One of my daughters is a bag lady. She never goes anywhere without a minimum of two bags. She always carries a purse, of course, but in addition, she totes a large bag of supplies for her two toddlers. Sometimes the toddler bag turns into two,and since she is a school counselor, she often has a bag of school-related material. So I decided she needed an all-purpose bag that could be used for anything. I came across a pattern for a bag that looked like it would fill the bill in a book entitled One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins. The design is called Folklore Bag, and the picture showed a bag constructed of a tan country-style print. I liked the design but not the fabric, so I made mine from soft pinwale corduroy in two coordinating prints. Then I embellished it with yo-yo flowers. I think the result was fabulous with its sixties-mod look.
There are just four pattern pieces to the project, but it is not for the beginning seamstress. For one thing, the directions have very few illustrations. Even though I have sewn for many years, I still had reread the directions several times. Also the pattern required top stitching in some very tight spots. Turning the bag right side out was no small feat either. All in all though, I would say that the day I spent making the Folklore Bag was well spent.
