Sunday, February 18, 2018

A First Go with Noodlehead's Market Bag

Friends, I had the best of intentions of posting a new tutorial for my Still Pretty Simple Jelly Roll Quilt this past week. It was going to be a Valentine’s gift for those of you who come back to From Bolt to Beauty post after post. (Bless your sweet, quilt-loving hearts!) Then non-quilting life got in the way and my sewing priorities changed. Boo!

In the meantime, I’m going to catch you up on some yet-to-be-blogged about 2017 finishes—like this, the Market Bag I made for my sister ...


This is the first project I’ve made from Handmade Style, by Anna Graham of Noodlehead. In general I tend to approach patterns with a wary heart. In a time when anyone with a word-processing program and basic graphic design knowledge can churn out patterns, I’ve been burned by inaccurate material lists or less-than-stellar directions. But Anna I trust 100%, and this pattern only bolstered her reputation with me.

This bag is my style—roomy without cluttering things up with a lot of pockets. (I can sew pockets just fine, but I’m not good at using them.) I used up bits left over from this quilt, which makes me especially happy. Those birds and flora look so good together.


I really enjoyed constructing this bag and foresee making another one (number 2 will be for me!), but I have a few notes for my future self before she starts sewing:
  • I may have lost some width and/or height on the exterior of this bag after quilting—I don’t know for sure because it didn’t occur to me to measure. Next time, future self, consider quilting slightly larger front and back panels first and then cutting the exterior down to size. You’ll waste some ByAnnie’s stabilizer in the process, but it will be OK. Promise.
  • The lining on this first bag ended up rather bulky, and I wasn’t pleased with how it fit into the exterior. I suspected that would be the case as I progressed with the project, but I was under the gun time-wise and just ran with it. I highly suggest that my future self take her time and get the fit she wants. This may include cutting down the lining considerably (Elisabew recommends lopping off a full 1.75 inches!) and/or not interfacing the lining. 
You might think that those kinks would dissuade me from embarking on this pattern again, but they don’t. (And my sister seemed really pleased with the bag.) I enjoy figuring out bag patterns and then making them a little better on the second go-round. The question, as always, is when I can find the time to make one again. Hopefully, it will happen before this experience fades too far into my memory!

Linking up to Let’s Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, and Finish It Up Friday ...
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15 comments:

  1. YUM! This one's on my to-make list. Anna is the best!

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  2. Great bag, I love the detail the quilting added.

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  3. Whether or not it changed the dimensions, I do love the dense quilting on this! I bet it gives nice body to the bag.

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  4. This reminds of myself - I always figure that I will just "remember" the changes that need done on the next one! Never seems to be time for the next one, though. Such a cute bag! I have this book and may try it.

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    1. It's a great size for a bag. I quilted pretty densely, which was time consuming but worth it. The quilting gives the final product nice character. : )

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  5. Beautiful bag! This one is also on my list! Thanks for the tips! Leather handles look great.

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  6. Lovely bag! I made one as a gift and had similar lining issues (as well as "I'm out of time so I have to just go with it" issue) so it's not just you :)

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  7. It's a great bag. I have the book as well but haven't made anything from it yet.

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  8. That looks like a great bag! I've only made one largish bag that turned out really well that I gifted. I never got around to making another though. Yet, I somehow have several bag patterns...

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  9. I love the pops of reddish orange in the blue.
    Quilting does tend to shrink things, doesn’t it!
    I hear you on pockets. I have several on the inside of my handbag, but I only regularly use one – for my bus pass and nursing home access passes. Everything else gets tipped in a jumble in the main compartment.

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  10. Hi Michelle,
    I love, love, LOVE this bag! It looks fabulous and the quilting totally makes it for me. The colors are great and I'll just bet your sister was thrilled with it! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  11. What a great bag! Love the patch work.

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  12. Great looking bag. I hope your second one is just as great and goes together well.

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