Market Case

Over the past few years of sewing, I've discovered a little quirk about myself: I rarely sew the same thing twice. Most of the projects you see in my book were a one-time deal -- the first time I made it was the only time. The same is true of my tutorials. For instance, I adore the Ellie Travel Case and have loved seeing all the creative versions of this little bag popping up on Instagram lately, but would you believe that I don't actually own one myself? I made a single bag for the tutorial which I then gave away as a birthday present. One of these days I need to make another for myself, but there just always seems to be something else on my list of things to sew that comes first. I guess that's why it sometimes takes me longer than expected to finish a project that I'm creating from scratch. Rather than make a prototype, adjust details, and then keep remaking the project until I get what I want, I usually spend a ton of time processing those details on paper and in my head so that I can do it right the first time. At least 75% of the time, it seems to work out okay...so far, anyway.

Over a month ago, I decided to make a new bag to take with me to Spring Quilt Market this week, but my idea of what that bag should look like must have changed at least a dozen times. I wanted something that had only zipper closures so that nothing would fall out and get lost while I was traveling. It needed to be small enough to use as a purse, but large enough to carry everything I wanted to take with me on the plane. I had originally planned to make a crossbody style bag, but due to some recent neck pain from hauling around too much in my everyday purse, I decided to go with shorter handles instead. After weeks of tinkering with the pattern, here's the result: my Market Case.

The front pocket is made of a hexagon panel that I sewed by hand, and I adore the way it looks with chocolate brown yarn dyed linen from Robert Kaufman. The front pocket and main interior are lined with prints from the new Natural History collection by Lizzy House. Those butterflies are a personal favorite of mine. I added an inner pocket made from the linen as well, knowing how handy those can be. Since I was running out of time, I decided to do a zig zag stitch along the inner seams rather than bind them. I've found that I really don't mind the look of seams finished this way, and it takes less than half the time which, to me, is more than worth it.

I am completely delighted with how this bag turned out. It's exactly what I needed -- even if it wasn't what I first envisioned. And if you happen to spot it while you're walking the floor at Quilt Market, please come over to say hi! Since every bag needs a buddy, I made a rainbow badge holder using Monica's brilliant pattern to go along with it. It's so good to have these projects finished and ready to go in time!

For those of you going to Quilt Market, I'll be doing a Schoolhouse session on Thursday at 1pm in room 211B and signing books at the C&T Publishing Booth (#1440) on Friday at 4pm. You can follow me on Instagram at @fabricmutt too where I'll be posting often. I'll only be at Market for those two days, but I'd love to see as many of you as possible while I'm there!