FO and Pattern Review

Bionic Gear Bag by RipStitcher
$13.00 via Craftsy
 

Finished the Bionic Gear Bag this past weekend and it’s perfect for my needs.  The construction/sewing is not perfect but the usefulness is perfect.

I’m currently sewing in a very small area and using my mamaw’s old sewing cabinet which although it's full of sentimental value it lacks storage and functionality. So I need a place to easily access my tools/notions. The Bionic Gear Bag gives me function and storage and it sits on my cabinet and makes me happy.  Isn’t that all the matters, that it makes me happy?

About the pattern itself.  Truth be told I don't believe it to be a beginner friendly pattern, just FYI.  If you are a beginner trying to sew this pattern you might have to rely heavily on the video tutorial series which is a separate charge.  I was able to follow along and use some of my intuition to figure out the pattern. I would also have to say that the link hopping and website itself is also not user friendly.  It’s my understanding that the bag designer has had some personal tragedies and some controversy along the way which might account for some of the disjointed nature of the website(s). In my opinion both the pattern and the website needs an overhaul.  It feels like there are a lot of patches to fix things and again in my opinion they/she needs to take it back to basics and restart.  When you visit the FB page for this pattern you can feel that there is a general misdirection of the people who have bought the pattern and again I believe that ,in part, is due to the patchiness of the website. 

Having said all that, the end result of the bag and its design is fabulous. There are many other accordion type bags available but the tray like feature but this design took it over the edge for me.  The usefulness of being able to store all my tools/notions but then having the tray for ease of access, perfect!

Since I am so into postage stamp piecing right now I did a little piece work for the front panel along with some simple wavy line quilting. The blue fabric with tiny flowers is just my favorite print of all time right now.  You will see it again soon in another quilt as I will be using it as the background fabric.  I bought about 4 yards from JoAnn fabric and then went back and bought another yard.  Yes, I’m in love with it. As for the rest of the print, I wish I would have brought more of the lighter colors to the inside of the bag, I think it would have added a little more interest and contrast. 

Additional note: this bag was a gateway drug for me, I’m now on the hunt for more bag/clutches/wristlets to sew. I have an idea for a wristlet with a “plain” exterior but a bit of Disney magic on the inside.   Stay tuned for that.