Pattern Review- Travel Craft Bag

One of the things I wanted to do differently this year was to make most of my birthday gifts, especially the ones for female friends.  (Men always seem harder to craft for.)  So, my first challenge happened early in the year.  I have two friends and two coworkers all with birthdays in the first two months.  I've managed to create something crafty for all of them, but since I haven't seen some of them to give them their gifts I'm not going to show them all to you guys yet.  :)  And as a side note, is it just me or is like everyone you know born in February?  Anyhow.... on to craftiness.

So, today I'm going to show you the Travel Craft Bag I made with a PDF from Craftsy.  The pattern is from Stitch by Stitch and free so if you think you want to try it out, go for it!  I think Travel Craft Bag is kind of a misleading description for this little treat.  I'd call it more like a basket with handles.

Crafty Basket filled with Goodies!

 Here's what I liked about the project:

• Minimal amount of fabric needed (like 3 fat quarters and that is all)
• No zippers, snaps, or closures to mess with.
• The whole thing can be cut with a rotary cutter and mat.  No pieces to pin and cut out.
• Small pattern pieces makes it a good chance to use up extra pieces of interfacing.
• Finished project is cute and functional.  It's about six inches deep and can hold a magazine or some hand stitching fabrics or embroidery projects.  The pockets are great for holding your supplies (or chocolate).

Here's what I didn't like:

• The instructions state to cut the interfacing 1/2" smaller than all your pieces, but when using Pellon 808 (my interfacing of choice for baskets and bags) I don't really have problem with seems getting too bulky, and cutting it the same size alows it to be sewn into place giving it some extra sturdiness.  (The exception would be the pockets, which are not lined.  The folding the seam allowance down over the interfacing produced nice clean results.)
• I found the instructions on the pockets confusing and it took me a while to figure out what I was doing, and even so, I managed to goof up the sizes of the pockets.
• The instructions for the straps have you cut two pieces of interfacing for each strap and make it much more complicated than it needs to be.

Overall, I like the boxed effect.  I think the final result turned out well and I wouldn't hesitate to make another one.  I would make the straps the way I'm used to (or maybe even eliminate them all together- they aren't really needed.) And I would cut the interfacing the same size as the fabric (except with the pockets).  But, it's super cute, and goes together relatively fast.  My coworker loved it.  And hey, the pattern is free, so you really can't complain. :)

If you want to find other great indie patterns on Craftsy, just  click the pic below.

There's stuff for sewers, knitters, and crocheters.

(Links to Craftsy in this post are affiliate links to Craftsy, but the review is all mine.)