Checkerboard Bag!

I had some fun over the last week, attending a bag making workshop put on my Garment Guild. One of our members instructed us on how to make a bag that's essentially a couple of rectangles and some tricky sewing! She had made many of these when she sold them in her craft business, and we had fun learning the trick for ourselves. 

We had to choose and bring along fabric and lining; I chose a canvas-like checkerboard that I bought from Our Social Fabric a while back, the perfect weight for a bag. I had the great luck of having some quilting cotton given to me by another participant for my lining because it looked so great! 

We inset a zip, made some straps, and stitched the shapes together. It was a bit orgami-ish but once turned right side out it looks so simple and fun! 

Inside out and ready to sew, it's a bit wild!

The great thing about this project is that it's a basic shape based pattern - the sizing depends on the zipper you use, and the strap length is up to you. It's very adaptable. Many people used two different fabrics for the top and bottom and this can give a great effect. I had such a busy print that I stuck with all the same but there were many beautiful combos shown, and they can be lightweight fabrics like batiks or even lighter if interfaced. Great way to use up scraps :)