My New Bag

awhile back i bought some fabric with the intentions of making a bag out of it.  it was so far back that i can't even tell you if i had a pattern in mind for it or not.  i don't remember.  then somewhere along the way of Instagram i started seeing pictures of a bag by Noodlehead called the Super Tote.  it was showing up on blogs as well.  i got the pattern.  it looked so cute in all of the pictures and it looked like it would be a good size.  i couldn't resist.  again, not remembering if i had fabric in mind for the pattern or not.

then........  my brain started working again and the fabric and the pattern all came together in one magical moment.  not really a magic moment but more like a light bulb moment.  i am sure you know what i mean.

comma by moda + Super Tote = LOVE

i put pockets on both sides of the lining.  both with elastic at the top for ease of use.  making sure one of the pockets was big enough to hold my ipad.

i also added an extra smaller pocket to the lining for a pen and my phone.

lots of pins were used when assembling the bag gusset to the front and back of the bag.  i am normally anti-pins however i followed the instructions and this part of the bag construction went very smoothly.  probably because i pinned.

at this point in the process i was sure that i messed something up.  i was at the stage of 'oh crap.  time to get out the seam riper' and 'no, no i think i am doing this right'.  i proceeded with caution.  the outside of the bag made sense to me but the zipper on the lining threw me for a loop.

i wanted to make the bottom of the bag stiffer. so after constructing the bag and before i sewed the opening in the lining shut i cut a piece of double sided fusible stuff.  its by Pellon.  i marked the center of it and started the fun process of getting it through the hole and in place.

my goal was to line up the center of the Pellon with the seam in the bottom of the bag that way i would have roughly the same amount on each side of the bag and it wouldn't be wonky.  once in place i ironed the heck out of it and that sucker isn't going anywhere.

the finished bag.

the pattern allows you to use several different fabrics if you wish for the bag.  i however kept it pretty simple with mainly black on the outside.

i added a small pocket on outside of the bag that ended up being inside the exterior pocket.  an additional spot for my phone or keys or whatever.

here is the inside of the bag with all of the lovely pockets.  i love the pop of color on the inside.  

it makes me smile.

i took this bag with me on a recent trip and i really like it.  its a great size - i got all of my necessities in it and it didn't feel stuffed - its really roomy.  i have continued to use it as my everyday bag.  so sometimes forgetting the purpose or plans for something isn't always bad.  sometimes it just takes my brain awhile to get caught up with things and then great things like this happen.

happy sewing