polka dot bag

This week for zakka along is a baby quilt based on Ayumi's paper-pieced 'book ' block.

I am loving the sweetest cutest quilts in the Flickr group but as I didn't have enough time to commit to a quilt, I decided to do a book bag.

Polka dot bag happened quite by accident. Recently we got a package full of goodies in mail from our friends, Maureen and Andres and they surprised me with this fabric overflowing with sparkles! I am smitten by the way this serious text, romantic flowers and chic vintage girls mingled together to create this print. I had no idea that this Ruby star sparkle collection by Melody miller existed. I am thankful to my friends for giving me a taste of this gem!

I didn't think I would be using this fabric so soon, but when I was looking around for a suitable fabric for the book cover, I couldn't get past these cutely dressed girls! Originally the book block is small but because of this large scale panel I wanted to use, I redrafted the pattern for this size. To accomodate a long pocket I had to make the bag a long one too!

Just to make this notebook pocket more fun, I added an extra page and the back cover showing on the top with rounded shapes instead of one straight page. Throughout the design process, I tried to repeat curves wherever I could for a soft look including the inside pocket.

On one side is an elastic pocket as big as the outside pocket but with more space for things as it almost ressembles a sack with the round shape.

On the other side are these two small pockets to put keys and other important things that we don't wish to lose or need ready access to.

While I was making this bag and after it is finished, I kept thinking of a friend who loves to knit and loves purple! I think she can use it as her knitting bag or as a library bag as it will fit even some of those over-sized library books :) I planned for the long elastic pocket inside hoping that it will be a nice spot to store knitting needles and other crafty supplies to take along on a trip. I hope she finds it convenient.

The dot fabric is Echino and inside lining is a linen mix from Jo-Ann's. It gave me a bit of heart ache as the color kept running when I was soaking it. I don't remember how many times I had to change the water in the bucket until eventually the water turned somewhat clear. Good thing I didn't wash it along with other laundry like I was planning to!
*Bag is 15 1/2" long x 14 1/2" at its widest point. And the outside pocket size is  11 1/2" x 7" wide.

Thank you for visiting! Have a beautiful day! ( ' v ' )