17 WIPs in '17 - a finish

I've been carrying the same handmade bag for a couple of years.  It's this one.  The zip had always annoyed me, being the wrong way round for someone who carries a bag on their left shoulder, and it was starting to look quite tatty. Then, on Christmas Eve the zip broke.  I had to make a new one.

I had a flick through all my bag books and patterns on Pinterest and couldn't find anything that took my fancy.  Nothing was quite big enough for my needs.  I'm one of those people who likes to carry most of their life in their bag at all times!  I decided to draft my own.  I picked this canvas that I'd had in the stash for a while.

I went with a completely contrasting lining, adding some Bike Path at the top for the recessed zip.  I added LOADS of pockets.  2 zip pockets and loads of slip pockets.  I need pockets.  

I sewed up the lining, then did most of the bag construction at Quilt Guild, I sewed the handles but hadn't attached them at this point.  It was time to tackle that recessed zip.  I'd never done one before so I turned to Lisa Lam's Bag Making Bible.  Hmmm, not as clear as her instructions usually are.  I'll try her blog tutorial... oh, well this is different, I'll try A Bag For All Reasons.  Oh, different again!  One's calling for a shorter zip than required, one a longer zip than required, the last a correctly sized zip!  OK, I'll make it up!

And, ta-dah!  For the handles I just used the piece of canvas I had left, at full length.  After carrying this round for a few days, I knew they needed to be shortened.  Have I done it yet?  Of course not!!

So, the bag you are seeing has been carried around and shoved around and thrown on the floor numerous times.  It's holding up OK, except for the top.

See how it doesn't stand up properly?  I used Bosal headliner fabric for the lining/wadding.  It's got loads of body and works great in the main bag, just not this top bit.  

Here's a peak at that recessed zip and the lining in place.

I gave the top a good squeeze here to try and make it stand up... no go.  I'm not sure how to fix it.  I could do several lines of quilting, which may help or may make it fold over more, but I'd have to remove the hardware first.

I will take it to bag camp and see what the experts say!

This was in my list for 17 WIPS in '17 and it's my first project completed!  At the minute, I'm project monogamous, so have no more progress to show.  I'll check in again next month, hopefully with another completed project or two!

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