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!

OK, so let’s start with the good stuff. The bag is big with a nice rounded shape, it has three pockets on the inside, and it hangs nicely on your shoulder. Before I started it, I checked the internet for good advice and I found a few helpful resources.

This photo tutorial over at Indie House was great for just looking through the project before starting my own.

From this post over at Pink Chalk Studio, I was inspired to add magnetic snap closure to the bag – and her post is very insightful, so definitely also worth a read before starting.

Also – I’m useless at handsewing, and I had no idea how to slipstitch, so this post on Taffy Talk came in really handy – and that elephant is too cute! The lining in my bag is closed beautifully because of it.

Now, while I’m really happy with the bag in terms of shape, size, the way it came together, etc. – I’m equally unhappy with my choice of fabric. I don’t know what happened – I knew it already while I was putting it together.

I love both prints that are on the exterior of the bag, but they just don’t go together. I had my mind set on something more simple to go with the white linen, but I didn’t have exactly the right thing in my stash, so I think I just became impatient and ended up using the best alternative – or it seemed so at the time. I realized too late that it wasn’t right, and now after I spent two evenings making it, I’m going to learn to love it – hopefully. The band and handle-fabric is Joel Dewberry as well as the fabric for the interior – and they’re both so beautiful. The white printed main fabric is a rather stiff linen, which seems to be nice and durable, but doesn’t provide much drape – especially not after being interfaced. I think next time I make this bag, I will probably go for something heavier, yet soft.

So I basically followed the instructions step-by-step, and they are well written and easy to understand. This bag is praised everywhere as being a great beginner’s project, and uhm… I agree, provided that you’re not an impatient person. Make sure you have everything on the materials list when you want to start the project, I was thrown off a bit by how much fabric and interfacing I actually needed. Also interfacing 14 pieces of fabric takes a while in cutting and ironing. After I had everything ready, I didn’t really encounter any problems. Remember, that if you want to add magnetic closure, you should do so before joining the exterior and the interior – that’ll make it easier. The pattern includes a glossary to explain sewing terms, which is a wonderful thing if you’re not too familiar with the techniques.

This is what my bag looks like – I just might make it again sooner or later in order to get it right.

I must say the advice she gave me was pretty good! This is what I have made from the issue I bought that day, and I have found a few second-hand issues as well, so I have been making quite a few of their designs lately. Now the style of their designs for girls is generally a bit too romantic for my taste, but it doesn’t take much modifying to make it more simple - often choosing a different fabric will do the trick. In each issue you get more than 40 patterns for children’s wear from size 62 to 170 (occassionally with premature sizes as well), so I think that you definitely get your money’s worth. I don’t have any boys to sew for, but their patterns for boys are also really cool. I have been so satisfied with it, that I decided to subscribe for the kids issues (4 each year) – in English, though, to make sure I understand what they are talking about.

This bag is my latest Ottobre-creation (made it yesterday), and it is actually a pattern that you can download for free from their website. It’s quite easy to sew up, so go right ahead.

In addition to the Ottobre magazines, I stumbled upon a Yahoo-group called the “Ottobre English Sewing Group”. It’s a group for people who are using the Ottobre patterns for their various creations, and it’s great for sharing experiences and discussing problems. It’s connected to a Flickr-group, where you can find lots of inspiration looking at the many different versions of clothing people have made from the Ottobre patterns. On top of this, the members of the group are a great bunch of people from all around the world, who are enormously encouraging and helpful!

The next issue of the Ottobre Design magazine is up in a few weeks – I’m looking forward to seeing what they have come up with this time!