Purse Palooza – Pattern Review – Sew Sweetness Soda Pop Bag

This post is part of Purse Palooza 2015. For full details and contest rules, check here.
Today’s post is from Darcie of Darcie Mair.

When Sara asked me to write a pattern review for Purse Palooza I was extremely flattered and surprised! I love reading Purse Palooza every year, to be a part of it is like a dream come true! I also love Sara’s patterns and use them for bags almost exclusively, so it was a no brainer that I would choose one of hers. In the end, I decided on the “Soda Pop Bag” because…GROMMETS!

The Pattern

Before you even purchase the pattern, Sara includes a list of materials in her shop. I find this list extremely helpful as it gives me an idea of what I’m getting into before I even buy the pattern.

All of Sara’s patterns are really well written. They are clear and concise with plenty of colored photos to help with any confusion. This particular pattern has 10 pages of instructions in just 18 steps to complete the bag. This bag went together very quickly!

The Materials

Apart from the obvious grommets, the bag calls for an exterior fabric, interior fabric, interfacing, and hardware (magnetic snap and purse feet). While most of those materials are easy to understand, let’s talk about interfacing.

For the interior fabric, I used Pellon SF-101 Shape Flex, fusible lightweight interfacing. This also happens to be the suggestion on the materials list. I love this interfacing. It’s fusible to make things fast and easy, and it is a good weight to add some extra strength to the lining of the bag.

For the exterior fabric, I used Pellon TP971F Thermolam Plus, fusible interfacing. Although I like Annie’s  Soft and Stable, I often end up using the Thermolam Plus because it is more easily available at my local shop and it’s fusible. I’m all for convenience and time saving. lol. To give the interfacing some extra stability, I usually quilt all my exterior pieces.

Bag Features

Grommets! How can you go wrong with grommets? While most bags use grommets at the top for decoration or purse handles, this bag showcases the grommets at the bottom. The pattern has you insert an extra piece of fabric to peak through the grommets. There is an endless possibility of fabrics to choose and add a little flare to your bag. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time trying to pick out the just the right fabric to peak through my grommets.

The inside is spacious enough to carry just about anything. You could use it as a day bag to the beach, put an extra toy in there for the little one, or just as a daily routine bag for errands. There are four smaller divided pockets to keep the essentials, such as your keys and phone,from getting lost.

I opted to add purse feet on the bottom. When I first started making bags, I never added the optional purse feet. But now I feel it adds just a little extra bling while also keeping the bottom of the bag from getting super dirty.

Future Changes

The construction of the handles was little strange compared to other bags I’ve made. The pattern has you add in the straps after the lining and exterior have been seen together and flipped right side out. In the future I might try adding in the straps while sewing the lining and exterior together. Though, I tend to trust Sara’s patterns, so I might not change anything at all the next time I make this bag.

Overall

I think this is a great bag, perhaps a bit too large for my every day use. But then again, I’m a tiny person so big bags are really big on me. 🙂 I would probably use this bag for trips to the library and to quilt meetings when I have a lot to show and tell that day. The construction was very fast and easy, definitely a beginner friendly bag with a lot of potential to add some extra flair for the more experienced bag maker.