Waiting on a Messenger

This post is past. I actually finished the Zakka Style Messenger Bag on Monday but have not, as yet, had a chance to write about it until today. It figures though because this project has had to wait before. On the tri-bar slider kit that I should have ordered BEFORE starting. I did try to buy the hardware locally from the 2 major fabric chains Lincraft and Spotlight but to no avail. I ended up purchasing via the Etsy store listed in the Zakka book. No problems with shipping but my unpreparedness put me behind the Zakka Style Sew Along by 2 weeks with this one.


This project was the 2nd only bag project I have attempted after the earlier Zig Zag Tote and I was a bit intimidated. However, it was a lot simpler to follow the directions in the book without getting into trouble.


There are a lot of great versions of this messenger bag on the Flickr group but I kind of stuck with the original colour palette in the book and I am so happy with the results.


Fabric Choices

Amazingly enough, Spotlight have just added some textured / woven solids to their quilting range lately and I was able to buy a lot of fabrics for the Zakka projects and use my $40 off when you spend $100 voucher to buy some really lovely large 1m cuts. Also some pre-made bias binding and various zips.

The rest of the fabrics, for the leaves, came from the scrappy solids I had lurking around. The outer body of the bag is from the previously purchased Essex linen in natural. Now the inner lining fabric is from Alexander Henry and I only had 1 yard of it instead of the 1.5 stated in the book, but I managed to stretch it by using the linen for the outer pocket lining.


Variations

Lining - I changed the layout of the inner pockets in the lining, added some interfacing and also added a magnetic clasp to keep the inside closed. I have seen a few ladies use these to keep the flap closed but I had already made the flap and could not work out how to put it in without a lot of unpicking and rethinking. 

Straps - The pattern called for a 1.5" strap in the same fabric but I wanted to show off some of the great lining fabric and so I went back to the Zig Zag Tote instructions to make a 2-toned version. Unfortuately I miscalculated and mine ended up at 2" wide. They kind of squished into the 1.5" tri-bar slider.

There are only 2 things that I am unhappy about:


1.  Is the stain that the basting spray made on my leaves because I really overused it.
2. My mother has requested the bag for her August birthday present (so that means that I have to make myself another one eventually). It's nice that she liked it that much though. I am making her a matching Zakka Style Orchard Tweed Pouch to go inside as a surprise.

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