Do Over

This weekend I set aside time to sew up the Sound Check Bag,the last bag in the Big-City Bags book.

What I didn't plan on was all the cutting mistakes...For some reason I just could not seem to get my brain in the right gear.  My fabric is directional,if it was an all over print there would not have been any problems.  The above photo was my first cutting mistake,it was supposed to be 14 1/2" x 18" (hight by width).  I cut just the opposite.

My second attempt,this time I cut the width 2" too short,Seriously?!  Yep.  Since this fabric was from a quilt shop (i.e. not cheap)there was no way it was going in the trash.  So I decided to just try and make it work.

This decision lead to a lot of math(which bty I stink at).  The accent strips,the black on the edges of the bag front and back had to be cut down to 1".  Even with cutting them to half the size I ended up sewing half of the strips into the side seams.

Of course the side pieces had to also be cut down to fit properly.

You can see how the D ring tabs are right at the edges,they should be a couple inches in from it.

The fabric used for the handles/straps,is a faux leather type,so when tying the knots in them they stretched.  This made my top stitching on them(straps) rip out a bit.  The pattern actually called for rectangular hardware,which I did not have.  That would not have mattered though.

The bag should have five nice flat pleats across the front/back of the bag,mine has only three.  So the result is a slouchy bag. Instead of a nicely flat pleated exterior/interior.  Can you believe with all the problems mistakes and math issues involved with this bag,I still love it?  The fact that I was able to take all the mistakes and turn them into a decent looking bag is just a testament to how much my bag making skills have improved this year!  And,that makes me very Happy :)

Not sure how to go about making the exterior bag pieces in the first photo into a bag,but when I figure it out I will post about it.

Happy Sewing!