Then I thought to myself, "Self, that's silly! You don't HAVE to do all of them - just do some!" So, without further ado, here's the Piece O Cake Shopping Bag!
Having three children and a husband with a substantial appetite, I can't remember the last time I shopped using a basket at a store, so I altered the pattern slightly, as I desired slightly different functionality. (Who am I kidding, I can never leave a pattern or recipe alone; I'm always tweaking! Not twerking, tweaking. That's a whole 'nother can of worms.)
My tweaks included:
- I made the straps out of microsuede instead of using webbing.
- I had a stash of three coordinating home dec fabrics (two prints and a solid) leftover from a diaper bag long ago, so I didn't do the patchwork pocket, but rather used a stripe.
- I rolled the top of the pocket over to show the solid interior - I thought it needed a punch to stand out.
- I made the lining 1 1/2" shorter, as Krista recommended, and it worked out perfectly. (So did her tip of making the dots on the bottom piece!)
- I also made each lining piece a 1/2" narrower - to help the lining sit a bit easier. It worked! I think I'll do that one again!
- The top cover and the sides of the interior are made out of an old sheet that actually coordinated really well!
- I wanted the base to have a bit more substance, so I added fusible fleece to a piece of home dec fabric and used that for the lining base. I'm thrilled with the way this turned out - it's exactly the "heft" to the fabric I wanted.
- I didn't need the gigantically poofy sides, so I just made them 9" wide and didn't pleat them.
- Before I sewed the lining and outside together, I sewed the seam allowances of their bases together to make the lining stay put. I'd never done this before. I will never skip this step again - it makes a HUGE difference.
