I wanted a smaller, lighter coloured, more summery bag. I've seen loads of these on the internet. The pattern is Rae's Buttercup Bag generously available for free at: www.madebyrae.blogspot.com
I used some mediumish weight cotton for the exterior and some canvas weight fabric for the lining, both from Ikea.
I modified Rae's pattern a little. She does not suggest using interfacing, I wanted my bag to be fairly shaped and not too floppy, so I added a layer of fleece to the lining layer. I don't have and proper fleece interfacing, I just buy €2.50 polar blankets from Ikea and and cut them up. Has anybody used fusible fleece? What's it like? I've ordered one of Cotton and Cloud's lovely bag kits with some in it so I can find out.
I also added a zippered pocket to the inside, really because I need the practise, each time I do it I get a little (little) better. I follow Autumn's great tutorial at SewMamaSew. Inside of a magnetic clasp, I made a loop and matching button to close the bag. I changed the direction of the pleats, so that I had a centre pleat and two mirrored pleats either side (in Rae's pattern all the pleats are in the same direction).
Finally, accidentally and unwantedly, I made the bag bigger, Down to my unorthodox method of copying the pattern. I traced it off of my computer screen, ahem...No, I didn't damage the computer, but I hadn't realised my computer had enlarged the page. Thought it looked big...
Overall, I like this bag, although it is still a bit too floppy - I think this maybe because it is bigger and next time I will add some interfacing to the strap, or maybe use some stiffer fabric.
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