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Purse Palooza :: Pattern Review : Lazy Girl Runaround Bag

pursepalooza2014

This post is part of Purse Palooza. For contest rules, full details, and schedule, please click here! Today’s post is from Donna of Quilting Studio Adventures.

Welcome to the October 15, 2014, installment of Purse Palooza.  Like the previous purse enthusiasts, I’m very happy to be a part of this online purse extravaganza.  While I have made several of Sara’s patterns – Aragon, Aeroplane, Arabesque – and love them, the one purse/bag that I have made again and again AND AGAIN is the RunAround by LazyGirl Designs.  This bag thrills girls of all ages, is simple to make, and very practical.  It finishes at 7″ x 9″.  This pictured bag?

Eileen’s Bag
Reverse of Eileen’s Bag

I made for my buddy Eileen.  She uses it to “runaround” and it becomes an insert for her bigger purses.  There’s a zippered compartment on one side, and a pocket on the other – it’s that simple.  Plus a strap that can be used for across-the-body or just knotted to be grabbed.  She’s been using this now for over a year.

MATERIALS NEEDED:  Two fat quarters, a zipper, some interfacing like ShapeFlex, and some fusible fleece.    Plus this fabulous pattern.

Because I am a quilter, I always have tons of scraps in my studio.  When I sew these scraps and make new fabric, they turn into some lovely Runarounds.  (Note:  all pictures are in pairs so you can see the front and the back of these clever little purses.)

These purses can be playful and whimsical, like the ones I made for my great nieces.

 Or they can be formal, like these:

So, you know I can make these RunAround bags.  But so can anyone else.  My neighbor Jo, a high school junior, came over and made this Runaround within two hours.  If you have zipper fear, this clever pattern will help you get over it.  Seriously, the zipper insertion is the simplest I have ever done.  Both Jo and her sister had no difficulty at all with this part of the process.

Here are some pictures from that afternoon with Jo.

Jo’s fabric palette – she’s a musician

A few weeks later Jo returned with her little sister Kate (also a musician), an 8th grader.  And here are the results of that two-hour session:

Jo and my Husqvarna becoming friends – she had no sewing experience.

Smiling at the end of our session!  and both girls are ready to return to the studio

One of the things I have learned from Sara through her SewSweetness blog and patterns is that the more pictures the better.  Here are more pictures of various RunArounds.  What a great pattern!

Batiks and Shot Cottons

Pieced fabric and a funky print
Marcia Derse fabrics, zippers, and the pattern
And Voila – bags!

Treasured scraps become perfect Runarounds

Making them can become an addiction
This favorite scrap became a RunAround.

 

 

 

 

Study this last picture because it shows two bags in process.  The two left bags are the finished bags.   I made twins so you could see the components.  The top pictures are the back of the bag, including the pocket.  If you’re very clever, you’ll figure out a way to put a little pocket on the inside.  The bottom pictures are the zippered component.  This pattern shows you how to very clever layer these components, leaving the zippered part open.  Then you sew all the way around the four sides, making sure you’ve accounted for the straps, and turn the bag inside out through the zipper.

Good pattern directions.  Clever but easy construction.  Practical results which can be dressed up or down.  I estimate I have made 40 Runarounds so far.  And I don’t think I am finished yet.

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17 thoughts on “Purse Palooza :: Pattern Review : Lazy Girl Runaround Bag

  1. Tina in NJ says:

    Wow! But what did you really think of this pattern? My daughter sews to put something in the 4-H fair. Perhaps I’ll suggest this pattern to her. (She’s 12.)

  2. Diana says:

    Wow! Lots and lots of bags! 🙂

  3. Christina says:

    What a great little pattern! All the bags are adorable!

  4. Lovely…lots of inspiration.

  5. Wow! That is a lot of bags~ and every one is so unique! Thank you!

  6. The scrap use is lovely! Thanks for that.

  7. Susie says:

    Love all of your Runaround Bags… and how you are teaching the girls to sew them! Pretty way to use nice scraps!

  8. Connie Jones says:

    I feel the same way about this particular bag. I’ve made 95 Runaround Bags & I’m not stopping yet.

    1. Connie, how much fun to see your RunArounds! Sometimes I will put little credit card pockets in the zippered part, and usually I interface my straps with fusible fleece. Glad to meet a fellow RunAround enthusiast! My new passion? A Cute Bag by WonderWoman – it’s a slightly bigger more complicated version of the RunAround.

  9. Jarna Rainey says:

    I agree, fun and addictive pattern

  10. Rose Sabey says:

    Hi, I have made the runaround bag but did not like the unfinished seams. There is a group on facebook that makes these, and someone put a tutorial on how to make them so the seams are all finished. It is very easy to do and looks so much nicer than the raw seams. You may email me if you want the tutorial.

    1. I would very much like that tutorial. I don’t see how to email you through your post. My email is [email protected] Thank you!

    2. Brenda says:

      Hi, Rose. If the tutorial on how to finish all the seams in the runaround bag is still available, I would love to have it, please. Thanks! Brenda
      My email is: [email protected]

    3. Beth says:

      Hi Rose,
      I too do not like the unfinished seams. Please email the tutorial.
      Thanks bunches!
      Beth

    4. Kathleen Sergas says:

      I would love the tutorial to finish the inside seams of the runaround bag..thank you
      [email protected]

  11. Speattle says:

    I love this pattern and have sewn it at least a dozen times. Most recently, I’ve started using Soft and stable as my fleece/batting product and it makes an even nicer looking bag. Really keeps it’s shape. Give it a try!

  12. Speattle says:

    Oh My Goodness. I just realized that you are the author of “Big City Bags”. I have that book upstairs in my sewing room right now getting ready to do the adorable little suitcase style bag!

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