I'm Becoming a Bag Lady...

I've been going through a bag making phase lately. There are actually a few MORE than the three I'm showing today. The great irony here is that I don't carry a bag, just my wallet...

First there was this little "lunch bag" made from Ayumi's tutorial here. It's a fantastic, easy to follow tutorial.  I used up some cute novelty fabrics I've been stashing since I got them out of the remnants bin.

I made a few alterations. Mainly adding batting to the out layer of fabric and quilting it. If I'd had vinyl fabric for the inner lining this would have made a great kids lunch bag, with the quilted insulation.  I also used a layer of batting rather than stabilizer in the handles and trim (red dots).

After the lunch bag I decided to make the Cooper Carry-All.  The first bag I made essentially followed the pattern as written, with the exception of adding a zipper and some extra top stitching.

The bag finishes bigger than it looks in the pictures. It is essentially the size of a diaper bag (and would make a great one! Those outside pockets are perfect for bottles).  I love all the pseudo-binding trim, like in the handles and the top of the bag, that's made by rolling the lining fabric around the outer one.

Even with stabilizer, the inner bag (blue fabric) lacks stability and the whole thing is kind of floppy.  I'd imagine stuffing it full of baby stuff would solve this problem.  This bag has now been gifted to an expectant mommy.

After getting my head around the pattern I immediately made another version of the Cooper bag, this time making it my own.  I made it smaller, more purse sized. I added batting to the inner bag to eliminate the floppiness, and widened the base to improve stability.

I also made the straps longer so they could go over the shoulder, added an inner, lined, zippered pocket, and the zipper in the top.

I'm especially pleased with how the top zipper turned out.

I love these fabrics. The outer fabric is Laura Gunn, Cosmos, Daylilies in cream.  The inner, dark blue fabric is Lotta Jansdotter, Glimma, Kulla in slate.  For the inner lining and accent fabrics I used some greys and creams from my stash.

So there you have it: I'm officially a bag lady! As of tonight all of these have (finally) been gifted to people who will actually use them, but now I'm making messenger bags. Oi vey!

Linking up to Finish it Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

PS: Don't forget about the Blogger's Quilt Festival going on now. My entries are here (Baby Quilt) and here (Group/Bee Quilt).