Huh lol?!? What the heck kind of title is that Shawna? Have you clearly lost all your marbles?!? It’s ok….I’m ok, everything is ok lol! It’s quite simple actually, it’s CLEAR! Ok, I’ll stop cause I feel like this could keep going and soon you’ll all be so confused you’ll quit reading before you have a chance to see what I’m so CLEARLY talking about lol….so here it is!
Seeeeeeee…..I made a CLEAR bag lol! And wait for it, there’s a bit more hilarity coming in the name of the bag pattern……it’s the “Could I Be Any Clearer? Stadium Bag” by Sincerely, Jen lol!
Ok, I’ll try to get serious now lol, even though looking at this totally fun bag makes me a little giddy!! It’s just so fun and really, unlike anything I’ve made before! Yes, I made a boxy bag out of the clear vinyl but nobody sees that, you don’t carry it around, or should I say, my daughter doesn’t carry it around cause as soon as she saw it, she nabbed it for a makeup bag!
Before I tell you anymore about the bag, let me share some more pictures with you!
Once again, like the vinyl boxy bag I made, I incorporated a couple of vinyl’s here! The pink and the solid black front pocket are Jelly Vinyl from Zipper Valley that I just love so much, and I mean I love the vinyl and the company lol, they’re both so awesome! Then of course, I used our Premium Clear Vinyl for the front and back pieces and while I really did intend to just leave it absolutely clear this time, my poor Cricut machine was whimpering in the corner, feeling so left out of the process so I finally gave in to it lol! I just kind of zipped through and found this print that reminded me of the Fleur de Lis, which I love! I did use a Permanent Vinyl this time for the print as it will be rubbing against me when I’m wearing it! Then just to break up the solidness of the black Jelly Vinyl pocket, I added a fancy “S” for, well, Shawna lol!
This was such a fun bag to make and if I had just sat down and sewed it from beginning to end, it would have been pretty quick I think! I changed a couple of things to suit me better and I was 150% happy with how they turned out:
- I eliminated all the hardware except for the side rectangle rings! It called for swivel hooks, strap slider and d-rings but by making a non-adjustable permanent strap, I didn’t need any of those!
- The handle on this bag was similar to the one on the ByAnnie Sidekick Saddlebag, which I loved so I went ahead and followed those instructions to make the same handle for this bag, which allowed me to eliminate the hardware again!
- The pattern gives you the option of either leaving the seam allowance as it is when you’re done, or you can use the Jelly Vinyl to make a binding to cover it. Once again I veered off course and decided that I would topstitch the entire bag, capturing the seam allowance in the stitches. While it was a little tricky in spots to maneuver the bag, I managed and think it turned out great! It provided a little more structure to the bag and prevents the vinyl’s from turning in on themselves on the edges, making it look more relaxed, if that makes sense!
One other thing I did differently on this bag than I have on any of my bags for quite awhile is that I did not use the recommended seat belt webbing for the strap! You may be shocked by this because for the longest time, that was the only thing I’d use, I love the look of it so much and how nice it feels but because it is so soft and “slippery” for lack of a better word, that means that when you’re carrying a bag on your shoulder with that slippery strap, guess what happens?!? Yup, you’re continually having to adjust it on your shoulder because it slides right off…..can you say annoying lol! Yes, this is a crossbody bag so the strap should stay on but here’s the other problem I’ve found with seatbelt webbing on a crossbody…it kind of “cuts” into your neck!!!! Now these might only be “me” problems, which is fine, I’m only making these bags for me so I need to do what works best for me and that means going back to either making my own straps or using webbing…..I opted for the webbing and I’m completely happy with it! The other good part of going back to this webbing is the availability, literally at my fingertips every day of the week lol, and of course, the wide selection of colours!
The whole reason I made this bag is so I can use it to go to my very first MLB Blue Jays game in a few weeks! As soon as they asked us if we wanted to go, to which we emphatically said yes pronto lol, my first thought was to check my schedule and the second was, “what size of bags can we take in” lol!!! I’m such a Bagmaker, it’s in my blood lol! Could I have gone even more “extra” and made it in Blue Jay colours and added baseball cricut decorations? Yes, I certainly could have and of course that crossed my mind but since this is the first ball game I’ve ever gone to in the 33 years we’ve lived here, I think I’ll hold off on making something so specific until we’ve gone to a few more games lol!
Of course, I had to make a new wallet to go with this one, but that will have to wait to the next Blog, but trust me….it’s a good one!
How do you feel about the clear bag craze that’s going on? Are you a “heck ya” or a “heck na” lol?!?
Norman is staring at me with a ball in his mouth which means, “enough Mom, it’s my time” so who am I to say no lol! I hope you all have an amazing week! Cheers!
Shawna
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