Slouch Bag – Sewing To Sell #4

This is the last hurrah in a project series using the patterns in Virginia Lindsay’s book, “Sewing to Sell.” It has great crafty sewing projects and inspiration for taking your sewing creativity to the next level.

Project #4 Slouch Bag

This is an easy bag to make with finished dimensions about 16 x 14 inches. It has darts at the bottom for depth and a little added bling with some D-ring hardware for the strap. Like the Great Big Tote, this bag is super sturdy and would be great for carrying to a workout with a water bottle, change of clothes, and a wallet.

For my bag, I chose one of my Amy Bond canvas fabrics with a modern print and spring colors. I paired it with another canvas weight green fabric and a bright pink quilting fabric for the lining.

To make it more secure so my things wouldn’t spill out, I experimented with adding a zipper. I used the technique from Virginia’s Zipped Pouch for inserting, and had to do a little thinking to meld the two project instructions for turning right side out and finishing. At first I thought to sew the whole top closed at either end of the zipper (I used a 12 inch), but then chose to leave the ends open to show off the bright pink contrasting fabric.

When the zipper is open, the whole bag opens except for about an inch at the bottom of the zipper. I even managed to top stitch all around the top as described in the instructions, except for that pesky inch or so where the fabrics don’t separate. Be sure to keep this step of top stitching in the construction if you also add a zipper, because it keeps the fabric away from the zipper teeth for opening and closing.

I’m loving my new Slouch Bag and am so happy with all the projects I tried in Virginia’s “Sewing To Sell.” Thank you Virginia for giving me inspiration and confidence to try a crafty blog of my own! And thank all of you for going along with me during this fun and crafty journey.

‘Til next time!