Bag Ladies Hobo Swap

Today, my partner in this swap received the hobo bag I made for her. Her picture of it can be seen here. Piece of Me is the partner who sent me the awesome wristlet I received in last month's Bag Lady Swap so it was nice to return the favor this month. I am supposed to receive a hobo bag from someone I am unfamiliar with so I am looking forward to seeing what she comes up with for April. This is a neat group to work with in that they don't take themselves too seriously but most of the participants sell their hangbags through Etsy. Every month they take an informal poll on what to swap and the majority rules. You don't need to swap but you get to see some wonderful bags.

This swap was interesting in that some of the group didn't even know what a hobo bag was or how big it should be. I used the pattern and tutorial on this site to begin my hobo bag. There were a couple of things I changed but the basic size and shape is unchanged. I really disliked the strap in the pattern as it seemed like a lot of work for no functionality. I changed it to a straight tie handle so my partner could choose where the bag will hang when using it. I also added one zipper pocket and one large flat pocket to the interior. I did not reinforce these pockets so they are a little floppy, something to remember next time. The cotton exterior fabric was from my stash and reminded me of curtains my mother may have had when I was very young. The interior is some silk dupioni that was also in my stash. I experimented with the scraps to make a cell phone holster which was only semi-successful. The bigger scraps I made into a boxy bag as described in yesterday's post. This is how it all turned out:

The neatest part about this handbag, even if I do say so myself, is the closure. The original pattern did not have a closure but I thought it needed a little something to keep the top closed. I used two five pound rated rare earth magnets. I made two little tubes of fabric, one for each magnet and sewed them into the top when sewing up the edges. They are just strong enogh to hold it together but not annoying like the fancy magnetic closures I tend to use. AND I didn't take any pictures of it - rats! One last thing - I added a few Lavender buds between the lining and the exterior so it will always smell sweet.

BTW - I am now declaring Alex back to normal. Although all the wounds are not healed, he spent two solid hours today torturing Kemora with a variety of squeaky toys, tennis balls and really disgusting raw hide bones - some from the silent auction on Sunday and some that had been buried in the yard many, many weeks ago. Poor Kemora could not decide which toy to go after as whatever Alex had was what she wanted. Each time Alex gave up on a toy Kemora would carry it off in triumph. Alex would then go get another toy, Kemora would drop what she had and try to go after what Alex had. I think they will both sleep long and hard tonight.