April Sew Along – Nigella Bag Part 1

Hey all! I started my Nigella bag (designed by Amy Butler) for the April Sew Along last night and wanted to share my fabric choices, thoughts and process.

I selected this LOVELY variation of the fabric selected for the Biggie Bag. Nicole is a smaller scale of the design for the Emily. Lots of colors in the shop to select from. This solid is what I paired it with hoping it will allow the print to really pop.

To start, I adjusted the pattern a bit. Rarely I make things like they tell me to. I guess I need to make it my own a bit.

Any way, for the strap I wanted to make the top of the strap in the print and the bottom of the strap in the solid.  SO, instead of  instead of  ONE 14″ WIDE by 34″ LONG from the exterior fabric , I cut:

• ONE 7″ WIDE by 34″ LONG of the exterior fabric
• ONE 7″ WIDE by 34″ LONG of the interior fabric

Skipping Step 2, since I selected home decor fabric, and on to Step 3.

Right sides together pin and stitch up one side of the strap.

Fold and press wrong sides together.

Then continue with Step 3.

The other change I made to pattern was to cut TWO Bottom Panels from each fabric.  I wanted to be able to choose which fabric I wanted to use when the time came.

Any one taking on this project? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

April Sew Along – Yoga Mat Bags TWO Ways

April included Spring Break for those of us with kids, which means that life was a bit hectic to start the month! Personally, I wasn’t ready to tackle another large-scale project quite yet. My hope is to use the last two months of school to maximize my time behind the machine with all the small projects I’d like to get done before summer sincerely arrives!

SO….April will have TWO sew alongs!

April Sew Along Week 1-2 is this yoga mat tote bag.

I’ve made many of these and modified the tutorial a bit to achieve this result.

I’ll be sharing my changes to create two different customizing options in addition to the original tutorial!

We will be making the tote bag this week and next so start thinking about fabrics! This bag is quite large, so it’s a great place to show off large prints.

Sew Level: EASY.

It should take just 1-2 hours of your time depending on your skill level.

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Week 3-4 of the Sew Along will be this free yoga bag tutorial from Amy Butler. Thanks Amy!! This little guy has been on my to do list for quite a while now.

Because the project is quick (and hopefully easy) I’ll add in a few other quick tutorials for eye pillows to go along with your new yoga mat bags!

Just think how Zen you will feel when it’s all complete!

If you have time for one more this month, you can try this reversible tote:

or this sleeve for your iPad or Kindle!

Each take about an hour.

Which will you sew along with?