Itsy Bitsy ArtsiBitsi Bag

So its been kind of slow around the ArtsiBitsi studio lately, and I decided to try out some ideas that have been rattling around the past few weeks.

First, I love this micro-suede material.  It's got a great finish; it comes in lots of easy-to-coordinate shades of brown and black.  It's also wonderful to sew.  It has a nice stretch to it

 (polyester back), and a medium weight that doesn't require a heavy duty sewing machine, but is still sturdy enough for purses.  I get it for about $7/yard at Walmart.  (I've been trying to stock up, because I heard a rumor that Walmart is going to discontinue fabric sales)

Anyway, I wanted to experiment with piecing together different colors in a patchwork style, like those popular Coach bags.  For this first attempt, I thought that I had better keep all of the patches to the same size.

So I sat down with my sketch book and planned it all out and started cutting little rectangles.  And here's where I messed up.  I didn't allow enough of a seam allowance in my calculations.  After I got all of the little pieces sewn together, I was about 1.5" short of my plan in both the x- and y- direction (width and height).  

In the end, after I squared off the bottom, the purse measured about 9"x7" instead of the 11"x9" that I had hoped for.  And that's why its an Itsy Bitsy ArtsiBitsi Bag.

But the story has a happy ending, because it turns out that all my critical stuff fits it in it just fine.  I probably even still have room for a receipt or post-it note. :-)  

And because I'm pretty itsy-bitsy myself, it looks proportional when I wear it.