Pink & Green Hobo Bag - Finished

This bag really turned out cute. As I mentioned in my other post, I used a Sweet Pea Totes pattern with Michael Miller fabric.

I only had a couple problems getting through this project. First, I thought to myself that the flap needed to be stiff, so I used Pellon DecoBond interfacing. That was a big mistake and I realized it right away, thankfully. As soon as I put the flap on the exterior piece, before the lining was sewed in, I flipped the flap closed to see what it looked like. Because the flap goes across the top and the folds down the opposite side, the DecoBond crinkled and wrinkled. It was not pretty.

As the pattern suggested, I added fleece between the exterior and the lining. This gave the bag a wonderful squishy feel. The flap made with the DecoBond interfacing, had no fleece, so it was not as luxurious as the rest of the bag.

I knew right away that I had to re-do it. Thank goodness I had extra fabric.

I really wanted to make the strap adjustable but when I went to JoAnn's to buy the buckles, they were out. Boo! The only other fabric store that's close to me is Hobby Lobby and their notions area is quite small. I could have driven out to Hancock but that store is 10 or 15 miles away. I didn't want to go that far for two square metal rings. So, I just put a straight strap on it.

Lastly, I gave a review of Sweet Pea Totes patterns in another post - here. Since then I found out that some of her patterns can be purchased through Simplicity. That is fabulous. The patterns are really cute and simple to make but purchasing using a PDF was tough because there were photos instead of drawings and the documents were over 40 pages. Way too much ink involved. I haven't purchased the pattern from Simplicity but I would imagine it's just like all the other Simplicity patterns with good instructions that you can keep next to your machine, plus, you can find them on sale all the time for $1-$2 at JoAnn's and Hancock - much less expensive.

Okay, I have to go to work now. Till later ~

Reba