I have been mulling this concept in my head for a while and decided to just get at it. I cut a large piece of the turquoise floral medium weight fabric - 22" x 60". I trimmed two strips of 5" x 122" off of each end to make the handles. They are a bit wider than usual so I folded both sided to the middle in the center of the handle and stitched it down. It makes them both nice and sturdy and not too bulky. I started by stitching my
little folk art bird embroidery on the front of the bag which was white as it was the wrong side of the fabric. The floral is on the inside of the bag. Next, I created a pocket for the inside and stitched it place over the sewing lines I could see on the inside of the bag. I stitched the pocket in place from the inside and the proceeded with sewing two pieces of coordinating patch work fabric to each side of the bird. Next, I added two strips of fabric QAYG (right sides together, stitching, and flipping over the top one). I pinned my top piece of fabric to the top edge of my bag cut long enough that it would be captured by the next fabric strip. I add my handles sewing them in place so they would stay where they should be before adding the little turquoise checkered strip. Because it overlaps the handles it had to be folded over and top stitched which secured all the pieces in place. I finished the bottom half of the front in the same fashion leaving a bit of an open space for the piece I would be putting on the bottom of the bag. I did the back in the same way I had made the front. I used a wide strip of black for the bottom of the bag which I pinned and top stitched into place. Next, I added the zipper. I added two small pieces of fabric to each end of the zipper to create a single piece to encase in the seams. I folded over about a half inch on both pieces of the top front and top back of the bag. I pinned the zipper in between very carefully so I could sew one seam on each side to secure all three pieces of each side together. Worked well!! Next, I created
a French seam on each of the sides to give a finished look to the inside. I boxed the bottom at 6" wide which encase most of my black bottom which I had failed to calculate in my design. I would have preferred to have my bottom piece come up a little higher so the whole bottom showed the black fabric. I will know better next time. It is a large bag and I will be donating it to a local Charity for their clients. I like that I have a nice finished inside without a lining and that the bag is a little more robust due to the two layers of fabric. Therese
