Two Versions of the Sew Together Bag

I have been eyeing the 'Sew Together Bag' pattern by SewDemented on Craftsy for about 6 months. I finally broke down and purchased it in December.

The pattern description is "Do you love Sewing Together with your friends, but can't keep up with all the notions you brought? This was my dilemma!

The Sew Together Bag is a niffty little bag with three zippered pockets, four open pockets, a pincushion and a great little needle landing all held together by a zipper that forms two handles.

This bag will easily hold your 8" scissors, rotary cutter, marking pencils, seam ripper, extra needles, thread, snippers, and much more. It will amaze you how much you can hold in this fun and compact bag."

It is true this is a niffty little bag and it has loads of pockets!

I made one for my mother-in-law for Christmas, using stashed fabrics in her favorite colors of teal, blue and pinks. I used fusible fleece for the outer shell and quilted straight lines.

It is a great design! But (and there is a big but in there) I would not recommend this pattern to a beginner.

For the zipper pocket linings I used a bright pink to match the outer zipper.

The overall design is perfectly well thought out and all the zippers are great for storing small items that otherwise might get lost. With four open pockets and three zipper pockets you can carry a lot in this bag.

Then I made another one for the guild's zipper bag swap, my partner was Yvonne from 'That's Sew Creative'. I know she loves English paper piecing and the soft colors of Bonnie and Camille's Scrumptious.

So I just had to make the outside of the bag with 1" EPP hexagons. These fabrics are so very sweet and relaxing to work with. I used cotton batting and hand quilted with perle cotton the outside. I recommend getting longer than recommended zippers for the three inside pockets, that way you do not have to worry about sewing over the metal zipper stops. Stay with the size she has for the outside zipper, there is no worry of sewing over those zipper stops.

My overall review of the pattern is that the design is top-notch and the written directions are good. There are only 4 diagrams to reference and I even found them confusing. The lack of photos makes it very frustrating and the price is $12.00. Now the price is equal to the great design but not due to the lack of step by step photos but that's my opinion. Although once you have it figured out it is easier when making a second one. It is a challenging pattern but don't let it stop you from making one, the finished results are very rewarding!

Thanks for visiting!

Kira