Reversible Everyday Shopper: Completed!

I was less of a slacker this month & have had this bag completed for a couple weeks now. It felt so much better than scrambling the last weekend to get it finished up! It's amazing how much more time I seem to have now that we're not still recovering from the holidays. Of course, it sure doesn't hurt that this bag was just a smidge (okay, okay, a TON) easier than the Cosmo Bag.

From what I've seen so far from those of you who have completed it, I think you'd have to agree with me that this should have been the first pattern in the book. I guess I must have assumed that not only did I expect the book to advance through the sewing levels (easy, intermediate, advanced, & experienced) in order, but I also assumed the patterns within those levels would be in order of difficulty. Boy was I wrong!

I enjoyed making this bag, it was a nice break after working so hard on the Cosmo Bag. Cutting out the pieces & interfacing didn't take me two days, and sewing would have only taken me an afternoon if I'd had the time do work on it in one sitting.

As I mentioned before, I chose to use four different fabrics for my bag - all red & navy gingham, in three different pattern sizes.

Let me tell you, sewing with tiny gingham is a chore & hard on the eyes! I was pretty much cross-eyed by the time I was done, and even now it kind of hurts to look at it! I do like the final look of the bag, but I don't think I'll work with that small of a gingham pattern again.

My finished bag reminds me of summer picnics, and a blanket we always brought to sit on while watching fireworks for the fourth of July.

I think I like the red side with the blue pocket the best, mostly because the blue handles add some extra contrast. I also like the way the smallest & largest ginghams look next to each other when they're the same color, rather than the largest & medium on the blue side. Again, it adds extra contrast.

I did split my pockets in half, although mine doesn't look as cute as Chrissy's. It's difficult to see here, but I just did a plain line of stitching up the center of the pocket. Try not to hurt your eyes looking too close! :)

I really didn't make many changes to the pattern when I was working on this one. I used a fairly lightweight interfacing so it would be easier to turn inside out, and used a lightweight cotton instead of home dec fabric. I also chose not to fold in the straps since I did use decor bond interfacing on them, and I liked them better laying flat. Like I mentioned earlier, I did split my pockets in half. They just gapped too much for me. I haven't done it yet, but I plan on doing at least a few stitches in the seams to attach the two layers together so it'll be easier to turn inside out.

Remember you can check out another pattern review from Sara at Sew Sweetness, and there's a ton of great inspiration in the Flickr Group. I'll have a linky party on Monday for you to share your completed bags for your chance to win this month's giveaway - a half yard each of FreeSpirit Olive Rose by Valori Wells, in emerald & pink.

Get sewing this weekend (if you haven't already!) and I can't wait to see what every has to share next week!

Until next time...