A Spice Cake Patchwork Messenger Bag

Good Morning!

I have been quite busy sewing and creating over the past few days. I finally cut into the Spice Cake fabric that I got about 2 weeks ago from Stampin' Up! I only have 1 fat quarter of each pattern so I want to make sure that there is very little waste.

I wanted to make something with some of the fabric that I could have during the Demonstrator Only event that is being hosted by Heather Summers. She is one amazing lady and has a wonderful blog. You should check it out. Here is a link to her blog.

I decided to make a messenger style bag (and used Amy Smart's "32 Minute Messenger Bag Tutorial" which can be found on her blog Diary of a Quilter).

I decided to add a pocket to the front of the bag and was originally going to have a pocket that went from side to side, however I then realized that with the simplicity of how the bag is constructed that the bottom of the pocket wouldn't be sewn to the bottom of the bag as the bag is composed of two pieces (shell and lining) instead of 4 pieces (2 for the shell, and 2 for the lining). So, I altered my pocket design to be a smaller pocket that would "float" in the middle of the bag.

I started out with 2 1/2" squares and using a 1/4" seam allowance I sewed them all together.

Here is a shot of the 3 piles of 2 1/2" squares.

And here is the pocket assembled.

I used some fusible interfacing and lined it with broadcloth.

And here is the bag with the pocket attached.



This is my 3rd bag made from this tutorial, but the first with a pocket on the front (I usually put the pocket on the inside of the bag). I was going to put a smaller pocket on the inside (and actually it was sewn on when I constructed the bag), except I put it on the same side as the front pocket and felt that it was too much so I took it out.

All I have left to do is to attach the straps! Project 1 done for October 1st....now to finish the mug rugs as well as a fabric basket. :)

Anyways, I am off to do some more crafting. I have some mug rugs to quilt (3 to be exact), a fabric basket to create (using the pink/orange floral fabric that I bought back in July), as well as create some cards to swap at the Demonstrator event. It should be a busy weekend and keep me out of trouble :)

Happy crafting!!

Katie