Today I did something that happens once in a blue moon-I got the sewing machine out. I love sewing but it feels like so much fuss and bother getting the machine out, sorting the extension lead etc. that I never really do it. I had a good reason today though, as my friend’s little girl is 5 and I wanted to make her a present. Knowing she is a My Little Pony fan I thought a little bag might be nice so she can take them places with her. I settled on a messenger bag which I found on Pinterest as it looked easy. I then had to find fabric, which is easier said than done-I have a medium sized stash but some of the pieces aren’t huge. Then I remembered the bags of fleece under the stairs! I knew I had some large pieces and I’d even sorted them into bags by size so they were quite easy to locate. I chose pink, purple and turquoise, which from a spot of googling seemed suitable My Little Pony colours. (Jess isn’t into that kind of stuff yet, though I’m sure it won’t be long until our house is full of all things girly!)

Cutting out and measuring was easy enough as it was all straight lines so the rotary cutter and mat came out for a play. I messed up measuring the flap so had to do some maths to make it a bit more in proportion (should have read the pattern better)! Even though the fleece was thick I still used lightweight iron on interfacing as suggested in the pattern and I think it was worth doing.

The next step was sewing, which should have been fairly easy given the straight lines. My relationship with the sewing machine is somewhat tumultous, another reason why it rarely sees the light of day. (How I wish I was one of those people who have a pefect harmonious relationship with their sewing machine, synchronising perfectly to churn out immaculately sewn pieces dsy after day!)  I was worried about how it would cope with the thickness of the fleece, especially in the places where it had to sew through up to 5 layers of fabric. I chose a zigzag stitch in the hope it might work well with the stretchiness of the fleece and it seemed to work well. Since it was a bag and not a garment to be worn (and therefore frequently stretched etc.) I didn’t worry too much but wanted to try to make it as strong as I could.

Once all of the parts were ready I had the task of joining the lining and outer. This was what gave me the inspiration for the title of this post, as you follow the instructions carefully and have to have faith that at the end when you turn the whole thing the right way out that it has worked. There’s a lot of steps that could go wrong and need undoing and you don’t know until you think you’ve finished. Being an amateur at sewing, I found it hard to visualise how it would all work but by some miracle it did. I even added a button and used the buttonhole foot!

I am actually really pleased with this and would love to see how it looks in a cotton fabric too. Fleece looks quite attractive and I’m sure the ponies will appreciate their cosy travelling case! If I did it again I would add extra pockets but I didn’t want to get too carried away on my first attempt. I also wouldn’t round off the corners of the flap as I can’t sew around curves very well. Even so, it is pretty cute and I love the colours together.