PATTERN REVIEW: Saturday Market Bag

I figured it was time for a new pattern review….I haven’t done one in a while, and I was feeling the need to try out a new bag pattern!  The Saturday Market Bag caught my eye a while ago, so I took this opportunity to try it out. 

The Saturday Market Bag is a Heather Bailey pattern, and while I have some of her fabrics, I have never used one of her patterns before.  I’m happy to say that I was very happy with the clarity of the directions. 

This particular bag is designed to be a shopper.  It has only one pocket (which is optional) and it opens super wide so you can stuff all your farmer’s market finds (or whatever other goodies) inside with ease.  You can even opt to put some magnetic snaps on the sides to hold the gussets closed for those times you don’t have a ton to carry.

Difficulty Level:
Medium.  While most of the sewing was straight forward, a beginner may have some difficulty with attaching the gussets cleanly, and closing off the handles (more on this below).

What I Loved:
The shape, size and simplicity of the bag design.  The various options you have (snaps or no snaps, coordinating fabrics or all one fabric, reversible or not, you can even add a bow if you like).  Love, love, love!  (Picture to the left is the bag reversed)

What I Didn’t Love:
Finishing off the handles.  This is by no means the fault of the pattern or design.  It’s just a technique that one needs to practice over  and over to get just right.  Sure, I can do it, but unfortunately not as well as I would like.  You see, you sew the two sides of the handles together after the bag is already turned.  This means you have to finagle the seams of the inside and outside of the handles perfectly to get a nice finish.  It means you need perfect….I mean PERFECT seam allowances and measurements…there is no “flubbing” this one.  You can see in the picture that I still need practice with this technique. 

Suggested Changes:
The pattern calls for a lightweight canvas to be used on the interior of the bag to add weight.  I wonder if a combo of fusible fleece and interfacing would work as well.  While I like the weight of the bag with the canvas, I could have saved myself a good amount of time using that combo.  Something to try….

Tips:
Set aside some time to construct this.  The prep work is time consuming.  When working on the handles, be VERY precise in both sewing and measuring.  There is no room for error here….and be very careful when sewing the two sides together….if you catch the underside of the handle, you will need to rip out the stitching and start over.

Would I Recommend It?
Yes!  Handles aside, I think this bag is a winner.  It’s a beautiful, versatile bag that can be personalized in many different ways.  The finished product is very satisfying and I will be using this all summer long to haul my farmer’s market finds home.  In the winter I may use this as a toy bag for when I travel with my kids.  It’s a fun and stylish shopping bag…it sure beats plastic!