A Place for Everything

Remember this bag from about a year ago? I used it to take some quilting notions with me on the recent quilting cruise, and I’ve also used it for more local quilting events. However, it is limited in the size of things it will accommodate, so I decided to make its “big brother”, the A Place for Everything Bag. It’s a little easier to make than the smaller one, as Annie revised how to do the binding — the only really difficult part on the original. That’s a carrying handle on the left (it’s on the opposite side from the other bag), and it has double zipper pulls to open the bag.

This photo shows the difference in the size of the two bags. I think both will be really useful!

Opening this bag shows off the pages of pockets, as in the smaller version. However, these pockets, in a variety of sizes, have little gussets. That makes stashing bulkier items easier — think sewing machine feet, spools of thread, and that sort of thing.

Just as in the smaller bag, the pages are removable. There’s a difference, though; the pages are constructed in pairs, so two pages come out at a time. See the different kinds of pockets I chose?

The directions for this pattern are clear, as usual with Annie’s work, and she does suggest using a teflon-coated foot for the sewing machine. That makes sewing with the vinyl under the foot much easier. I like my #56 foot, since it gives very good visibility and even allows me to move the needle position when stitching the binding; that lets me keep more fabric over the feed dogs and have better control.

Near the end of making the bag, I had a lightbulb moment. 😉 There were times when I had to stitch with the vinyl pockets next to the bed of the machine, rather than under the foot. That vinyl really sticks! But I have a silicon “sheet” that I use when doing free-motion quilting — what if I used that under the vinyl? Yes! It really stops the vinyl from sticking to the machine bed! My silicon sheet has a large cutout, allowing the feed dogs to work as intended, but some have only a needle hole. It would be an easy matter to cut out a larger opening, if you wanted to use this idea. 🙂