woohoo – its time for The Betsy Travel
Bag blog tour so I can reveal my awesome Betsy bag !!!
If you follow me on instagram you'll
know that I've been pattern testing The Betsy Bag, designed by the gorgeous
Kristi of Schnitzel and Boo, and its been such a fun learning experience !
the hardest
part was choosing the fabrics - I think I changed my mind a few times but when
I saw a Melody Miller Ruby Shining Star panel for sale I snapped it up !! its a
bit firmer than other quilting fabrics and is perfect for this bag ! It has some spots of hot pink and aqua
so I added some hot pink spots, lime green flowers, Luna solid, and charcoal
Sketch - its one bright bag that will be very easy to spot while travelling !!
I followed the pattern exactly which
was pretty easy to follow except I didn't read closely that all seams are
1/2" !! being a quilter I always think in quarter inches - once I got on
board with that it went smoothly!
I also did some silly things like
sewing the separating zipper in upside down - that was fun to reverse sew
(not!) but really the pattern is laid out well and even though I wasn't sure I
understood about the strap, it came together perfectly !!
I was really excited to use so many new
to me techniques and all that hardware - I'm feeling pretty confident that I
can make any kind of bag now - thanks so much Kristi for showing me how :)
The pattern is rated for a confident
beginner/intermediate sewer and I'd rate myself as the beginner - the only hardware I've used is a magnetic snap, I've never used a separating zipper
which are sooo easy, and I've never used D rings or anything else that is in this
fabulous bag !
I had fun with the panel quilting -
free motion loopy flowers (thanks Christina) on one side and hearts on the other - for the two ends I
did straight stitching.
I love the huge pocket on the inside
too ! The finished bag measures approximately 20"
wide x 12.5" high x 6.5" wide.
As I said, I really had fun making the
Betsy bag - its so great to learn new things and also end up with a fabulous
bag!
make sure you check out all the other
amazing Betsy bags on the rest of the tour - schedule below.
The digital Betsy Bag pattern is
available for pre-order now from the Rebel Craft Media shop and will be
launched on 1 April - the girls at Rebel Craft will also be hosting a sew along on
their blog starting on 2 April - so if you want to make a fabulous bag to take
with you when you travel then now is the time to join in :)
You can also get a kit with all the
bag hardware from the Snuggly Monkey shop !
If you're in Australia you can get all the hardware you need for this bag from Handbag Hardware Oz - Kylie has great prices and wonderful service.
If you want to make a Betsy Travel bag
and join in the sew along too, I have a copy of the pattern to give away - yay!!
just leave me a comment telling me
what fabrics you would use to make the bag and I'll have Mr RNG pick a name
next Wednesday 25 March (8pm Australian EST) - should give you enough time to
gather your supplies :) make sure you leave an email if you don't have one linked to your profile !!
The Betsy Travel Bag
Blog Hop Schedule
March 17
pattern available for pre-sale through RCM shop
Blog Hop Day 1
posts
March 19
Blog Hop
Day 2 posts
that's me !!
March 21
Blog Hop
Day 3 posts
March 23
March 25
Blog Hop
Day 5 posts
March 27
Blog Hop
Day 6 post
March 29
Blog Hop
Day 7 post
March 31
Blog Hop
Day 8 post
(photo roundup)
