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Heather Bailey's Marlo Bloom Pattern Review

After making beautiful bags for friends and family this holiday season I decided to make a gift for myself. I bought the Heather Bailey Marlo Bloom Pattern in November from another great shop on Etsy Material Girl Shoppe. The gorgeous fabric is Amy Butler's Daisy Chain Collection! I bought the fabric from Fresh Squeezed Fabrics and I had been looking for the right opportunity to use it.
I will tell you this pattern is not like most bag patterns. The instructions call for double sided, fusible, extra heavyweight, interfacing called Peltex (Say that 3 times fast.), fray check and strong .5" magnets. After collecting everything I needed to make the bag I dove into it. There is a lot of basting (Light stitching in order to tack pieces together or in place, used like pinning.) and gathering. If you are a bag maker and you want to get into dress making later this would be a great pattern to try before you buy your first dress pattern. Or if you are a dress maker but you have not made a bag before you might love this pattern as a first bag pattern.
There are basically 3 steps. Step1, make the bag. Step2, make the handles. Step3, put it together. I loved Step1, I sailed straight through it and thought I would finish the bag in no time. Step 2 was not as simple. I made 2 handles and trashed them. Practice makes perfect and after my first mistakes (The handle interfacing must be the same shape or it will look wrong when you go to sew the handle peices together.) and learning from them I kept moving forward. Step 3, I had never put a bag together this way before. Most of the time the handles are put on before the topstitching begins but not in this case. I had to trust that in the end it would turn out and I would be the wiser for the new experience. Basting the 3 layers together really helped in top stitching the handles onto the bag. (By the way make sure your magnets are facing the correct way or the closure will not work:) I had to reopen one handle and turn the magnet over:) LOL The only change I would make is to use more small magnets around the handle so it would close even easier. I love my new bag!! I think my husband might take me on a date soon. This is such a great date night bag!!! Best Wishes!!!

Comments

OMB said…
Beautiful bag. I love the fabric too. My daughter has been asking for a bag similar to that one. Her birthday is in a couple of weeks. This will be a great surprise for her. Thanks for sharing.
January 3, 2009 at 9:11 AM
Sew Spoiled said…
Thank you! This would be a great gift!! Handmade gifts mean so much more:)
January 4, 2009 at 10:28 PM
Anonymous said…
Ooww, I love the bag and the fabric is stunning! You did a great job, looks like a good size too.
January 18, 2009 at 6:04 AM
Mary Ann said…
Absolutely gorgeous!! I love both the fabric and pattern!
Greetings from Denmark!
January 31, 2009 at 3:23 PM
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