Bag Lady Week- Monday Messenger

NOTE: This bag now has a tutotial! Find it here.

Bags have been my project of late, so I thought I would do a bit of a "theme week" to show you some of my latest. Remember that pile of wool and suiting I mentioned? Ta da! I love messenger bags. They are casual but functional, stylish but can be very practical, slung over the body to keep hands free for a mom like me. I have been checking out a bunch online, and have seen some I covet, but they were all over $100. So, I drew up a pattern and tried my hand at making one. This one is not for me, but for my lovely little sis, who is a fan of black, grey and blue. It was her birthday and she is about to go on an adventure to Holland, England, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, and I thought this could be a useful tag-along. I picked up this charcoal suiting with a blue pinstripe at my local fabric store, then paired it with some Amy Butler for the lining to add some fun: The strap is fully adjustable so it can be worn as a purse or over the body. The back features 2 deep pockets, so you can stash phones or keys for quick access, without having to undo the buttons to get inside the bag.

Inside, there is room for just about anything you could want to carry, and it is padded with a fleece lining so that it would work for a laptop. There are 3 pockets along the back inside as well.

I finished it off with some cute buttons as closures, with loops made of the lining fabric.

The second bag is for a good friend of mine, who loves orange. She is an incredibly smart and brave girl, who, at the age of thirty(-something), followed her dream and went back to school, and after lots of hard work and perseverance, was accepted into veterinary school. I am so proud of her!

I thought this bag was fun, because the pinstripe wool outer says "business" but the bright orange floral lining and rainbow strap say "fun"! It should even match the orange retro couch that will adorn her new living quarters :-)

It also has the three inner pockets. And did you see? I tried my hand at an "OCD" label inside and also on the front flap to make it look more "pro." Just used some twill tape and my transfer paper from Dharma Trading.

I also jazzed it up with lots of orange top stitching. And, do you recognize the rainbow strap? It is the belt that I told you about on Thrifty Thursday. See, I told you I wasn't going to use it as a belt! It is the perfect length for an over-the-body strap, and the belt holes makes it adjustable. I thought it was a cute reinvention!

You know how sometimes, you dream up a project in your head, but when you make it happen, it doesn't meet your expectations? This happens to me often- I dream big, but sadly my skills lapse far behind my aspirations! Well, this time, the vision finally matched the finished product. It's not perfect, but I am happy. And I have a few more in the works, hopefully even one for me to keep!

And as a side note- there is a giveaway at Quilt Story today...you can enter here.

Also some sweet fabrics being given away at Lucy and Norman....enter here.

Finally, this will be linked up to Sew and Tell Friday on Amy Lou Who- see the button on my sidebar? Go check it out!