The project, a hobo bag, was supposed to serve as a little break from working on my pants muslin. A quick, no-fit project, made from my stash, that would finally end in me having a bag of my own after making so many bags for others. But it was not to be. Am I being a bit melodramatic and writing run-on sentences? Well, yes. I can't help it. I'm irritated.
Here is the offending bag. What happened was this: I used the free HotPatterns "Nomad Hobo" that is available on Fabric.com. (Yes, I already know what you are going to say: you get what you pay for.) I was happily sewing along, relaxing and following the instructions. It was coming together so very quickly and easily - I was nearly done assembling the bag! That's when I realized that something was very wrong. Where the pockets and closures were made no sense. In fact, they were completely backward!
I flipped back in the instructions, sure that I had done something wrong. But no! I had followed the instructions to the letter. The instructions and pattern markings are just plain wrong! They have you attach the magnet and pockets to the end pieces - the pieces with the straps. Look at the image above and tell me exactly how that is supposed to work. Aaarg! It doesn't! The closure should be on the inside of the bag roughly where the girl's elbow is - right? - attaching one side of the bag to the other. Double aaaarg!
Here is my re-do. The side pieces of the lining, with pockets and magnetic closure. I basically had to undo an hour's work. And, since I made the bag with a remnant, I don't have extra fabric. This is not a problem for the pieces with pockets, which I swapped with the same shaped pieces that didn't have pockets. And I had an extra magnetic closure to attach in the correct place. However, once you attach the closures you really can't undo them without leaving holes behind. So, now the bag has an extra superfluous magnetic closure at the base of each strap.
Is this a deal breaker? No. I don't think so. I like the fabric and will finish the bag. Anyway, it is now unsewn and I've begun sewing it back together. So, it should be easy to finish. Knock on wood. So much for an easy project that I wouldn't have to think about.
