Patchwork, Please Sew Along: Piece-of-Cake Shopping Bag

I'm so excited to have you here for the Patchwork, Please Sew Along! Ayumi is such a sweet friend and an amazing creator. I don't think you'll find anyone nicer in the sewing world. I was thrilled when I learned she was writing this book. 

My project is the Piece-of-Cake Shopping Bag. I wanted to give this one a try because I love the drawstring cover. I like to load my shopping bags up, and it's always maddening when they tip over in the car and everything spills out! 

One change I made was to not use oilcloth or laminated fabric for the interior. I did buy a vinyl tablecloth to try, but it was not the kind that Ayumi intended-- it was so icky to use in the end. I couldn't find laminates locally that I liked, so I used quilting cotton that I backed with my favorite interfacing, Pellon SF101, to give it more structure. 

I think the trickiest part of the bag is sewing the base pieces of the lining and the exterior to the sides of the bag. A tip: Put a dot 1/4" from each corner on the wrong side of your base pieces. When you sew up each side of the base, just line those dots up with the seam on your side pieces and sew between those points only, backstitching to lock your stitches. (And if you do end up with bunchy corners, no one is going to notice but you.) 

One more thing-- the lining and exterior cutting measurements are the same. I wasn't thinking of this at the time, but because the top edge of the exterior is folded down a total of 1.5" to enclose the lining and cover, the lining is too big. It's not a huge deal, but it would fit a lot better if either the interior height was decreased by 1.5" or the exterior height increased by 1.5".

I have 5 Aurifil sample packs, mini fabric packs and stickers from Form & Fabric, and an interfacing charm pack from Pellon to give away. (Sorry, U.S. addresses only due to shipping costs. Although if you're not in the U.S., you can always gift these to a friend who is!) Just comment below! I'll pick winners on Friday. 

And you're sewing along with us, this week you can also win a 1/2 yard bundle of Essex linens from Robert Kaufman and a $20 gift certificate to Pink Chalk Fabric by linking up your shopping bag at Deb's blog! 

Make sure to visit the other participants in the Sew Along to see each project in the book:

June 3: Penny | Sew Take a Hike :: Bell Pepper Coasters 

June 10: Maureen | MC Handmade :: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Towels 

June 17: Anna | Noodlehead :: Lettered Tea Cozy and Teabag Pouch 

June 24: Angela | Cut to Pieces :: The Polka-Dot-Cafe Apron 

July 1: Lynne | Lily’s Quilts :: Diamond Patchwork Placemat 

July 8: Lindsey | LRstitched :: Yum-Yum Apple Bib 

July 15: Sukie | Don’t Ya Know :: Dino-Mite Hat 

July 22: Jennifer | Ellison Lane :: Books-for-Baby Quilt 

July 29: Krista | Poppyprint :: My Scrappy Box 

August 5: Kerry | Very Kerry Berry :: Swedish Bloom-Time Lap Quilt 

August 12: Tamiko | Patchwork Notes :: You’ve-Got-Mail-Wall Pocket 

August 19: Monica | Happy Zombie :: Happy Hexagon Trivet 

August 26: Krista | Spotted Stone Studio :: Piece-of-Cake Shopping Bag

September 2: Lori | Bee in My Bonnet :: Triangle Patchwork Box Pouch

September 9: Amy | During Quiet TIme :: Vintage Pencil Case

September 16: Svetlana | SOTAK Handmade :: I-Love-My-Ipad Quilted Cover

September 23: Amber | One Shabby Chick :: Handy Market Tote

September 30: Deb | A Quilter’s Table :: Sweet Trips Embroidery Pouch

October 7: Leila | Where the Orchids Grow :: Prettified Pincushion

And thank you so much for our sponsors for the Sew Along!