Orla Kiely Work Bag

 What a delight to have finally made this much awaited work bag.

The Orla Kiely oil cloth remnant was from The Fabric Store some time back. . . .

The bag is capacious, to fit all I need to carry on my walk to and from work. This includes usually, lunch, a change of shoes, umbrella, plus other bits and bobs.

The contrast fabric is from our local Geoff's Emporium in Warkworth - thermal backed curtain fabric. I like the colour match although is it not a waterproof fabric. The straps were a colour matched webbing, slightly narrower than ideal, so I added a layer of the contrast to this - more comfortable on the shoulder and to carry.

I followed a bag pattern from this Japanese sewing book, purchased in Tokyo in 2019. I have made another earlier attempt. This was not successful in terms of the fabric choice - too soft, the size - too small, and the handles - too wide and too short. Good learning though.

I listened to the Love 2 Sew podcast interview with bagmaker Anna Graham. My main takeaway was there will be awkward tricky bits when sewing bags with oil cloth - just take it slow and keep going. Turned out to be good advice. 

There were a few revelations - usually I figured out a better method after I had done somethings. My key learning was the webbing does not need to be hemmed, just melt the cut end on a flame.

Claire