I certainly have made bags before, and I’m usually bad about exactly following a pattern, so this post is to document all the changes I have made to the Podium Bag, which is January’s pattern for the bag of the month club. At least so far.
First off, I hadn’t checked the printout size, but thank goodness someone in the Facebook group had mentioned a sizing issue, and I realized then that I had to reprint the pieces at 103%. I had only cut out the vinyl and pockets. Looking at the pieces, and wanting to use my 1.5″ soft and stable roll purchased in the US for the straps, I decided to make the whole purse 3/4″ wider. I like a biggish purse–by the time I put in 2 phones, reading glasses, wallet, and other paraphernalia, I need the space.
Next, adventures in interfacing. For the bottom, I attached the peltex to a piece of sew-in interfacing that I actually scorched. Good thing no-one will see it.
Since I am using vinyl, and linen blend for the body (Euclid by Caroline Friedlander) instead of quilting cotton, I used the light weight interfacing on the lining, slip pocket lining, phone pocket pieces, and the top half of the body. The blue print with the bicycles you see is the lining.
I used fusible fleece for the flap but skipped the interfacing here. I used lightweight interfacing for the lower handles and aforementioned soft and stable (not shown) for the main strap. There were a lot of warnings about the extra thickness of the strap, and since the vinyl is pretty heavy (it’s upholstery vinyl), I didn’t include the fleece in the section that gets folded over.
I’m going in for the main (sewing) event now, wish me luck! Linking up to Sew Fresh Quilts.
Lisa in Port Hope 
Good luck. Love your choice of the Euclid. It’s a great colour and design for bags. For me that means hiding the dirt! My bags tend to get quite grubby after a while.
I’m right with you on that! I have never made a bag with vinyl, but I need the water resistant bottom especially in the winter.
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On Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 2:24 AM, Lisa in Port Hope wrote:
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Lots of prep work to make a bag, but this one will be worth it! I will be interested to hear how the vinyl/linen blend sews for you. Will you use a walking foot?
Yes my Pfaff has an integrated feed system, not exactly a walking foot but it helps to feed the fabrics evenly, and I’m going to use some scraps to test out the stitching before I start the actual assembly.
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On Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 8:59 AM, Lisa in Port Hope wrote:
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Good luck. Looking forward to seeing it all completed.
Thanks!
I have only attempted bag making once. But was happy with the results. Looking forward to seeing your progress on this purse!
Thank you Lorna, so far I’ve had some challenges but it’s starting to come together!
Lisa
This looks like a complex pattern. I have made three bags in the last few months and none of them are finished yet. So fiddly. But I love having them once they are finished so I best get on that!
The vinyl has made it more difficult, since I’m not used to working with it, but I think the bag will look amazing once it’s done.
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On Tue, Jan 23, 2018 at 10:37 AM, Lisa in Port Hope wrote:
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[…] I would have actually completed this in January if the rivets I had ordered had come in sooner. I has some challenges installing them, wasting 5 for the 4 I installed ( and crossing my fingers they stay). I added a keyloop on one side, and a small zipped pocket on the front side of the lining (I like a spot to keep my earbuds and lipbalm). Other changes are listed in this previous post. […]