The Lombard Street Cross Body Hipster Bag

 

Time management is always an issue for me. I envy people who can sit down to sew for hours on end start and finish a project in no time at all. Many people have often asked how long it takes for me to make a bag and of course it depends on the bag. So when Christine at ChrisW Designs asked me to test this bag for her I decided to try and manage my time better by keeping a written record of the actual time I spend doing this bag. It took me about 11 minutes to cut out and tape the pattern.

 

And about the same time to choose my fabrics. You can see in the photo below in the top left hand corner I have my note pad and pen ready to write down when I start and stop sewing this bag. At the end of the day I added up how long it took and it came to 11 hrs and 40 mins over a total of three days.  The shortest time I recorded was 8 mins LOLLL, I have a very short attention span, and the longest was just over 2 hours.

Ok, onto the bag. This is a beautiful design by Christine at ChrisW Designs. If you're looking for a bag with pockets then this one is for you. It amazes me how Christine not only came up with the design but also wrote a detailed pattern on how to make it. The PDF has 47 pages of instructions which include 81 step by step colour photos. It is an advanced pattern but Christine makes it easy to make with all those photos. Having said that this is probably the most challenging bag I've made to date, loads of new techniques learned.

The name of the bag is interesting too and you can read about Lombard Street here, now you know why it's called the Lombard Street Bag.

Finished bag size = approx. 25.5cm (10”)  X 29cm (11½”) X 5cm (2”)

This is the front of the bag with 2 large front slip pockets plus a hidden slip pocket for your mobile phone.

 There is also a third large front pocket with a hidden zipper to keep your valuables secure.

The interior of the bag has another four slip pockets

And everything is kept secure and safe by a recessed zipper closure.

Hold on a minute that's not all, you still have another zipper pocket on the back of the bag to hold an iPad and hardcase.

 

 

 

Christine used some gorgeous eyelets to attach her adjustable strap but I couldn't get hold of any so I just did a conventional adjustable strap.

 

 

 

If you don't have an iPad then either get hubby to buy you one, failing that this bag is useful for so many occasions. It would be great to take on a holiday to keep your passport and other documents safe or for a student to keep pens, paper and pads tidy and organized and perfect for taking out on a shopping trip, just throw your keys, wallet and other things you carry into one of the many pockets, sling it across your body to leave your hands free to fondle all that lovely fabric you want to buy.

 

Have I convinced you to make one yet. You'll be sorry if you don't. You can buy the PDF pattern over at Christine' Shop and after you've taken a look at Christine's bag if you like the hardware you can buy that HERE

 

Make sure you take a look at the photos of the bags the other testers made. They all did such a wonderful job and chose beautiful fabrics, speaking of which you must see my friend Liz's bag over at Moments. Liz was also a tester and the fabric she chose was to die for. 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by. I'm off to make some more bags now. One more to test, this one is another beauty by Sara at Sew Sweetness.

~ Maria ~