Hot off the assembly line

This happened today:

Ain't it purty? It finished out at 12"L x 5"W x 4"H.

I use separating sports/parka zippers so I can mix up the 2 sides of the zipper as well as the zipper pull for more interest. (This means having to snip off the bottom stoppers in order to remove the head, but it's very easy to thread it back onto teeth.)

No idea why I had enough of this fabric for 3 of these bags. I know I didn't buy it!

These bags are fully lined

I remember buying this lining/handle green fabric with my mother years ago for a re-upholstery project on a 'fainting couch'.

and both the lining and the main fabric have pet mesh bottoms.

 I've got yards of that stuff left over from making scores of Cabana Mesh Tote Bags, and I like the breathe-ability it gives to the bag. Because the mesh is plastic, not metal, it's very easy to cut and sew through.

The rest of the bags are being sewn more assembly-line style; I just got so excited with this first one that I kept going until it was done! The bags still in production are at the 'sew the zipper tabs and both ends of the zipper to the outer fabric' stage. Next come the 'sew the zipper ends to the liner fabric', 'form the corners', 'sew in handle', 'birth the bag', 'sew closed the lining hole from which you just birthed the bag' stages.

In previous bags I've made, the final step was to sew together the two layers of mesh (not easy), but this time I cut all the lining pieces 1/8" smaller so the finished lining nestles quite nicely into the main bag. No need to force it to stay in place by sewing it down. This time I also took careful notes about what did and didn't work regarding my cutting and infrastructure sewing. While I don't intend to make a career out of sewing these, one never knows when another batch might come in handy!

I intend to set a $20 price tag on these when they're put up for sale at the Chorus's concert in April. I'm tempted to bring several (maybe all?) to the Regional educational event this weekend and use the lecture time to hand-sew the lining birthing seam, just to see how many I can sell simply by sitting there sewing them!

And these keep happening too:

All the red(ish) points have been sewn to neutral rectangles, so now it's a matter of random sewing of non-red dark triangles as I go. When the ironing board is finally clear, 

it'll be interesting to take a reckoning and see how much I've accumulated as a by-product of this EPT project.