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Bespoken Bag

The summer issue of GreenCraft magazine had an interesting project for a bespoke quilted bag made from scrap fabrics in a kantha style of piecing, which I've been sorta/kinda doing with slow stitch, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I chose my scrap fabrics from one of the Goodwill online auction lots.

I sewed them together using various stitches (my own and from the project instructions). It worked fine, although it felt a bit flimsy without any batting. Also, the raw edges of the fabric patches frayed a lot while I was working on the stitching, which doesn't bode well for durability (or what will happen when I have to wash it. Probably not a good idea to put this in the washing machine.) Still, it was good to step outside my habits and try something different in bag-making.

Front of the finished bag.

Back of the bag. I pieced the straps from scraps leftover from cutting the outside and the lining, too.

This is a good project to use up fabric scraps that are too small or weirdly shaped for anything else, although next time I'll probably fold over the edges to avoid that fraying issue.

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