Go Anywhere Bag

A while bag I decided to dip my toes back in the pool that is online swaps.  I have a love hate relationship with swaps.  I love participating but I always get super anxious that my partner won't like what I made.  But I decided I had spent long enough on the bench.  One of my friends had told me about the Sew Sew Modern Swap and it sounded like a good place to start.  So I joined the group and submitted my form and waited to see if I got in.  The swap was limited to 50 people and the flickr group has over 100 people in it so it was kind of a wait and see game for awhile.

I have to give props to these swap mama's because the questionnaire was so good.  They even asked us what we would prefer not to make.  But that's where it gets funny for me.  I said I would rather not make a complicated bag.  I'm not a huge fan of sewing any bags but I figured I could make something similar to what I made for the Goodie Bag Swap if my partner really wanted a bag.  Oh boy, my partner wanted a bag.  Specifically the Go Anywhere Bag by Anna of Noodlehead.  Okay I love this bag-I bought the pattern and if you are the bag making type I would say this should be on your list of must have patterns.  It's a great size bag nice and roomy.

My bag isn't perfect.  I don't like the way the pocket on the front lined up.  It's a split pocket and you sew through the pocket and front panel to make the divide.  It probably works well but you do this after you have already sewn the pleats.  I'm not very good at pleats.  And for some reason my front pocket didn't line up quit right.  I am sure this has something to do with the pleats but I ended up with a strange little wing type thing.  It looks fine intentional but I think if I were making when I do make it again I might cut those at a little less severe angle to accommodate my lag of bag making skills.  Sorry somehow I didn't manage to get a picture of the front.

After looking around on my partners flickr page and blog I decided that she must like purple.  At least I hope so.  A lot of her favorites have purple in them and so I hope she picked those items because she likes the color and not just the style of the projects.  So I went with this plum solid and I used this piece of architextures I had just gotten.  I ordered it as a stash addition last month when purchasing fabrics for my pillow swap.  I didn't know it at the time but the text talks about quilting stuff.  I think that's an extra bonus.

And because of crazy vet bills of late I was really trying to make things work with fabrics I had on hand without sacrificing what I thought my partner might like.  Honestly purple is not a color I work with very much and I don't have a lot of fabrics in that color way.  For some reason I had this piece of Anna Marie Horner left over and thought it would work well with my other fabric choices.  I made the inside slip pocket out of a piece of garden party that I had and I think it gives it some fun little kick.

I still need to make a little something to go with this bag before I mail it out on Friday.  The details of this swap were a large item and a coordinating smaller item.  I'm thinking I am going to make a journal cover but then I found this cool journal at target that is graph paper inside and I already like the cover of it.  It is an odd shape so I don't really want to make a cover to fit it since I doubt my partner would have an easy time finding a refill for it later.  Anyone have any ideas of a different small item?

Links to Original Pieces: 1. My Pillow Talk Swap from Little Miss Shabby, 2. Feeling Stitchy, 3. Fabric Bin, 4. PTS7, 5. Sew Sew Modern, 6. pillow swap d.o.n.e., 7. Not so spring deer, 8. DSCN3354, 9. New sewing machine cover

I promise pictures of the whole package after she/he receives it.  Maybe at the same time I tell you guys about what my partner made for me.  And just for fun here's the mosaic I gave my partner to work from.  So many pretty things.


Update-My partner commented on my photo over on flickr so I think I can breath a little easier.  At least on the surface it seems this one will be a success.