A Sew-Together Bag (The First? The Last?)

OMG, I finished a Sew Together Bag. This bag pattern has been around for awhile, and I've seen probably a million gorgeous lovely versions, but this is the first one I've made. I had grand plans to sew some up as birthday or holiday gifts, starting first with my husband.

Last year, I made my husband a messenger bag. Since I was kinda making up things as I went along, I bought a bunch of fabric and crossed my fingers that I would have enough. (And oh, did I!) I've since made him a lunch bag from the same set of fabrics, and now this sew together bag. He uses both almost daily, which of course makes my heart squee. I don't think he'll be using this one as often, mostly because I constructed it for use as a toiletry bag. Probably 2-4 times a year, he goes on an epic trip for work--often internationally because he's a punk and gets to go cool places--and he needed a new toiletry bag. His birthday is next month, so I thought I'd cross this one off early and call it good.

And boy, am I glad that I did. I wouldn't call this pattern hard--it's just fiddly. Though I will say I pretty much followed this sew-along from The Quilt Barn and only referenced my pattern when absolutely necessary. I found the tons of pictures of the sew-along much easier to follow than the pattern itself.

Of course, my husband happened to walk into the house as I was assembling the final product, took one look at the bag and said, "Hey, that matches my bag!" And then he got excited. So I gave it to him early because he already knew it was for him even though I didn't say anything. And it was awesome because he just keep looking it over and over again, seemingly shocked that I could make something like this. Ha! Bag success!

My version is far from perfect. I love it and it's fine, but I guess I'd say some areas are a little sloppier than I'd like. And interfacing? OMG, I wanted to cry because my interfacing drama just seems to get worse the more I use that stuff.

The pockets may seem a little wild, but I knew my husband would appreciate the ninjas and craziness. Sometimes I feel like our lives are ninjas and craziness. It's fitting. And, added bonus, it used up weird random scraps.

I also am not super pleased with the placement of the lions. At this point, I only have a bit of lion fabric left, so I used what I had. But even when I expressed my disappointment to my husband, he pointed out that it looks like the lions are peeking out, and he said he liked it.

I kinda think he's the best. So here's a happy birthday present to my husband! I thought it would also be lovely to finish up the negroni shirt I've promised him, but I really REALLY need to start working on my daughter's quilt. In my defense, I had to order some fabric, but it's here now, and there are no excuses! Get to work, Audrey!

This is finish #7 from my Q3 FAL list. And with the weekend's fabric order arrival, I'll hopefully have the supplies I need to finish off or make good progress on a couple of the other items on that list. Conquering all sixteen is probably not a tangible goal, but I've never let that stop me in the past!

And I'm linking up with TGIFF over at Anja Quilts, which is super fun because she also finished a Sew Together Bag!