It all started with a bag
Written by Elisabeth on August 4, 2008 – 20:44 -Years and years ago I bought something that turned out to be the perfect messenger bag. It was nice and floppy and hence shaped itself nicely around my bum, it was easy to overstuff, it had a perfect strap , there was a zipper on top, it was cool and that bag ended being my number one choice for every vacation and every time I needed “a bit bigger bag”.
I loved it.
I loved it so much that I loved it to tatters, and after having kept the bag artificially alive for several months I decided I need a new one. So the quest for the perfect new messenger bag started. My original bag was no longer for sale – and I had anyway decided that I as a grown woman of soon to be 32 was a tiny bit too old for a Ruby Gloom decoration with studs on my bag.
In my search I bought several lovely bags. But they were not big enough. Or floppy enough. Or simply just good enough.
Then I bought a sewing machine and the madness started! I researched the internet so hard. I measured the old bag in every thinkable way. I bought some canvas. I bought a zipper. I drew and cut and sewed pieces together with an annoying sort of frenzy. In my head I knew exactly what my new wonderful bag would look like. It would have the lovely glow of handmade accomplishment and perfection. The mental image of my new sea green messenger bag brought tears to my eyes and kept me at the sewing even when the needle broke on the zipper and the thread got stuck somewhere in the shadowy depths of my sewing machine. I was a girl with a mission.
The finished bag did bring tears to my eyes. But not from perfection. Oh no. The bag was limp not floppy. I had missed a seam somewhere along the way. I had not managed to sew the zipper on correctly and my idea of where to put the fastenings of the strap turned out to be way off mark and just enhanced that limp, sad look. I tried to cheer it up with some happy buttons with kitties on them and hung it on the rack with my other bags.
It was not a sight for the weak-hearted. My perfect messenger bag had not turned out so good at all. Actually it had turned out quite bad. My dreams of being a Sewing Goddess had suffered a major blow. But then again. Considering that I still was in need for that Perfect Messenger Bag I dived in to my local supplier for all things fabric related and spent hard earned cash on interfacing, trim, a new zipper and fabric glue. Then I went home to for another go at bag making.
Tags: bag, craft, sewing
Posted in Bags and purses |
