Shopping Bags To Pay The Rent

Hello everyone! Thanks for the birthday wishes. Now the stardust has settled, it's back to the sewing machine.

This is fritillary bulb. I have resorted to traditional Chinese medicine because the western cough medicine does nothing but put me to sleep. I'm not a fan of traditional Chinese medicine because of the taste which is usually bitter. How you take fritillary bulb is you boil it with 2 cups of water and you drink the liquid. It's god awful I tell you but my body is slowly forgetting it wants to cough so it works.

Remember verypurpleperson's reversible bag tute I was gonna try? Well I did and it turned out to be a really super tute. Easy to follow, any beginner could do it. I only have 2 little issues. Hehe, of course. No, these aren't complaints. Just observations. Firstly, the darts don't match. Secondly, the little curvature close to the side seams is too steep. This will make it hard to topstitch around the little corners.

A long time ago when I learnt dressmaking from this lady, Mdm Gan, I would often bitch about how I have to do so much drafting. The first month alone, I did nothing but draw a scaled drawing of a skirt. Everything had to be learnt the hard way. I never got to sew until the second month and that was after I had converted the scale pattern to an actual size pattern. Plus numerous alterations until Mdm Gan was satisfied. To Mdm Gan, the sewing bit was the easiest part of making clothing. If you were to ask me to make a skirt today, I would have to do it the way I was taught. Draw a scaled drawing, enlarge it and sew. This is why I don't sew clothing. Way too much work. But I'm really glad I paid attention to Mdm Gan because so much of what I learnt can be applied to making bags. And yes, I know how to draw matching darts. Learnt that the first month.

I made 4 shopping bags. I call these shopping bags because they look good for putting your bought items. I did not make them reversible because I'm not so into reversible bags. Making bags for sale sounds kinda romantic but the reality is you have to look at the $ side of it as well. Each time I sell somewhere I have to pay the rent and this is part of the costs. So I made these 4 shopping bags to pay the rent for July MAAD. I intend to price them to sell so that's how I do it.

 This one is light weight denim with a heart applique.

 This is the inside for the denim bag. Now you see it's a Heart theme.

If you know Ikea fabric you will recognise this. Can you see the little running stitches I sew shadowing the parrot?

This one's for those who like it retro.

Of course something nautical.

I hope I sell all four.  TTFN.