A Sewing Start

Finally! I have worked on something in the new year! I have to admit it is cheating a little since I started it last year. I hadn't finished it bc I'd sewn the lining in backwards and was resigned to spend eternity ripping out the 4 lines of stitching. 2 straight and 2 zigzag on black. I'm just about blind and this would have certainly done me in.

I decided that I was just going to cut off the seams I'd sewn and the bag would just end up a tiny bit smaller. It worked for the most part. The only part where there's a slight problem is with the inner pocket. You can see here how it sorta catches the corner. It makes it a little difficult to fit my planner in there, so I've had to slip it into the main compartment.

I'd been wanting this pattern (Green Pepper F875) for a long time and got it sometime last year with a 40% off Joann coupon. I like it but it's not what I expected. First of all, it's WAY too floppy. I like bags to have some structure. At least a little. Floppy bags just make the content all sink towards the middle. I keep a book in here just to keep some of the shape. And secondly, this is the "Big Size." I could have checked dimensions, yada, yada. But I assumed it would be the size of a typical messenger bag. This was originally for the ex. But it's way too small. It's a good size for a purse. I can fit everything from my purse plus a good size book. I really like the divided pocket inside and the zippered pocket in front. An outside back pocket would be good too. Another thing I'm not happy about is that the webbing in the front buckles doesn't catch so that I am forever re-tightening.