Zip-It Up: Runaround Bag

I've already written my New Year's resolutions (craft-wise) and one of them is to go 3D. That is ... make a few bags. I'm not particularly interested in garment sewing due to all the fitting involved, but I did want to make bags. However, I was intimidated for a long time due to zippers, hardware, and the fact that I found written instructions for bags to be near impossible to follow. In fact, one of the reasons I embraced quilting was because it just made sense. Piece A and B together to make C. Bags aren't like that, not for me.

Happily, I enrolled in Craftsy's Zip-It-Up class where I got to follow along and watch the instructor make the bag. Good thing too, because I don't think I could have followed the paper pattern as is. There are 3 bags in the class, which I'll all make in time. The first one is the runaround bag, which is a cute little flat bag with a pocket, a zipper, and a strap.

Fabric auditioning took a surprisingly long time as I had a lot of trouble deciding, but I ended up picking a pair of really bright fabrics to coordinate with the turquoise zipper. It's a little scary to not have a single neutral, but I decided to be a little bit adventurous with this bag.

Following the excellent instructor's video, the bag was quick and easy to make. I love the color combo I put together. The sewing is far from perfect, and sometimes the layers shifted, but once turned and pressed, it looks great and really professional. I'll be making more bags in the months to come, and hopefully after I get a few bags down, I'll understand the fundamentals of bag construction and be able to decipher paper patterns better.