What's Your Bag?

Sad to say, my "bag" seems to be finishing late! Again I apologize for being "not quite there"...I absolutely loved this project and have spent many hours working on it, but again just ran out of hours in the day even with the extended timeline this time 'round. 

But...let me tell you about my process and show you a few pix along the way:

The inspiration:

Some time back, I had an internet friend who was living in the Middle East at the time and posting wonderful pictures of the area; she was kind enough, when asked, to send me a few coins with their unique designs. I knew I wanted to use them in my beadwork somehow, but the idea had not yet percolated. I also work part time at a retail location, and we are continually receiving in rolls of coin and from people's pockets..foreign coin of many different types. Again I asked, and was told I could gladly have them in exchange for their intended denomination~ie, I paid a nickel for the one we received in a roll of nickels and so on. At about the same time, while we were doing this exchange, another friend at work offered to bring me in some coin that she and her husband had from their world travels...and now I had quite a collection! 

One day, a phrase that my mother used to use all the time with my sisters and I popped into my head..."Mad Money". We always had to have "mad money" in our pockets...in case one needed to make a phone call, or get the bus home from a date, or survive another "emergency".

 It was about that time that I got Therese's note regarding the challenge, and everything started to gel in my brain...I would make a bag for my phone, called "mad money". It would hold the phone, a credit card or two...and incorporate some of the "mad money" I had received from all over the world into the embroidery. 

Designing the Bag

 I actually spent several weeks looking for patterns online that would fit what was in my head, with absolutely no luck whatsoever...so I decided to start from scratch, use my phone as a template and simply design my own. I put a great deal of thought into the practicality of what I was planning...what the orientation of the phone would be, how the credit card holder would work, the flap to protect the phone, how I would attach a chain strap...and then started drawing it out using the phone as a size guide.

I then transferred it onto pattern paper, and made sure the edges were straight and the pieces were properly broken out:

I originally thought to use ultrasuede for the fabric, but then decided to use some real leather I had picked up from a local designer, who uses it in garments.

Before cutting into the leather, I made a muslin prototype and stitched it together to see if the size would actually work:

It worked perfectly!....but only with the phone case off...and I rethought that and decided I did not want to leave my phone unprotected in this little bag....just in case. 

So that meant making some adjustments to the pattern for the added width of the case:

I simply split each pattern down the middle and added about 3/8" to the width of the bag. 

Once that was completed, I transferred the pattern onto the leather using a bright silver pen so that I knew where my edges needed to be: (the silver will be cut off when the bag is stitched together).

Embroidering the Bag

At last!! Time to stitch! 

I am supporting the bag with Stiff Stuff in certain places...the coins are heavy and I want the bag to stand up to wear...so the back pocket that I'm currently working on, the front, and the over-flap will all be supported. The back piece that the back pocket is stitched to, I think at this point will not. 

I wanted to continue the "mad money" theme, and the design that immediately came to mind for me is a bargello-like zig zag across the pieces. 

First, I glued several coins into place, and then drew a design baseline onto the leather with a marking pencil. This I followed for the first line of stitching, and then everything else can follow along that guideline. 

Then I bezeled the coins....

...and started to stitch....and stitch....and stitch, using "coin" colours from my stash of beads. WOW. This was taking a reaaaaalllly long time...but I realllly, really want the leather to be solidly embroidered

You'll notice I added another bezel to the original group...didn't like the empty space up at the top right....

And.....weeks later...the back panel complete....(I think LOL; I may add another row at the top).

 I'm liking the way it is coming together. The other pieces still to be embroidered are the flap, and the front, and of course it needs to be stitched together with a leather needle and thread. I will leave the leather edges raw. I plan to attach a magnetic closure to the front of the flap, with a coin embroidered over top of it. I will attach a chainmaille shoulder chain to grommets in the side of the bag. 

Thanks for wading through this long post!! 

I do hope you'll take a few minutes and visit the other participants...I can't wait to see "What's Their Bag"! 

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Therese

Christine

Jenny

Bobbie

Ana

Amy

Cynthia

Karin S

Maryanne

Liz

Lori

Paula

Jasvanti

Dagi

Kepi

Samantha

Alicia

Motidana

Becky