Two Bags and an Apron

I haven’t been blogging regularly over the summer (and into the fall...) but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been sewing.....  I had a stripe print fabric and a coordinating green fabric saved for awhile to make a bag. I recently wanted to use the left over green fabric in another project so in order to find out what was left over. I had to make the bag. Here it is:

I used a pattern called "A simple Six-Pocket Bag" from Better Homes and Gardens http://www.bhg.com/crafts/sewing/accessories/six-pocket-bag/ 

The bag turned out smaller than I expected. It is actually smaller than my purse! I guess I should have read the instructions better as the dimensions were included. It is 8" deep, 10" wide and 4" thick.  I added a zippered inner pocket which wasn’t included in the pattern:

Since the bag turned out so small, but I really liked how it was constructed, I up-sized the pattern and made it again. I used a piece of fabric 21.5 " x 21" for the outer pocket piece and a piece of fabric 21.5" x 33" for the inner bag.  My second bag turned out 14" deep, 16" wide and 5" thick and I am very happy with the results:

And I also added an inner zippered pocket to this bag too:

My daughter’s fiancé has a bike repair business and I could not resist buying some bike fabric when I came across it. I decided to make him an apron for his birthday with lots of pockets for tools and small parts to protect his clothes from the dirt and grease from the bikes he repairs. He tried it on as soon as he opened it so I think he appreciated it. I didn’t have a pattern but I have an apron my MIL made me years ago and I just laid it out on the fabric and cut around it. I really like the design as the way the ties feed through the armpit casings allows you to adjust it to fit anyone. I made the ties extra long so they can be wrapped around and tied in front it desired.  I divided the outer bike print fabric pockets into four equal pockets and the inner blue pockets into two pockets:

I have been glue basting my bindings on the back of my quilts for awhile now, but have now found more uses for glue basting on the above projects. I glue basted the zippers in the pockets of the bags and it worked really well. The fabric did not creep at all and cause wrinkles. I also glue basted the batting when I constructed the bags and glue basted the fussy cut fabric handles of the first bag in place. I didn’t glue baste the web handles as I didn’t think they would stick. On the apron, I glue basted the hem in place at the neck and the bottom before top stitching as well as the pockets so they didn’t shift and also the bias casings on the armpits were glue basted  before top stitching and turned out absolutely flat.  I love glue basting!

I am linking to Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.ca/2017/10/mostly-moody-quilt-top.html