Bonnie Bucket Bag by Swoon - Pattern Matching Madness!

When I saw a similar Bonnie Bucket Bag done by another member of the Swoon Facebook group, I was blown away, and of course had to start planning my own version.  With some nudging from a friend, I finally decided to try my own.  I can't remember the name of the original creator, but I'm pretty sure hers was way more amazing than mine!

This bag is even prettier than I can capture on camera!

Pattern matching is intimidating enough, but when you throw in a rainbow of colors and panels that you don't have enough extra to mess up more than once...it becomes a new level of anxiety!  Fortunately for me, I keep "accidentally" buying the Alison Glass Ex Libris panels so I had a few extras if I really screwed up...except I only had extra of the grey versions and not the white.  Oops!  Better buy more asap to make up for that! ;)

Ok, I'm pretty proud of that moth/butterfly matching. :D

My panels are really nicely matched at the bottom, but not so much at the top.  As they say, close enough for government work...  I still think it looks pretty cool and I'd carry it around if it wasn't already spoken for!

Zipper top closure

The interior fabric is another Alison Glass Print - warning, may cause seizures!!  It's so bright and fun, but pretty intense! It will wake you up every time you open the purse. 

You can't really tell, but there are slip pockets in there...

I also went with glitter vinyl for the bottom overlay and bottom piece because this bag needed even more challenges...although this is actually glitter canvas and wasn't that hard to work with!  I used the staple trick, but next time I'll also pre-cut my curves to help it go even flatter.  It isn't perfectly smooth, but hey, I'm not a robot or underpaid laborer in a 3rd world county...I'm an underpaid  hobbyist.  ;)

"Staple Trick" - use regular staples and put them INSIDE the seam allowance along the edge of the fabrics, then after sewing they are trimmed off.

Slightly slouchy, it decided to fall over when I was trying to take a pictures. Filled with stuff it will be fine!

This pattern only calls for Shape Flex 101 interfacing, none of the usual fleece or foam, which gives it a slouchy appearance, but surprisingly sturdier than I expected.  I think next time I'll do fleece for slightly more structure because the foam would give it more of a bucket than purse look I think.

My bag bling from Emmaline bags is perfect!

Pattern changes:  I left off the outside pocket because I couldn't bring myself to cut into my pretty matching.  The strap is also adjustable to cross body length.  That was about it, and other than trying 4 times to sew the panels so they'd match better, it was a very fast sew!  Now I just need to get caught up on orders and testing so I can finally whip out the Alice in Wonderland one I've had ready to cut for almost a year now...even the embroidery is finished and ready to go!

Those books and my ipad are being used to hold the overlay down while the folded edge dried.

And a final cringe shot, this is what I had to do to a perfectly lovely panel to match my pieces...It took 2 of the grey ones to get it to work out right since I wasn't really thinking and cut them weird.  Time to make some little pouches and purses with the incomplete circles!