My Olivia Bag

After dinner last night, I headed upstairs to my office for some sewing. After a couple of hours of sewing I had a finished Olivia bag. The tutorial was easy to follow.

I always struggle to get the top edge neatly sewn together but I think the straight lines (as opposed to curved lines) of this bag made it a lot easier. The pattern includes fabric straps but I wasn't in the mood to make fabric straps last night so used a long leather strap I already had. This way I can wear it across the body or swap it for a shorter bag handle for a shoulder bag. I have a selection of clip on leather straps which I can swap between bags.

I probably should have made the top tabs narrower so they were the same width as my D ring tabs (to which I attached my handles). The bag measures 11in tall and 12in wide. I'd love to make a slightly bigger bag in a laminated cotton fabric. 

I used fusable fleece on the outer fabric and heavy woven interfacing which I spray basted to the lining. Spray basting it was enough to hold it together until I started sewing it together.

Inside I made a zipped pocket, slip pockets for phone, my knitters tool tin and pen. On top of that slip pocket I made another slip pocket for my Nexus 7 tablet. I'm thinking I may hand stitch on some Velcro to close this pocket. I tried some stick on Velcro last night but I need to reinforce it with stitching as it doesn't stay stuck on. I also put a hook for keys as I find that a useful feature and a magnetic closure.

All in all I love this bag and can't wait to use it today. I'm hoping its big enough for my daily essentials plus a small project bag. 

I've been browsing a lot of bags online this weekend and I really fancy making this pleated bag by Lisa Lam next.