The Katie Bag & FUN FABRIC FIND!!!

Isn't this bag adorable? I love the print, but I really love the style. It's not typical and definitely not SQUARE. The style is called "Curve Appeal" but like my other bags, I named it after the recipient. My niece-in-law was supposed to get this bag for Christmas from my folks. Aunt Lori got a bit sidetracked with this thing called LIFE, but I did get it made and so enjoyed making this.

Edit: I forgot to tell the "story" about this bag for Katie. At Thanksgiving I had Katie & Becky (my niece) tell me styles of purses they liked & prints they liked. Katie's mom was there, too, & said they both liked animal prints. We knew Katie did because the baby's car seat is zebra print with hot pink ruffles! So vogue! LOL! As we went through the different styles Katie said, "I'd use that one as a dance bag." She teaches dance at a local high school. It's different from the ones for Becky & Robin, which makes it fun because these were "purse-onal" bag for each of them! Working full time long hours (practice before school & events after school, plus the whole school day), being a mommy and a wife to a pastor is a hard job, but she does it with grace. We saw our share of zebra's at the Nairobi National Park and they, too, are graceful. Katie, however, is much prettier & doesn't turn her back on us when we take pictures! : )

This bag has seams meet on the front and back rather than the sides, and is cut so there is a high curve on the sides and a dip on the front and back. This bag has slip pockets on the front (which, being a dork, I forgot to take a picture of) and on both sides inside the bag. I can make it with zippered pockets and a closure at the top. I've quilted this fabric myself, again, like my other bags, which means you can choose your own fabric rather than the limited supply of pre-quilted fabrics.

I've put this on my Loribelle Bags Blog with pricing info. I'll put it on Etsy, too, as a custom item. Meanwhile, I have a Messenger Bag to make now then will get some other bags sewn that I've had cut out for some time.

I have to tell you I am SO (or is that SEW) excited about something I found at Hobby Lobby today. Just yesterday a friend suggested I make bags out of canvas. I told her the only place I'd seen any canvas that was pretty was a variety of solid shades at JoAnn's. Lo and behold, today I walked through the fabric section at Hobby Lobby (though I was pretty sure I had every pattern of fabric memorized) and something caught my eye. Once I untangled my eye (just kidding), I walked over & saw the prettiest printed CANVAS fabric! Some was Paisley (sorry Karen Lynn) and some was floral. I can't remember all of it. I asked the lady if that was new (wondering how I could have possibly missed this) and she said yes, it was. She also said they are going to have about 50 different prints! FIFTY!!!! She saw my excitement and asked why anyone would want that. I told her I wanted it for making bags. She nodded and said, "That's what we thought it must be for." Maybe I DO need to work at Hobby Lobby to fill them in on such things. LOL!

Ladies (and any gents who might read this), I can see so many possibilities here: Messenger Bags, the big Robin Tote bag, reusable grocery bags (I actually saw a tutorial using plastic grocery bags & heard in some areas they are charging you to use their plastic bags---yikes!), tents.....well, maybe not. Today there were only about 8 bolts in the store, they weren't on sale and there is no 40% off coupon this week, or I would have brought some home to show you.

Please share other ideas that might be great for a canvas fabric!

Giddy with fabric joy!

Thanks for stopping by today!

P.S. My dd & her friend are working on a camera shots Girl Scout badge. They are finding fabrics to use for backgrounds in my stash. She just brought in one of my partially made bags and said, "Mom, is this going to be a bag?" Yes. "I am so jealous of the person who gets this bag. I could use it as a co-op bag," meaning our homeschool co-op, "You get all the good bags!" Um, honey, I have to make money. "Oh." LOL!