Yet again, I need a new project like I need a hole in the head, but this is something I've been contemplating for ages. A couple of years ago, I came across the picture featured above and saved it to my "idears" folder on my computer desktop. From time to time, I'd run across it and think,"yeah, I need to make that bag" and then go on to do something else. Over the course of the past year, I collected fabrics that I could use to make one of my own. Here's a carefully-composed shot of what I've put together so far:
The black fleur-de-lis fabric will be the body, the faux leather will be the bottom, and the cream floral fabric will be the flap. You can't see the pattern very well, but it all works together, especially when you add the goldish-colored piping and tassle. The faux leather is a scrap from another project, and the rest were all purchased during a variety of massive sales.
I perused Pinterest (again!) looking for similar bags to see what other people have been doing, and even ran across a couple of free downloadable patterns which I will consult but otherwise ignore because I can do a better job myself.
Before I go any further, yes, it's true that I need another bag like I need a hole in the head. I need a purse like I need... you get the idea. But yes, I'm going to make this cute backpack. It will be big enough to tote my wallet, sunglasses, a small notebook, some pens, and my iPad Mini. I might even install an interior pocket just for the Mini. Otherwise, it won't be meant to carry anything heavy.
My current heavy-stuff carrier is this leather briefcase given to me by one of my old boyfriends' mothers about eighteen years ago. She had a lovely leather satchel which I admired, so when I passed some form of school thing (passed my comps? I can't remember) she gave me this briefcase as a gift. All by itself, it's heavy, and with my laptop and minimal books it's even heavier. For its size, it doesn't hold much. I put my keys in the larger outside pocket, and the smaller is exactly the right size for my sunglasses case. The Emperor has had to replace some of its hardware for me (he's the leather guy around here). I'm not ungrateful for this gift, and I realize it must have been expensive when new (but she could afford it), but I still think of her leather satchel and if I ever find another I like as well that won't empty my bank account, I'll get it.
A few years ago, I was possessed of an unreasoning need to make a book bag for a job that I hoped to land. I didn't land the job, and it took me a good long while to get back to finishing the bag because it was a complicated pattern, but I finally did. I used it for the first year I worked for my current school. While I used it, I thought "if I were to do this again, I would..." and think about what I would have included, left out, or otherwise made differently. For example, I would have left out the interior soft zippered section that divides the center of the bag into smaller, less useable halves. One large interior section would work better, and the zippered section would be more useful set nearer the side of the bag. I would have stiffened the lining on one side and made deeper, slightly larger pockets for pens. I would have made a larger pocket to slip my keys into, and included one for my sunglasses. Ah, the luxury of hindsight.
When I carry a briefcase or large book bag, I usually don't carry a purse. Thus, I like to have a section of my "professional bag" devoted to personal stuff, and use the rest for laptop, books, files, and other stuff.
The Emperor calls my current purse my "rucksack," shown above. I made it myself back in May, the result of a Pinterest crawl that left me with a set of instructions and an uncontrollable desire to make an example. I found the perfect, perfect! fabrics at our local quilt/embroidery/yarn shop and ran it up all in one day, over the course of about ninety minutes. It has outside pockets, and one interior space, and that's all. But it has no means of closing across the top, so if I set it down anywhere it just sits there, open to the world. Convenient? You bet. Secure? Not so much. If I had it to do again, I'd include a zipper across the top. I like it well enough that I have considered retro-fitting it with a zipper, but that would spoil its current clean lines. I love that sixties-look fabric. It's almost Googie. Click on the picture for a closer look at the designs.
So how did I do on all of the stuff I thought about doing over the weekend? I did indeed finish the second sleeve on the Jupiter cardi, and started the body. I did vacuum the house, and took about two hours to do it along with a thorough dusting job. I finished two of my tenure file essays, and am almost finished with the last one. My only chores left for the file are to get one more letter of reference and to polish up the latest version of an article I hope to have published this year, something that I will finish this week. I never did go to the furniture store, nor did I go looking for inexpensive storage ottomans. The swags still hang on my curtains. The lawn is definitely asleep, because it still looks freshly mowed and edged. However, it's supposed to rain later this week so I might end up having to mow one more time before school starts.
So let's get moving.
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