Miss June, the Birdie Sling!

Hey everyone!  Look at me, I'm on time this month!  So, for June, I made the Birdie Sling (hey look at that, you can click the name of the bag and I've linked it to the webpage with pattern info!  The internet is so cool) by Amy Butler.  She has some gorgeous designs!  Many of her designs are perfect for highlighting big, bold prints, too, which made this bag the perfect pattern for this fabric, which I have been dying to use (and may have several yards waiting at my house to become a dress):

I have decided, however, that carrying a bag and wearing a dress made from the same fabric might be a bad idea.  So, without further ado, here is the bag!

I did actually have a picture of the bag by itself, but I did something to the file and now it's lost forever.  So anyway, this bag is pretty big, as you can see.  I didn't measure it before I dropped it off at the shop, of course, because that would have been smart and I'm just not into that.  But it has one large, wide handle, that felt really comfortable without anything in the bag (I should have put some stuff in there to test it out!), and it has a large pocket on one side of the lining that is divided in two, and a small pocket on the other side of the lining.  Here's a vague picture of the inside, since the pockets are the same fabric as the lining, so it's hard to tell:

This bag would be great for carrying projects in, like handwork for long road trips or the like.  But let's be serious, I would use this honking bag as a purse.  I would probably never be able to find anything, but I would look so fab while digging through it.  I also meant to put a magnetic snap in the top to hold it shut, but I got so excited about how fast the bag was coming together that I totally forgot.  I made a couple of modifications to this pattern (shocker), but I won't let you in on them unless you take the class!  See what I did there?

So, here are some things I love about this bag.  I love the size (yes, we already discussed that I use huge purses).  I could carry a set of twins in there, if I wanted to (which would be totally unsafe, so don't try it.  I won't take the fall for that one).  I also love this fabric, and the bag highlights it wonderfully.  There are also some really sweet little designy things about the bag (I'm trying to think of the right word for "designy things," but it escapes me at the moment) that I just love.  For example, the top of the bag has six little pleats on each side.

I am such a sucker for pleats.  I want to add them to everything, especially places where they are not appropriate at all.  I'm also a sucker for paisley fabrics, such as this yellow coordinating fabric.  I also love butter, which matches this coordinating fabric, but we don't need to talk about that.

Also, at the bottom, where on lots of other bags the corners are brought in to box out the bottom of the bag (does that make sense?), the corners are brought in on this bag too, but the line sewn is curved rather than straight, making the corners just so elegant-looking!  I don't get out much, so little things like this excite me.  Don't I look excited?

So basically I would give this bag a billion thumbs up, and the pattern is very well-written as well, which is really nice.  The class for this bag will be held on Saturday, June 25, and the price for the kit and class will be $60.  This will get you all of the fabric, interfacing, pattern, and all of my secret modifications (oooh intrigue!), and as an added bonus, you'll get to spend the whole day laughing at a crazy teacher who makes lots of mistakes.  Call the shop at (207)764-3800 or email sylvia@gardengatefabrics.com to sign up for the class.