TGIFF The Big-City Bags Edition

I finished my Fireside Bowl Bag over the weekend but thanks to a lengthy bout with a stomach virus I'm just now able to show it off. There's still time to link up your finished project for this month of the Big-City Bags Sew Along if you haven't already. The link will close at midnight tonight! 

I was surprised at how quickly the construction of this bag went.  The making of the bag itself took a long time but that was due to errors on my part:  forgotten supplies, quilting the exterior, MORE forgotten supplies...

I absolutely love the way my bag turned out.  I did make a couple of changes/omissions/errors.  I managed to completely mess up the first step of the bag (THE FIRST STEP--doesn't exactly set a good tone for the bag).  The way I constructed the zipper panel worked out just fine in the end but I still have no idea how that happened.  That's what I get for sewing past midnight I guess.  I decided to use batting on the exterior and quilted it heavily with a crosshatch pattern and I used fusible fleece to line the interior for added stability.  I also screwed up my interior pockets and as a result have several very shallow pockets that aren't good for much.  One thing I think I will do differently next time I make this bag is to cut the accent pieces about a 1/4" wider than the pattern calls for.  When sewing the bag I had to set them away from the edge of my exterior pieces just a bit to make sure they would actually show up and not get lost in the seam allowance.

  And if for some reason it turns out you bought the wrong size D-rings and can't use them, the lobster clasp will actually go over the D-ring straps and work just fine :)

 All in all this was a quick, easy project (I wouldn't expect any less from Sara).  I can't wait to get started on February's project but more on that on Monday!  

Linking up with TGIFF!