The designing and making of a bag is a fun process. Sometimes following a pattern exactly is not what you may have in mind. Or you may feel the need to be creative in designing your project "on the fly" This is exactly what happened with my Fabric Tri-Glide Bag. This post won't be a complete pattern so much as a view into my creative process. When I begin a project there is always some form of planning before I make the first fabric cut. I might draw the hopeful finished product or make a list of wants. For this bag, my main thought was an adjustable handle utilizing a Tri-Glide slide. On most bags, this is usually a piece of metal but what if you didn't have access to purchasing the metal component? Or what if your circumstances dictate that you can't have metal on you bag but an adjustable strap is preferable? Could one be made of fabric?
Also with most of my crafts I want to use as much of my fabric as I possibly can and see how many different elements I can apply. For this bag I used the smallest of scraps to apply couching on the outer flap. Inner pockets were also sewn but they did have to be pieced together. Outer trim was another added feature that was utilized with some extra measuring and planning.
There are several downloadable project pages below that you can read. They will show that you can begin with an idea and work through the process to end with a very usable and unique product. Again, there is not a complete bag tutorial, but the focus is specifically on the design process and additional elements. There will be a lot of content so you may want to take one at a time and try to incorporate the skills individually instead of all at once.
| simple_organization_on_the_fly.pdf |
| couching_elements_with_scraps.pdf |
| simple_bag_handle.pdf |
| adding_bag_pockets_from_project_scraps.pdf |
| fabric_tri-glide_for_adjustable_bag_handle.pdf |
| adding_trim_to_a_bag.pdf |
I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you make. Someone will appreciate your hard work!
