I have to say that my daughter has been very patient. We have been looking for a smaller bag pattern that would fit her style. She loves the look of a Hobo bag but everything is way too big for her. She has been carrying an Evelyn bag from Chris W Designs that I made for her but it was time for a new bag. She decided on the Sylvia Sling bag from Sew Serendipity in a bright turquoise fabric for Spring.
I changed this bag in a couple of ways. I love the look of some hardware on the bag. I changed the strap so I could add rivets and rings. The original pattern has 2 parts to the strap, a longer side and a shorter side. The two straps are overlapped and then sewn together. The strap is then finished off with a fabric flower, buttons, or a buckle. I added all of the pieces from the ends of the zippers up.
The bag is put together with raw edges in the lining that she has you cover with binding at the end. I don't mind the look but I hate doing it.
In the end, this bag is still a little large for my daughter but we'll see as she starts to use it. Next time I think I will print a pattern at 85% for a smaller size. Has anyone done that and how many adjustments do you have to make from there? Has anybody found a smaller sized bag pattern that they love?
Marilyn the bag looks beautiful! I like hobo bags a lot and haven't found the right one for myself either. I did reduce Christine's Savannah messenger bag down to a handbag size from a laptop size and it worked great. I think I reduced the pattern to 75%, but it's been a while so I don't remember exactly. I left out several of the pockets because they weren't needed in the smaller version. Some things you wouldn't reduce though, like the straps. I made 2 of those smaller Savannah bags, one for me and then one for my daughter too. It's still was a bit too large for my daughter. I suppose our daughters are similar there wanting/needing smaller bags. My daughter wants me to make another messenger bag smaller and with a zipper and a flap. So I'll be working on that.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Daryl. I will try reducing a pattern when I get done with my orders because that would give me a lot more options. I've learned over the years that the bigger the bag I carry, the more people's stuff and the more of my own I carry. The most recent bags I have carried have been smaller but most customers still want larger bags.
DeleteThat's why I don't typically carry a bigger bag, either--it's so easy to keep putting things into it and pretty soon I realize that it's way too heavy.
DeleteI really like the color of this one, though, and how it turned out. I'd like to try reducing the size of a bag, too, sometime and see how it works out.
Krista
Thanks Krista. Others have reduced the size and have done OK. Might require some trial and error but I'm going to give it a try.
DeleteLove your bag. I've made the Phoebe bag a few times and have even enlarged it as it's quite small and had no problems at all.
ReplyDeleteHere's the link http://artsycraftybabe.typepad.com/. It's a free pattern and you can find the download at the bottom of the page.
Thanks, Maria. If others have made bags larger or smaller then I am game to give it a try. Thanks for the link. I couldn't bring it up that way but I googled it and found it. Typepad is having some issues. I couldn't get on Christine's blog and she said it is their issue and it has been down since the weekend.
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