not quite finished, still awaiting its intense purple lining. i really appreciated our teacher’s plea to let go of our perfectionism (and one glance will confirm that i did :D).

my first mistake was being so keen to get started i didn’t check my pattern pieces properly. i’d cut all the fashion fabric and interlining out from the wrong pattern piece before i noticed. so the finished bag is now the size that the lining should have been. it’s made the whole thing a little narrower and a fair bit shorter than intended.

the front and back of the bag are completed seperately before being hand stitched together. you can see how badly different my 2 pieces were…

still i thought i’d sew them together anyway to practise using a curved needle. you can see it’s given an ‘interesting’ ruffle to the bottom of the bag but it’s still usable and would almost pass the 3 foot test if held at a slight angle ;)

kenneth’s given us a way to avoid the mismatch involving cunning use of a manila envelope, which i’ll definitely try next time. i’ll also thread trace the seam line onto the fashion fabric so i can be more accurate on the positioning of the piping.

the piping itself is baggy in places, especially round the corners, but not dreadfully so

because i used rounded corners i had to join the piping at the bottom. i wasn’t confident i’d get the length right if i joined by machine so i pinned the piping in place, then joined by hand in situ. the seam itself isn’t too bad, though not a patch on my joining seams in the piping which are near enough invisible. next time i’ll pin the cord before i trim it as there’s a gap between the ends now.