All this revisiting the past with my patterns has gotten my wheels turning. I'm having a hard time keeping my brain on track with my old stuff (only 1 more pattern to re-make!!) when new designs keep popping into my head! After getting my "work" done this weekend, I gave in. What resulted was 2 new designs, both of which I'm rather fond of.
A few weeks ago I mentioned making new dance bags for my girls. The easy route would have been to make them each a simple tote or use a pattern that I already have. You should know by now that I like to complicate things. Neither of those options seemed quite right, so I came up with something new. I thought about using the Ava Rose Tote pattern for Lily, but it wasn't big enough. She needs to carry her dance clothes + 3 pairs of dance shoes (women's size 8.5!!), so I came up with something bigger. I like to think of this as the Ava Rose Tote's big sister (too bad I already named a bag after Lily).
This bag is roomier, has a front pocket, and curved bottom corners. This is only the prototype, there are a few things that still need some tweaking. When I make Lily's bag, I plan to add 2 divided interior pockets for her to put her shoes, if she desires, though I'm sure she'll just throw it all in there! She likes the design and thinks that it will work out just fine. Now I need to find the perfect teal, purple, and lime green fabric (oh boy).
This next bag came to me a few weeks ago when I was working on that Round Yoke Tote, or maybe it was Pretty in Pleats. (What? You didn't think that I got ALL this accomplished in one weekend, did you? The bags I posted the other day were actually cut out and partially sewn weeks ago, but it took me until this past weekend to get them finished. I'm certainly no wonder woman!!) Gah, no matter, I got this idea in my head to make a simple bag with a shaped top. I love simple!
This bag was so easy to put together!! A front & back, straps and lining. That's it. To give it some oomph, I added piping at the seam that matched the lining. With no naked piping on hand, I sewed a strip of fabric over some packaged piping that I had in my stash (an ugly color that I would probably never use). It's amazing how a little detail like that can a big difference.
I still need to add some sort of closure, maybe a magnetic snap with a covered button (of course), but this was the prototype, so I wasn't so concerned with that. I honestly think this may be my go-to pattern when I want to make something up quick.
I haven't decided if I'll turn these into official patterns, but it's a possibility. You see, I'm a little short on time these days, and probably will be for a while ;-) If these do become available in my shop, I'll be sure to let you know!!
