241 Bag - A Finish! (FAL #2)

It's done!  It's finished and I think I love it!  Here it is, my 241 Bag!

For the most part, my bag went together well.  The pattern, from Noodlehead, is well written and really easy to follow.  If such a thing as a "free weekend" existed in my life, I am pretty confident that I could make one of these in it!  As it was, the making of this bag stretched out over three fairly stressful weeks.  On more than one occasion, sitting down to sew on this purse was exactly what I needed. I discovered that it's really OK to just work for 15 or 20 minutes at a time, too.  It was actually very effective and helped me to get a finish in a week when I very possibly could not have had one!

This is such a cute purse, and such a practical design!  I love those deep side pockets, and that zip pocket in the front - Be still my heart!  It looks so stylish, it fits my phone perfectly, and it was SO. MUCH. FUN to put in.  Sure, it was a little intimidating at first, but I persevered, and it was really fun to see how to it came out.  Whoever thought of that method first was really smart!

I made just few simple modifications to make this purse even more practical for me.

 First, I added a front sleeve to the interior slip pocket.  I like to keep a bit of cash handy, and NOT in my wallet.  So, that front pocket will be used for that.  Also, I added a key hook, much to my youngest daughter's delight.  She panics every time I have to look for my keys for more than a minute.  Which is pretty much every time I look for my keys.  This should solve that problem.  Maybe.  My older daughter knows me well, and her comment was, "Great idea, as long as you remember to put your keys on it."  Yeah, there's that.

The last modification I made was to add a small pop of contrast to the navy strap.  I love that hashtag fabric, and I just wanted to use a bit more of it and add some interest.







There's not much I don't like about this project.  I did have a bit of a problem with the lining.  When I was finished, the lining was just a bit too bulky for the exterior.  I think I was just too small with the seam allowance.  So, after I and finished, I turned the whole thing wrong sides out again, and stitched around the three seams that comprise the lining.  that mostly solved the problem.  I might still hand tack the lining to the exterior in a few places, just to keep it flat and nice looking.  Although, now that's it's loaded with my  stuff, I really can't see enough of the lining to know that it's anything other than polka dotted and cute, so maybe the tacking won't happen.

I'm not sure I'll use fusible fleece for the lining of the next one.  It sewed really well, and it's what I'm used to, but I think it's a bit puffy for this design.  We'll see.  Maybe I'll be glad for the stability as I use it more.

It's going to be fun to use this purse.  It coordinates with my phone and my planner, so I feel all "pulled together" using it.  I have plans to use my scraps to make a wallet, a key fob and a tablet case to complete the set.  So fun.

With all the things I LOVE about this finish, I think perhaps the best thing was that I sewed along with a new friend while making it.  Bernie and I exchanged e-mails throughout the process.  It was so good to get her encouragement and to get to know her.  She blogs at Needle and Foot,  and you really should pop over and visit her.  You can see HER finished 241 bag, and scroll through her posts and get a peek at her incredible free motion quilting.  She's really an inspiration, and I'm pretty sure we're going to be on-line quilty friends for a very long time!

One last look.  And yes, I celebrated my finish with a Starbucks trip.  I wrote this post and enjoyed a White Chocolate Mocha while my daughter was at rehearsal.  It's all good!

And, now I have two of my Finish Along goals for quarter 2 done!

I am linking this FINISH to:

Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Let's Bee Social aThe Sew Fresh Quilts