....and some projects do not, like this duffel bag I recently completed for my husband, Tom, who needed a bag to hold his tennis shoes, change of clothes and water bottle for his 2 mile walks after work...
....poor thing, it looks a little pitiful in these photographs....
It is pretty neat in that it is loaded with pockets...
...one on each side and 2 built-in with the webbing straps...one on the front/one on the back...4 total...
...a nice sport zipper...
...the stripes matched up evenly...
So what happened.. .why am I not 'loving' this bag...
....for one....it's huge..it's more like a 'weekender' sized bag than a bag for tennis shoes and change of clothes... I've got 2 full-sized pillows in there to 'shape' it for these photographs!...
...and the fabric choice...
...that seemed like a good idea at the time...
....an outdoor heavy-weight canvas from my stash....
...turned out way too 'stripey'.....I should've made a trip to the fabric store.
What about the pattern....
....the pattern was actually quite simple...
....I just didn't comprehend 'size on paper' vs. 'size completed'....
....this pattern is for a circle shaped duffel bag and I wanted a square bottom so I made a new template for the design I wanted....which meant I had to change/modify ALL her measurements.... basically re-make the pattern, but follow her instructions...no problem, just took a little more time....
....it was actually an easy project....
....from this book "Made For Travel" by Mary Mulari....I love this book!
A little story about how I obtained this book..... our local library had a copy of this book that I could (almost always) count on to be available for me to check out whenever I wanted to use it....but all of a sudden, it was never there any time I stopped in....it had simply vanished.
Our library system has a book sale each month, of which we've never attended, until this one Sunday afternoon we happened to be in the area and thought it'd be fun to see what the sale was all about...and imagine my surprise to find this book for sale for $1.00!!!! It had been discarded, pulled from circulation and ready to be sold----to me!! I was so happy.
Back to the duffel bag....I am going to make another....shortening the length considerably.... the width too... but still basically following Mary Mulari's instruction... with my modifications.
Meanwhile, Tom is using this one and Melissa wants it when his next new one is complete.
So I guess it will be used after all. She says she likes it..... !!
~Lisa
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And you're worried about learning how to quilt??! If you can (basically) make your own pattern for a duffle bag and have it look as good as this one does, I'd say you're one purdy darn good sew-er lady!
ReplyDeleteWould you throw something at me if I said I think the striped fabric would be better for a female? (I'm ducking . . . ) Like your daughter, I'd gladly carry it, but maybe a solid color would be better for Tom.
All in all though, I think you did a FANTASTIC job on it . . . there's maybe just too much of it. And too jazzy a fabric for a guy. Please don't feel like the Lone Ranger though. Sometimes I wonder where my "perception" faculties have gone when something comes out looking totally different than I had imagined it would. Sigh. I think it happens to us all. Double sigh.
Hi Mama Pea ~ one thing I really like about you, is that you give honest feedback. I should've run the striped fabric by you first as my perception was quite askew with this one. Hey, I know, next time I'll send you a swatch first for your opinion, as you are most definitely correct here!! Maybe if I'd made the bag in a solid color and just used the stripes on the pockets... yes, sigh...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your wonderful comments!! I so much appreciate what you have to say.
I have been looking for a new bag to take to the gym! This may be just the one. Thanks for sharing how you did it!
ReplyDeleteBetsy @ 2nd Story Sewing