Since discovering this pattern I instantly wanted to make it. It’s one of these bags which is perfect for using up scrap fabric – those larger scraps which you can’t make into a garment but are too big to waste on hair bands or something else. So I tried making this pattern for the first time as a gift for my mum, then for a friend, and then for myself! So that shows you how much I love it. I only have photographs of my own one, so I’ll focus on that.
The fabric
Ages ago I made a jacket, the Haremere jacket, which I made out of a lovely woolen tweed. I had just enough left to make two of these bags, and it would result in no wastage at all. For the lining I used a quilting cotton which I’ve used for various little projects, and it’s navy design on white background which depicts lots of sewing paraphernalia. I really like it and I knew that having it in the bag would give me a little burst of joy when I opened it out.
The pattern
The Hebe Project Bag pattern is by Lasenby Patterns and can be bought from Etsy or The Foldline. found this pattern is written in a way that is quite hard to understand, so it took me a lot of reading to figure out what they wanted me to do. There are lots of steps which reinforce the rigidity of the bag and make it nice and strong, which I really like, but I wouldn’t necessarily think to do. So that was a good learning experience for me. I decided to make this small bag with long handles so I could easily carry it about.
The challenges
As mentioned, it took me a while to figure out what the pattern wanted me to do, but otherwise I found this a nice straightforward sew. The first time I made it I made a mistake with the tie cords, and cut the fabric half the length that it should have been. I just didn’t see the cut on fold line written on the pattern, so I was very careful this time didn’t make that mistake. I think it took me about a day to make this, but I am a slow sewer so bear that in mind. The pattern doesn’t specify how to arrange the pockets, it’s up to you to decide what you want to put in your bag and create the pocket sizes accordingly. I decided I wanted to use this bag for crochet, and so I made a few very thin pockets for the hooks, and then slightly larger pockets for things like needles and pieces of paper.
The final result
I really love this pattern, it’s great because it’s a bag pattern that doesn’t require any additional metal work and only uses thread and fabric. The bag itself is very sturdy, and it closes nicely. I was a bit concerned that it wouldn’t be secure without any fastening, but the tie is very effective. So I definitely recommend this, I haven’t made the large bag pattern yet so can’t comment on that. Although I hope it will be similar.
The sewing resolution 