It’s a gift card – for a custom made Lickety Split bag. This means that she got to choose the colour, and I went on to choose the fabric and make her the bag.

My mother-in-law decided on a purplish bag that would go with a felted wool jacket she just got for herself. Below you see the result.

The outer fabric is from Stof & Stil, and the fabric for the outer pockets and lining is from Malika & Rosa – this is actually fabric from Onion, the same Onion that makes many of the patterns I use. I was actually going to use this for the exterior of the bag, but the cotton quality was just too light for that. I do like the combination the way it turned out, though. So I followed the pattern instructions and added sew-in interfacing for padding the way I did with the one I made for myself. I also installed a magnetic snap at the opening, because it’s nice to be able to close the bag if you’re carrying a lot in it. I have missed this a few times in my own.

This has been my first sewing in quite a while, and I must say I’m happy with it – I just hope that goes for the recipient as well!

Part of my prize in the Spring Top Week was a beautiful bag designed by Rae herself, and she was kind enough as to send me the pattern as well – what I believe to be an early version of it. I love the bag, so I thought I’d give the pattern a go as well, and after making the Birdie Sling, I wanted a bag that was not quite as big, and with a different fabric combo, since I wasn’t so happy with what I did with that one. So this is my result.

For the exterior of the bag I chose Amy Butler’s Happy Dots design, and decided to go with Sandi Henderson’s Petal Party for pockets and lining – both purchased from Fabric.com, but you would be able to get them in many well-assorted fabric shops online, I believe. I wanted to add a little bit of body to this bag, and I decided to add some sew-in interfacing (Vilene Heavy Sew-In in this case). You add sew-in interfacing by cutting matching pieces, and then pretending that the interfacing is the back side of the exterior fabric (or the lining fabric) at all times. It does give you a little extra work, because you need to match up three layers when sewing everything together instead of too, but it’s really not bad, and it gives a nice slightly padded effect when you’re done. I learned working with it when I made the oilcloth backpack a while ago, and I really like the way it behaves.

I made the bag with exterior pockets going by my own measurements, as I didn’t have the measurements that Rae has used for hers. I’m not sure I will be using them all that much, because they are kind of open to anyone, but I still like them as part of the design – I think they add a nice detail to the bag. My pockets – exterior and interior – are interfaced as well. For interior pockets I chose to make a rather large one at one side of the bag (below), and a pocket for my mobile phone at the other side. Note to self: Add pockets before you close the bottom of the bag – I didn’t, and I believe Mads overheard me swearing a few times… I considered adding magnetic closure to this bag as well, but decided not to.

Conclusively, I’m so fond of my Lickety Split, and it has a perfect size for a handbag. The pattern is easy, instructions great, and the final result still looks nice and fresh. If there are any beginner sewers out there, who thought the Birdie Sling looked a bit too much (and too big perhaps), I would say they should go ahead and make this – it really is fun and easy to make with a wonderful result that you will certainly find use for. You can buy the pattern ($6) for immediate download here.

Finally, this is me with my new bag – it came shopping with me yesterday, and it did a great job!