quilted messenger bag

Vera Bradley - Eat your heart out! Haha...just kidding. I love the look and style of VB bags, but whenever I walk into a store, there is never a print that speaks to my fabric soul. You know what I mean? Like how when you see one piece of fabric and you can't leave the store until you bought at least 2 yards just in case inspiration hits you later. And I want more than just one or two prints. Well, since I know how to quilt (check) and I know how to follow a pattern (check) and I have an abundant supply of fabrics (check), I decided to make my own VB style bag. I got my hands on Moda's new Spring House collection by Stephanie Ryan and decided it would be perfect for a cute spring bag. I plan on giving this one to my mom and make another for me to have for our upcoming cruise in April (Mom - I know you will read this but pretend it's still a surprise when you get it). I'm thinking the Simply Color by V for Moda for my bag. Im such a sucker for purple and the purple in that collection is GEORGIOUS!




Fabric - Spring House by Stephanie Ryan for Moda - 1 Charm Pack plus additional pieces for linings. I just used fabrics leftover from the Apron Knot Dresses since they were along the same color schemes. So total cost for fabric was really only $10 for the charm pack (depending on where you buy it). I also just used scrap batting that I already had. This is a bargain of a bag if you ask me (and Mr. Relish)!

Pattern - Dog Under my Desk - Two Zip Hipster - This pattern is awesome and she does an fabulous job giving all the steps and even a fabric cutting chart.

Hardware and Zippers - Here is where I bought my hardware and zippers.

Where the pattern calls for interfacing, I used cotton batting (Warm and Natural) instead. It made it a tad bit tricky to topstitch the top of the bag at the end because of the thickness but I muscled through. For the strap, the pattern calls for 6 inch thickness, but I wanted to use my charm pack leftovers, so mine was 5 inches thick and I just very carefully ironed it to make it 1 1/2 inch thick. It helped by cutting the batting exactly 1 1/2 inches to iron around. Hope that all makes sense! I used the same quilting method I mentioned in my previous blog post, quilted e-book cover. Here is the original source...Oh, Fransson!

Hope you enjoyed my post and please leave a comment if you like!

Thanks!
Melissa

update - Here is the same bag using Simply Color by V and Co. for Moda --> simply color messenger