Thanks to Twitter and some great friends, I’ve been getting back into sewing lately and loving every minute of it!  My first project for the year comes from a free pattern from Amy Butler that includes a small portfolio.  I initially thought it would be great to go with my new messenger bag patter, but its also a great pattern to get started back in sewing after a bit of a hiatus.

My other idea is that I can use this to carry an iPad (which will now be referred to as Susie – marketing morons).  Since Mark seems obsessed with Susie, I could easily make one for him as well by using some more masculine fabric.  A few adjustments to the measurements of the pattern and violà – a Susie carrying case!

Not use to modifying your patterns?  Its pretty simple.  First off, the pattern has the normal finished size pretty wrong.  If you start with a fabric height of 7″ and then sew 1/2 inch on each end…you end up with 6″.  So, lesson learned – account for your seam allowance!

So if you want a finished height of 10″, start with fabric height of 11″ (this pattern uses 1/2″ seam allowances around).  Then you get to choose your total width and the distance you want in the middle between the pockets.  If you want to carry thin items, you don’t need a large distance.  Thicker items (such as Susie) may require a larger distance though.  So an example would be 7″ total width with 5 1/2″ pockets.  So your larger fabric piece will be 7″ x 2 plus 1″ for seam allowances making 15″.  At this point we know we have a finished product that is 10″ x 7″.  Our large fabric is 11″ x 15″.  How about that pocket fabric?  We know it has to be 11″ tall.  Then our finished pocket width is 5 1/2″.  Add our seam allowances on and we get 6 1/2″.  We end up with a pocket fabric size of 11″ x 6 1/2″.  I didn’t change the length of the ribbon, but that is always an option.  You could also try using two sets of ribbon.

Note: these numbers were made up as I wrote this.  These are not the numbers I used to make it the size to carry Susie.  I’ll also post pictures as soon as the computer is done processing a year’s worth of video.

Its great to be back sewing and I hope to share more projects on here throughout the year.  My next project(s) are top secret for now!

This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 8:58 pm and is filed under Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.