanks to Rae for making such a wonderful pattern and for letting me share her pattern and my tweaks online.  Have a sunny day everyone! Cindy