Sew together bags

If you follow me on IG (or were following along with my takeover of the Havel's Sewing feed last week), you've no doubt seen snippets of these, but it's finally time to share them in detail here -- the three Sew Together Bags I made awhile back. I could not love them more. First up was one I made as a Christmas gift for my older sister.

On multiple occasions, she'd commented on how much she liked the kaleidoscope block I made for my traveling quilt, so I decided to use that color scheme as my jumping off point. Most of the fabrics were taken from the same pool (a collection of Cotton + Steel, Carolyn Friedlander, Pat Bravo, and Elizabeth Hartman), with some Essex Yarn-Dyed in Peacock thrown in for the binding. I really lurve this combo of navy, teal, and gray blue.

The second bag was a birthday gift for my little sister (whose birthday is just a few days after Christmas). I'd originally picked out a whole different set of fabrics for her, but when these On Trend fabrics arrived at my local quilt shop (where I also work) just before I planned to get started, I had to change course immediately. They were too perfect.

The exterior fabric was great because it gave the impression of a pieced panel. The floral inside the pockets is also from On Trend, and then I sorted through the fabrics for my Coral Collection quilt to find several that worked for the pocket linings (some Lizzy House, Carolyn Friedlander, and Art Gallery Squared Elements). The minty fabric on the side panels is an older Pat Bravo (maybe? Feel free to correct me.).

Finally, of course, I had to make one for myself. Inspired by this version by Jeni Baker, I dove into my beloved Carolyn Friedlander fabrics, using a combination of fabrics from all of her lines: Architextures, Botanics, Carkai, Doe, Friedlander, and Euclid all make an appearance.

I could not love it more. For each bag, I used batting for the exterior interfacing and lightly quilted the exteriors. I used Pellon SF101 for the pocket and side panel interfacing, which gives the bags some nice heft without being too stiff.

A few tips for the Sew Together Bag virgins out there: first, you can do it. This bag seems a bit scary, and it is definitely time consuming, but it's totally doable, especially if you have any experience with making zipper bags. If you're planning to make more than one, I highly recommend doing them assembly-line style: do each step on all of the bags at once and then move to the next step. Also, while the original pattern by Sew Demented is clever and wonderful in so many ways, it is lacking in instruction and pictures. Definitely check out the sew-alongs by Studio AR (@monpetitebiscuit on IG) and The Quilt Barn. They are lifesavers. Then, once you're done, pack up your bag with all your mobile sewing goodies (or makeup, or pens, or whatever), and get going!