Grandale Rollcake Bag

Is there anything better than blending together two things you love? It brings to mind chocolate peanut butter cups and rainy Saturday afternoons and Cary Grant movies that are directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Today I get to share one of those things: a darling vintage inspired collection called Grandale by Keera Job for Riley Blake Designs which I paired with the Rollcake Bag pattern designed by my dear friend Minki Kim. The result is a little girl's dream purse -- at least I assume so, since my three daughters all gasped with delight as soon as they saw it!

I've never sewn a bag with a lace zipper before, but I will definitely be doing it again. I absolutely love the delicate accent this adds to the piece. The Grandale prints couldn't be sweeter. The tiny floral on the main panel and the faux cross stitch print that I used for the gusset are my favorites in the collection.

This type of bag is inevitably tricky to sew, but Minki makes it as easy as possible with her great instructions and photos. I had to trim my gusset a wee bit smaller to fit, yet everything came together with no trouble at all.  I added crosshatch quilting to the side panels and straight line quilting to the zipper panel and gusset to give them all some texture, and I love they way they look. Even though the bag is small, there's a surprising amount of room inside.

This little bag will be packed with goodies and then sent off in the mail to my niece, who is celebrating another birthday at the end of this month. And I predict that it will take approximately five minutes before one of my daughters asks me to make another...