Bag Lady

from sarah the sewist

I've been on a mild bag-making spree, and Josh is proving to be a very valuable adviser in creating extremely cool messenger bags, one for me and one for my mom for her birthday.

First, my Will the Wolf Survive? messenger bag:

Now maybe the fabric designer wasn't inspired by the Los Lobos song, but it's been on Josh's playlist (you know, the one in his head that he sings out loud since we're the last Gen-Xers in America that don't have an iPod) ever since I bought this fabric.This is one of the the most wonderful fabrics ever, designed by Japanese artist Etsuku Furuya, made by Enchino.

I have been carrying this bag every day since it was completed and got the ultimate compliment when Josh and I were grocery shopping the other night. Our cashier first asked me where I got my bag, and after I told her that I made it myself, she asked me if I'd considering making one for her. This was a wild experience, and I can't get over it. I really don't like the idea of someone else having "my bag," though, so for now, it's just something to inflate my ego about to sewing skills and funky aesthetic sensibilities.

The second, the This Thing is So Wildly Over-the-Top that My Mom's Bound to Love It Bag:



The fabric is from the new Amy Butler "Nigella" line, and it's really my mom's style... And really not mine.

There's a special message for my mom hidden on the inside of the strap:




It's not any fancy-schmancy machine embroidery (and you know I didn't do it by hand, due to my strict no hand-sewing policy), our little Kenmore's monogramming feature didn't do half bad.

Josh has a theory that pretty much everything can be improved if you add piping, and I think that my mom's bag kind of proves his point. The piping really does put the bag in the realm of over-the-top that's just right for our purposes.