Sunday, March 3, 2013

Va Bene!

Remember when I made that little photo zippered pouch for my BFF for her birthday? Well, I also made her a large Open Wide Zippered Pouch to use as a knitting project bag.  I didn't write a post about it, but I did put a picture of it on my 2013 Sewing FOs page.

For that bag, I used London Icons by Makower UK, a super-cute fabric.  But what I really wanted to use was the Vespas print from the new Dear Stella line called Va Bene* - my friend is nuts about Vespas!  Sadly, it was out of stock at the time I needed it, so I had to give her a rain check.

I was able to order the fabric about a week after her birthday.  In addition to the Vespas, I also got Va Bene Stripe and Italy Map.  I ordered a half yard each, so I had enough to make 2 large bags - one for her and one for me!  I made these yesterday:


Sally's bag, in front, has the Vespas on top and the stripe on the bottom, with the Italy map inside:


And my bag has the Italy map on top and the stripe on the bottom, with the Vespas inside!


I really love this bag for knitting projects.  This is the largest size given in the tutorial.  It uses a 14" zipper, and the pieces are cut to 11" x 14" before sewing.  The flat bottom enables the bag to stand on its own without flopping over; I used fusible fleece as interfacing to make it even sturdier, but still soft.

Here's mine, with the almost-completed back of my Still sweater:


See how much room is in there?  Love it!

I also love that I didn't use up all my fabric - I have enough left over for a couple of small projects I think!


*The same line as the Tuscany in Taupe print I posted a couple weeks ago that everyone loved so much!

8 comments:

  1. These project bags are great, I'm definitely making myself one too! And the print you've chosen - gorgeous!, who doesn't love Italy!

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    1. I think knitting is much more fun when there's a cute bag to put it in ;-)

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  2. Plenty of room, how useful! They look so perfect and pretty too, she is going to love hers!

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    1. Super useful! I guess it's obvious I love this pattern!

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  3. These are lovely! And so useful looking... tell me, are the instructions fool-proof? (lol, it's only worth attempting for me if they are awesome).
    How nice of you to make this for your friend.. what an honour for her :) And gorgeous print!

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    1. I would say they are pretty fool-proof! The instructions I linked to are for a one-color bag, but there is a really nice chart for cutting the pieces for 3 different sizes of two-color bags here:

      http://www.noodle-head.com/2012/06/open-wide-zippered-pouch-tutorial-size.html

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  4. The fabric is too cute! The bags are terrific.

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    1. Thank you! I finally mailed bestie's off this week, and she should be receiving it today!

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