Goodie Bag Swap 2

For this second round of the goodies bag swap I had an awesome partner Aylin who made this great inspiration mosaic  creatively entitled "Bags I love or what I would love as a bag" she included this tutorial for a fancy folded star pot holder from the Moda Bakeshop. Before I knew she was my partner I had admired her mosaic and the folded star and mused on how I could incorporate this into a bag. My initial idea was a simple tote bag with a star on either side. I was delighted when I discovered she was my secret partner and went out and bought I bunch of Joel Dewberry fabric (any excuse to buy fabric).

I had signed up for the advanced category so a simple tote was ruled out. Eventually I hit on the idea of making a messenger bag with the folded star on the flap. I used a pattern from keykaloupatterns and enlarged it by 141% (no exciting reason for this number, just the A4 to A3 enlarger on the photocopier) and added a zipper pocket. I was so pleased with the result and it was well worth all the effort.

I lined it with my favourite print from the heirloom line, this woodblock print.

I also made a little snap frame purse with hand-stitched detail to go with it, also lined with JD fabric.

Just for good measure I made a little zipper pouch as I wanted to try out the Perfect Zip Bag pattern from Elizabeth Hartman at oh, fransson!

This is my whole little package for my partner. I'm so delighted that she loved it, I had a great time making it and learnt lots of new things and extended my skills. For me that is the whole point of a swap :)