A sparkling little gift bag

During a weeklong school holiday, I filled out two forms for pattern testing. One for a company that had turned me down a few times before and another one in a group I must have joined for a contest and forgot about. I did not expect to get picked by either of them and forgot about the forms. Until I found acceptance e-mails for both tests on the same day ... oops: no more chilling out!

This is the first result, the other pattern is launching tomorrow ;-)

Lauren (Sew By Pattern Pieces) is launching the #11600 Jenny Tote Bag in honor of her mother. She passed away last year due to pancreatic cancer. Half of the proceeds from this pattern will be donated to Pancare Foundation, which finances cancer research in Australia. 

The pattern is available in 4 different sizes (S/M/L/XL):
from a cute gift bag right up to a spacious beach bag..

For easy storage the bags can be rolled up and closed by 3 different fastening methods: Ties, straps with a snap and an elastic.

The smaller model offers a choice between short or long handles.  The shorter handle is meant for children. The longer version allows an adult to carry the bag on the shoulder.

I picked a small, with short handled and ties closure.

I had my nieces birthday in mind while picking out fabric. She would probably still appreciate some of the woven prints my kids have outgrown before I got around to making something from them. So we can even call this test stash busting ;-)

Cicely Mary Barker's Petite Fairies were produced by Michael Miller fabrics a few years ago and have been living in my stash ever since I made a small purse out of them. Time for them to come into the sunlight again. There a tiny glitters in the fabric. I followed that lead and went a little crazy with topstitching in metallic thread. Look at those sparkles!

If you like a clean finish, you will love this pattern.
It features French seams, a clean hemmed facing and a boxed bottom.

 

The facing is put in place with the burrito method. You basically roll up the bag between the handles to stitch the facing handle to the outer bag handle and then flip the whole thing inside out. At a certain point you understand why this is called a burrito. It looks weird, but it's a very clean finish.

The burrito roll was not easy to explain with drawings, so a video was provided to complement the instructions. I just happened to have picked two distinctly different fabrics, which made it very clear what was where during the whole process. I decided to take some step by step pictures to share with the tester group. Apparently that worked, because some of the instructions where adapted to it. I'll be sharing these 'magical burrito' pictures in a later post.

Meanwhile I will be enjoying the view of the fairy bag until my nieces birthday. Or maybe I'll make her another one and keep this for myself. I had so much fun making it that I am not ready to let it go yet. 

Pattern: #11600 Jenny Tote Bag (SewByPatternsPieces)

size: small, with short handles and ties closure

Fabric: Cicely Mary Barker's Petite Fairies  (Michael Miller)