Frenchie Bag Deux

It's been over a year that I've been carrying around my Frenchy Bag, and I've grown to love it more every day. All of my initial concerns about it being too loud just sort of went away...poof.

The fabric has worn like iron so it technically didn't need to be replaced yet. But, fickle girl that I am, I wanted a change. I searched around for another cute bag pattern but I didn't find anything I liked as much as the Frenchy Bag. So, why reinvent the wheel? I sewed up another one...

This time more color! Wilder pattern! Caution was completely thrown to the wind. (See, I'm totally growing as a person here.) I ended up using some fabric from my stash. Two Amy Butler fabrics (from many seasons ago) on the outside and a Liberty of London fabric for the lining.

This time I did adjust the pattern with a couple "improvements" of my own. The original pattern calls for a couple section dividers on the inside. Even though well interfaced and stiff, those dividers sort of crumpled and became useless. I got rid of those and instead added a zippered pocket.

This was achieved easily enough by adding an additional panel of well-interfaced lining with a 7" zipper. There are a surprising number of tutorials for this exact task online so I don't feel the need to add another to the mix. My favorite one was from Sew Mama Sew...follow this and you can't go wrong. This technique ended up being so simple I can totally see myself sneaking zippers in anything I am lining in the future.

This is how I adjusted the pattern to accommodate my zippered pocket:

Step 1: Sew the lining fabric with the zipper to another piece of lining fabric with 1/4" seam allowance all the way around. Both pieces should be right sides facing up.

Step 2: Lay the zipper sandwich piece right side up and place another lining panel right side down on top of it. Sew these two pieces together using the specified seam allowance leaving the top open.

And there you go, you have a lining with a zipper pocket all ready to attach to the outer bag!

–Cassandra

PS - Old purse was washed on gentle with Doc Bronner's Sal Suds and hung dry. It looks perfect and is waiting to have it's revival one of these days!