I think most of what I make—it has been a spontaneous thing. Take my latest project—a bag. Mr. CFO is probably reading this and rolling his eyes. I noticed last week that my beloved damask messenger bag was getting worn thru in the bottom—and it’s no wonder! I have dragged that thing around for 3 years!! So, it was time for a new messenger bag. I don’t usually undertake bags anymore as my machine doesn’t like them (it’s not built to do that sort of thing), I don’t have much patience, and I stab myself about 8 bagillion times with pins when I am trying to shove it thru the machine on the last pass.
*Oh—before you look at these pictures you have to know that my workspace is completely TERRIBLE right now, you are NOT allowed to judge me by it’s state or the fact that my ironing board cover is gross.
Still—I don’t feel like forking out $ for a bag, so here it is:
I think this is about IT for my apples & pears fabric, I have been rationing it out for a few years.
Want to see how it gets done?
1. Fabric, rotary mat, cutter, & ruler
2. Cut front & back panel to be 6.5” x 11”
3. Cut flap to be 11” by whatever. Mine was ~7”. Really, make it as long as you need for it to fold over.
4. Cut bag bottom (I like using upholstery canvas) same size as front & back panels.
5. Iron in fusible interfacing (décor-bond). 
Be careful, there is a sticky and a non-sticky side. Don’t be a dork like me and iron it the wrong way. You’ll just have to peel the darn stuff off your ironing board and start again. Thus—my beautiful ironing board cover.
non-sticky v. sticky
Can you see the difference?
*it is ok to piece the interfacing—it won’t really show much on the bottom or inside pieces.
6. Sew front and back to either end of the bottom. If you have a directional print like mine, make sure it will face the correct way. Topstitch down. This is your shell now.
7. Cut a lining piece to be the same size as your shell and flap. Fuse them with interfacing as well.
8. Sew the flap lining and outer piece together. I used this fancy rounded-corner template (my starch bottle) to trace and cut around. I like having rounded corners on my bag flap/cover. Turn right side out and top-stitch down.
9. Be SMART—not a dork like me—put on pockets, velcro, etc—where you will want them. If you try to do this at a later point, it is a pain in the you know where.
10. Sew up the sides of the lining and shell (separately).
11. Cut out square notch on the bottom corners of each shell and lining. These little squares will determine how FAT your bag is, so be careful. I did about ~1” squares because I want a slim-ish profile. Really—the bag will be chubby once I get everything in.
Use your first square as a template for the other 3.
12. Now you’re going to get technical and use the smoosh technique. Basically flatten the square across the diagonal (or hypotenuse) of the square, and sew shut.
13. Turn shell right side out, poking corners out for a nice square bottom. Leave lining inside-out.
14. Take your flap & shell and stitch together as shown.
15. Oh—before I forget—get a strap sewn up. Take a long-ish piece of fabric (your choice), iron it in half, then turn in edges and sew together. You could buy webbing to use as a strap as well—use what you like.
16. Fit everything together—turn in rough edges. Pin like crazy—try not to stab yourself.
17. Topstitch around. Trim threads. Admire your handiwork. 
18. Try it on in the mirror and notice that some little person has been kissing your mirror with smudgy lips.
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