January 2019 Bag of the Month Club - Ring Sling

Taking my bag obsession to another level, I had been pondering the possibility of making my own bags.  In reading on the topic I stumbled upon the Bag of the Month Club.  An online group, who's admission is paid in 3 month increments.  At the beginning of each month the pattern is released for download.  Entry is photographed and posted online at a chance to win a monthly prize.  

I was slow to start, as this January pattern wasn't quite my bag.  Most of my bags are a bit over the top...  retro in interesting fabrics or odd shapes.  This was a bit simple for my taste.  I struggled when I saw all the nice submits online and thought I'd never make it.  I just couldn't imagine putting work into this so was never motivated to go shop for fabric.  Once half of January past with my procrastination I decided to go shopping in my closet and talk to sewing friends about the project.  Once I finally got into the depths of my sewing room my closet it's like the materials jumped out at me!  Finally...  inspiration in such unlikely places.  Every bit of the bag ended up being found items.  Even before I realized I needed a buckle a friend gave me a bag to dig through from her stash!  Once I realized I had everything I needed I got to work.

Here's what I ended up re-using to make a bag my style:
 

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January / Ring Sling - bag of the month club entry!... my first structured bag make. I hated this pattern but made it my own by using only found items... Body = from a roll of stonewashed twill the awesome Karen Davidson gave to me. Pocket = sample yardage from I forget which job. Lining = from a dirt cheap bolt from that fabric store in New Glarus, WI that went out of business decades ago. Strap/Rings = thrifted belt somewhere in my WS. Buckle = taken fron from my pal @bethanyperronfineart bag o sample buckles from Orvis. Interlining = JH Collectibles Milwaukee, WI going out of business sale. Zipper/Rivets = From @harleydavidson pieces. I was so uninspired by this bag when I first saw the pattern but I had fun digging deep to make it my own... looking forward to next month! #bagofthemonthclub #sewing #thrifty #recycled #bag

A post shared by Jennifer Yerkes (@jenyerkes) on Jan 31, 2019 at 8:02pm PST

I've made simple bags before, mostly without a pattern.  I generally am a sewer that doesn't follow instructions and rely on the pictures to put it together.  Since I've never done anything like this before I decided to follow along.  I found this pattern a bit difficult to follow.  It was a downloaded .pdf file where you cut and tape the pieces together.  Those pieces were used several times by folding them down.  I generally like to cut all my pieces and leave the pattern on top instead of marking.  This was tricky since the pieces were used on so many different fabrics.  The patterns were also used for several materials; outer shell, lining, pockets, fusible fleece, interfacing.  I cut all them away...  then realized the instructions said to trim the fleece and interlining to remove the seam allowance.  Ugh....  would rather have a separate pattern piece 3/8" smaller.  If I would have realized that I would have printed more pattern pieces to make the proper interlining/fleece piece sizes.

As far as the sewing, the instructions were step by step with pictures.  Many of the pictures were difficult to see and tell if it was right side up as it was rarely labeled.  I found myself reading slowly and aloud having to talk myself through...  which happens sometimes.  Here I felt like I did that often.  Later I realized there's video support... that would have helped me out quite a bit!

In the end I was happy with the learning experience.  There's lots of things I'd do differently but not sure I want to make this one again...  especially since I need to get downloading the February pattern!​

To join the Bag of the Month Club = https://www.bagomc.com/join-the-club.html​