Sew Together Bag (the first)

I am super lucky to already have a Sew Together Bag, made for me by my friend Anne (featuring cats, of course).  Anne has made lots of these bags, and has become sort of a guru.  A couple of weeks ago, I watched her walk another friend, Wendy, through the process for making one, and realised that it didn't seem so hard after all (you can see Wendy's bag here).

I went to Craftsy to buy the pattern, and found that I had already bought it!  So I definitely had to try my hand at making one myself. When I went to buy zips, I found myself immediately drawn to the peach zips, and knew I had to use some of my peachy fabrics in this bag.

The good thing about the Sew Together Bag is that lots have been made already, so you can do a lot of google or instagram stalking to see which ones you like, and the different things that people have done that work for you.

I didn't use the maximum possible number of different fabrics for this bag, because I like the slightly more controlled look that fewer fabrics give. The interior fabrics are a mix of Lizzy House, Carolyn Friedlander, Heather Ross, Umbrella Prints and Sarah Watts prints, and the exterior is Carolyn Friedlander (binding and side panel) and Jay McCarroll (the main fabric).

I worked from both the pattern instructions (which are rather lacking in pictures), and the excellent Quilt Barn sew-along.  My tips for this pattern are to go slow, step by step, be prepared to change your thread colour lots (and have different colours in the top thread and the bobbin as required), and cut a second bag at the same time you cut your first (because it's that addictive).  It's definitely fiddly, but satisfyingly so!