If you've been reading the last few posts, you know that I've spent the better part of the week working on a LARGE item for my baby and newborn swap. I'm happy to say - it's finished!

Thankfully, the rest of the bag was put together without any real problems. Since the brocade was heavily interfaced, sewing it didn't give me many issues (although it did appear to 'shrink' if I ironed it too much) and I think using this material makes the bag very striking. Since it's not a mid-weight fabric the bag doesn't hold it's shape as well as the one in the book, but my partner loves red and black brocade so I don't think she'll mind that it's not nearly as boxy.

Overall, I like the design of the Everything Bag. It's well thought out and is different than anything else that I've seen. However, this is not a bag for beginners! It definitely helps having some purse\bag making experience behind you before attempting this project. Will I be making this one again? Probably not, I'm leaning more toward the "Modern Diaper Bag" now that I have this one behind me (you can see a great version at sewer-sewist).

Some tips if you plan on making the Everything Bag for yourself:

1) Cut precisely, double check your measurements.

2) To achieve a look like the photograph in the book, try, as much as possible, to follow the recommended materials list. This includes using a mid-weight fabric and fusible Peltex (if you can't find fusible, then baste the layers together).

3) Reading the directions before you work on your bag. If you have difficulty with a step, try a mock up with some scrap material or baste as you go. This may save you some frustration if you need to rip out stitching!

After the difficulty I had working with the Everything Bag's divider panel the other day, I really wasn't looking forward to tackling the lining (warning: swap spoiler's ahead, so no peeking if you're my partner).

Thankfully, things went together a bit more smoothly and I was able to put the entire lining together in an evening:

Let me stress - cut precisely! I think that I was a bit off on my pocket panels (I may have added an inch to the length?) because it looks as if my pockets will come up much higher than the photograph in the book. By the time I realized this, I had sewn most of the lining together and decided against ripping it all apart. Hopefully, this won't effect my sewing later on. I believe the hardest part is over - the rest of the bag should whip up fairly quickly!

Have you ever worked on a project that you swear is cursed? I think I may have found one..... (swap spoilers ahead)

I spent the greater part of an evening attempting to figure out step 1 to the Everything Bag. Even though I finally finished the divider panel, I didn't follow the directions - mostly because I really had a hard time figuring out what I needed to do initially. I think if I had to do it over again, I could correctly assemble the divider, but don't quote me on it! Here's where I left off:

Why the difficulty? I think there's several reasons, some of which are my fault:

1) According to the book, the Everything Bag is a 4 out 5 on the difficulty scale (so not the easiest project, but not the hardest either). I think that going into this project, I really underestimated how hard this bag would be to construct. There's nothing like going into something thinking it will be easy to sew and finding out otherwise midway into the project.

2) Sloppy cutting. I'll admit it, I didn't take as much time carefully cutting out each piece and each layer. Preciseness makes a difference. Oh yes, and make sure you have enough material for the lining - I didn't measure my stashed lining fabric only to find out that I didn't have enough for the divider. Thankfully, I had some red material on hand and was able to make one from a complementary color.

3) The directions (or at least the ones for the panel) are difficult to understand. Even though I kept reading them over, I never fully understood what I needed to do. I'm not sure if this is the directions fault, or if adding a 'floating' divider panel to a bag is such a new (and foreign) concept that I need to try it a few times before I 'get it'.

4) Substitution of materials. The material list calls for fusible Peltex to make the inner divider panel stiff. As much as I tried to find some, my local storesjust didn't have it at the time, so I used 'regular' Peltex and some quilting spray adhesive. This isn't really a great substitution (the quilting spray doesn't really stick well and will eventually 'slide' around) and caused a bit of a headache. Looking back on it, I should have just taken the time to baste the layers of Peltex together!

Over the weekend, I had time to finish one more project. A second set of baby booties (warning swap spoilers ahead):

This round is for my baby and newborn swap partner, but I did manage to trace off a larger size for Easton and intend on making a set for Halloween. I also started cutting material for the 'large' swap item - Amy Butler's Everything Bag from Little Stitches. I've been itching to make this project for awhile now and I thought a swap was a good excuse to try it. So far, the brocade has not been fun to work with... and I haven't even started sewing it!