There and back again, in one day--plus a sewing report

Yesterday we didn’t walk. I drove to San Antonio, instead, to pick up the youngest, and that took the day. (It actually took about half of the day, but the weather was going south in a hurry, so as soon as possible I picked her up and we skedaddled down the highway to home.) We got home around 1:30 a.m., talked with my sweetie for a little while over a drink, and called it a day. There would be enough to-do things to work on in the morning.

One of the to-do’s being done was the Aggie bag. Between Sunday, yesterday morning for a little while, and this morning, I finished sewing the bag. It had its share of surprises and adventures, like most first time sewing projects, but it went together without too many odd elements.

To review, it has boxed bottom corners and strap handles. There is a pocket on the outside of the bag, not divided, and a pocket on the inside that is divided. There are also a couple of loops for attaching things, one inside and one outside. There is a strip of hook-and-loop tape along the top for a closure, and a decorative button on the outside pocket.

The bag’s purpose is to hold two cameras, one Kindle, and two cell phones while we fly at the start of the pilgrimage. It is intended to fit under the seat in front of me on the planes, and it may have ongoing use after we return from the trip.

Fabrics, and a Plan

 I started out with these fabrics. The plan was to have a maroon pocket on the outside of the bag, and a maroon lining, with the blocks being the main bag fabric. I measured and discovered that I would have to use a different lining fabric than planned—as the one with the tiny gold pattern wasn’t big enough. So I used a different maroon fabric for the lining, and used the other fabric for pockets. I lined the pockets with the silver gray. I attached the first pocket piece (lined) to the right side of the block fabric, and attached the second pocket piece to the right side of the maroon lining fabric. (This pocket was intended to stop at the “bend” created by the boxed corners, so the pocket piece was sewn on a little ways up from the bottom, with the raw edges enclosed so it wouldn’t fray.) I divided the inside pocket into three, so that devices tucked into it wouldn’t slide all over the place. On reflection, I should have done something like that with the outside one, too.

Then I sewed the squares together, right sides in, and keeping an opening in the bottom of the lining of the bag. 

I began pressing seams open and marking corners for the boxing stitches. This is where the lack of dividers in the outside pocket snagged me. The pocket folded to the wrong side, covered over by the main fabric as it was, when I pressed and marked the boxing stitches. When I sewed the corners into their spiffy boxed shape, the pocket was inside out. Instead of having a maroon pocket with a silver lining, I ended up with a silver pocket with a maroon lining. And, not having realized this before trimming the fabric, I decided to let it stay that way.

The finished bag