A few weeks ago I attended a special birthday party for a friend of mine. As adults, we don’t get parties and special gifts as much as we did when we were kids, and I always think that’s sad. Enter: The Birthday Bag.
I bought this pattern several years ago in A.C.Moore – it is actually called the Serendipity Bag. It’s meant to be used with a jelly roll and at the time, I had a jelly roll that I wasn’t sure what to do with. Needless to say, I have made quite a few of these bags and I still have that jelly roll…
The pattern is simple to translate to a solid piece of fabric and makes such a great impact! Plus it only takes a couple of hours to complete, if that. You need just over a half yard of the outer fabric and just a half yard for the lining. You could use a bit more and add a pocket to the inside if you like. It’s large and deep, so if you wanted it as a purse, it would probably be a good idea to add a couple of pockets. I like to use an upholstery/canvas remnant for the outer fabric so that it’s nice and strong and has a little body, and a coordinating cotton for the lining. I always fancied it as a shopping tote – but not for stinky, leaky groceries…the kind of shopping that you want to show off. 😉
At the last minute, I remembered that this friend was set to receive an iPad from as her ‘big’ gift this year and I thought, wouldn’t it be nifty to make her a matching iPad cover as well? After a quick search for a pattern, but found just the right one:
Even with the quilting, this took me just an hour to whip up. I can’t remember the name of the blog where I found the pattern right now, but I will remember and I will post it! It has double thickness batting for extra padding and extra room in case the iPad in question has a hard cover. The flap secures with hook & loop. Perfect!
Edit: I found it! The awesome tutorial can be found at one shabby chick.
