It’s in the Bag

This month, Island Batik paired up with By Annie to make some of her outstanding bags. Island Batik Ambassadors chose what Bag they wished to make and By Annie supplied the pattern and everything we needed to make it. Her instructions are detailed and clear, with great videos to supplement . I love the quality of her accessories: the clasps, the zippers, elastic, vinyl, foam stabiliizer, interfacing all help to get an end project to be proud of.

I chose to make Project Bags 2.0 which will help me to be organized when I am making my many projects: great for fabric and notions to stay with their project. I love that there are four different sizes to accommodate different storage needs. The front of the bags are clear so you can see just what you have stored in them.

The fabrics I chose were from the Bee Kind collection by Kathy Engle. I love the Bee theme, and the collection has all my favorite colors.

There were many pieces to cut out for all four bags, and By Annie has labels for each piece so you can keep them all organized.

By Annie has check boxes by her steps so you can keep track of what you have done. The pattern also tells you when a video is available for extra help.

The first step was to quilt parts of the bag. I used my walking foot and just did straight lines, keeping it fairly simple. The foam was easy to quilt through. I used a Schmetz 80 Microtex needle and Aurifil thread for great results.

I used multiple clips instead of pins to hold things in place while sewing, especially when sewing on vinyl.

Originally I was going to use the blue for the inside of the large and medium bags that had blue zippers, but changed my mind and used the blue on the back for all the bags.