I somehow got lucky enough to test another Noodlehead bag pattern!
This is Anna’s new Sidekick Tote – she’ll be releasing the pattern sometime this week, so stay tuned! I love Anna’s blog, and she’s the queen of fabulously written and designed bag patterns. I’ve been carrying my Go Anywhere bag for over a year now and it’s starting to look a little worse for wear – emptying out the cracker crumbs might be helpful, but making myself a new bag seemed like way more fun.
And it seems I can’t stop making gray bags. This is the third bag I’ve made for myself, and they’ve all been the same color. I think it’s because I know how dirty it’s going to get, so a dark color seems safest. And I do love gray. One fun thing about Anna’s patterns is that there’s so much room to play around with coordinating fabrics.
I picked a basic main fabric (Essex yarn dyed linen in black – neutral but with a great texture), then added two fabrics from the Cloud 9’s Simpatico line, and a tiny gray chevron print called “Sally’s Skirt” from Moda’s Reunion Collection. All purchased at my lovely local fabric shop, Cool Cottons.
Linings, pockets, pocket linings, two-sided straps…the hardest part was deciding which fabric should go where.
I love how the strap can be made from two different fabrics. And yes, I coordinated my shirt to match the bag for these photos, but truth be told, I have two shirts that fit me right now, so it wasn’t that difficult a choice 🙂
This bag is secure – an adjustable strap means you can wear it across your chest, so no slipping off your shoulder.
It zips shut, so nothing’s falling out.
Even the front pocket is secure.
And let’s get back to that recessed zipper (fancy, right?). This is my first time making a bag with a zipper, and I really prefer this closure method for keeping things put. And I love how the zipper is hidden in the bag – it’s genius. Fun to be able to choose another hidden fabric for that part of the lining, too. Plus, look at that cute little zipper-end-cover-thingy.
Wish I could’ve found a local source for the cool rectangular strap adjusters Anna used on her bag – she gives you info about ordering online, but I was too excited about making this thing to wait for them to ship! So I ended up with D-rings instead.
There’s another front pocket option that you can check out in Anna’s sneak peak post – it’s pleated and finished with bias tape and I’ll definitely be trying that one next time. The bag comes in two size options, and I went with the larger – with another baby on the way I figure my days of toting around a bunch of stuff are still plentiful. But I’m already scheming about fabric options for a smaller sized bag for when the time comes…
Thanks to Anna for letting me test this great pattern!
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This looks fantastic. You’ve chosen my favourite colour combo and I’m besotted with essex linens at the moment too! I couldn’t love this bag more, you’ve done a beautiful job- can’t wait for pattern release!
This bag looks perfect in every way. You’ve got me itching for a new fall bag.
Your choice of fabrics is fabulous! What a stunning bag, and so beautifully crafted. I can see this one quickly becoming a favorite -and good call on going with the larger size with the new baby coming:)
So darling. Love the simpatico and your color choices. Curvy bag, curvy belly. Cute!
That’s the perfect bag. Can’t wait for the pattern to come out.
gail, you are the queen of everything! this bag is amazing. it makes me want to throw all of my own personal creativity out the window and make one just like it.
Your bag looks great! And I love that your t-shirt matches. 🙂
Oh, I love it! Your fabric choices are awesome. I’m a little scared of comibining fabrics and patterns, but you make it look so easy. I love the cross-body strap; it was a necessity for me to have a bag like that when I was going around with a toddler and a newborn. If only a could find a cute diaper bag pattern that had one! I may just enlarge Anna’s pattern and use that, because it looks gorgeous. Great job, thanks for sharing!
The bag looks great! I have the essex linen and cloud 9 fabrics in my stash…i feel a new project coming on 🙂
looks fabulous!!! and so does that belly 😉
oh gail, it’s totally amazing!!!! seriously, beautiful. that and your cute belly. Thanks so much for being awesome!
ack did i forget to comment on this yesterday? sorry, my adorably pregnant friend! oh i LOVE your fabric choices on this bag, it’s all just so perfect together! can’t wait to get my hands on anna’s pattern once it’s released! also, your post totally cracked me up (and so did lila’s sneaky photobomb, hehe!).
I love this bag and the fabrics you chose are perfection!!
Oh, super cute! Excited for the new pattern. Love your fabric choice! Thanks for sharing.
it turned out lovely ~ absolutely perfect !
yellow & gray are such a great color combo.
This bag looks great, and so do you! 🙂 I love the crossover strap – so convenient for those of us whose hands are usually full shepherding children. And the colors are perfect.
This is so classy! I won’t be able to resist buying this pattern. And I should probably just buy a bolt of that black Essex too because I never stop loving it. Nice job Gail!
That bag is so cute. Plus I like the fact you chose grey, you made a really good point about how dirty purses can get.
yes, the fabric choices are really nice!
Perfect – I love it !
[…] Gail and Anna have both sewn it in a yarn dyed black essex linen, so i just went with what i knew worked for the outside (it’s from Bolt). plus i know it’s one of Jessica’s favorite fabrics and she’d probably enjoy carrying it around / petting it. we nerd out about fabric a lot in our friendship. doesn’t everyone? […]