It’s such a cool modification, so I thought I would detail it here for you, with pictures. You will still need the Chunky Wee Bag pattern if you make it You can get it here. Oh, and here’s a humorous romp through how I designed the bag!

Cut the Outer Pocket fabric and fusible fleece:

• For the LARGE bag, you’ll need a piece of fabric 15 1/2” wide x 17” tall, and a piece of fusible fleece 15 1/2” x 8 1/4”
• For the MEDIUM bag, you’ll need a piece of fabric 13 1/2” wide x 12 1/2” tall, and a piece of fusible fleece 13 1/2” x 6”
• For the SMALL bag, you’ll need a piece of fabric 11” wide x 10 1/2” tall, and a piece of fusible fleece 11” x 5”

My pix are of the MEDUIM bag – this is my daily handbag… I seem to need a new one every year, partly because I wear them out, and partly because new fabric always temps me – case in point, look at the robots on the flap!

Here we go! Follow the Chunky Wee Bag pattern until you reach step 10B.

Take the Outer Pocket fabric, fold WRONG sides together parallel to the width of the fabric and press in the crease at the fold. Refer to step 7 in the pattern – you’ll be following the Inner Pocket steps to make this Outer Pocket: nest the fusible fleece up in the fold, and iron it in.

Finish the folded top edge with a top stitch:

Take the Outer Bag section that does NOT have velcro on it – this is the back of the bag. Cut the corner squares from it per the instructions at 10B, first bullet.

Chalk a line 3/4” up from the square cut-outs (just like you did on the Pockets/Inner Bag instructions at step 8).

Align the Outer Pocket to the chalked line (just like in step 8), orienting the top-stitching down, and the raw edge up, with the raw edge at the line (and the rest of the back exposed).

Sew along this line a generous 1/4” from the raw edge, trying not to catch the fleece. This makes the pocket fold up more crisply, but it’s also not a huge deal if you do catch the fleece in the seam.

Flip the pocket up.

Following the drawing on the lower left of page 6 (step 8), chalk and sew the lines a half-inch in at the corners ONLY. Start from the bottom, and sew towards the top, back-tacking/lock-stitching well.

If the side pockets will be used for pens or reading glasses, sew a horizontal seam across the side pockets to make them a bit shallower. Test for the depth you need – I find that 5” works well for my cheater specs and pens.

Lock the stitches on that seam well, too.

Further segment the Outer Pocket (just like you did the inner pockets) if you need to. I leave mine the full size so that my sketchbook and e-reader fit in there.

Continue making the bag from step 10b. When you sew the sides of the outer bag together, be sure to catch the sides of the pockets in the seam too, and sew slowly through all those layers so as not to snap your needle!

Enjoy!

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So I thought I would give you a peek behind the green curtain on how my Chunky Wee Bag pattern got designed. While it’s definitely a humorous look at the monologue in my head, please don’t miss how many times I made and tested the bag before I let it out of the house. Seriously.

Here goes…

The 17^th Time’s the Charm – OR – What it Took to Make the Chunky Wee Bag Pattern (said in my best Rocky and Bullwinkle voice-over)

It started out with a need (necessity being the mother of invention and all that): I had a date with my son and Disneyland. I needed a small bag that would go across my body, and carry just a wallet, glasses, phone and a snack. My usual handbag is part backpack, and had previously proven hard to manage in the cramped confines of a rollercoaster, so I thought I would just whip up something else. I’m a miss-fancy-pants-pattern-designer, right? Right. Read on for a peek into the mind of a (mad)woman on a mission to make the perfect bag.

Studio. Hmmm… what size bag? Let’s start with 8” x 8” shall we? Love that square! Love that balance! Couple inches deep. Flap. No zippers! Definitely need pockets inside to keep stuff separate. (What does the Bagginses have in its pocketses?) A ring… to clip keys onto. Where’s the calculator? Graph paper! Sketch, draw, redraw, recalculate.

OK, I think I have it, wait… adjust that a smidge… strap should be narrower? Yes. Fabric! ORANGE! The robot fabric! (Bad Robot!) Aha! Needs something. Grey? Yes… but something else. (Garlic? Chocolate?) Ooh, the retro one with the boomerangs! Yeah, baby! Groovy, baby! (But with better teeth!)

Can I do it all with black thread? Yessss. New needle, walking foot… who put felt under my bobbin again? Drop of oil. Water in the iron? OK!

Cut, fuse, sew, pin, wrangle, sew. Ooops. Flap’s in backwards. Bah! Pout. Rip, rip, rip. Pin. Check. Really? Sigh. Re-pin. Re-check. Sew. Yes! Post picture on FB. Awww, lots of likes

Disneyland! Wheeee! Works perfectly. Yay for pulling it out of my hat yesterday! Except for the flap needs Velcro. Why, thank you, yes, I made it! The strap could be a smidge wider. But still… success!

Home. I wanna use my cute wee bag! Too small. Can’t get the sketchbook in there. Huh. The tissues. The little box of emergency medical stuff that all mothers MUST carry even when their kid lives in a different state now. (I checked the handbook, it’s in there. Trust me). Pens. Nail file. Lip balm. Emergency chocolate.

Duh. Make it bigger.

Studio. What about 9” x 10”? Draw, calculate, funky Halloween fabric, cut, sew. Hmm. Don’t like the proportion much. Cute but… meh. Yes, you can have it.

What about deeper? Chunky deep. Like four inches deep? Oooh. Need a base board to hold that bottom out square. And how to get from a 4” side to a thinner strap?

How to get from a 4” side to a thinner strap??

Really. How to get from a 4” side to a thinner strap???

Toss and turn. Wee hours… EUREKA! That’s how to do it! Throw on clothes, grab tea, OMG MY HAIR. But no one’s gonna see me today. I hope. Baseball cap. Car keys. Studio!

Template plastic, more robot fabric, cut, sew. Hold breath. Turn inside-out. Iron. YES! (By George I Think She’s Got IT!) Topstitch that thing and get it into the bag. LOVE IT. (I know).

Move stuff into the bag. Fits! HAPPY!

Pattern? No… didn’t make a pattern for it yet. Yes, I should. Well, sure I’ll make you one while I write it. Have to test it anyway. And one for you. Oh, you want it bigger. That tall? To carry your iPad. Got it. Tall version coming up. Let’s try 8” x 10”.

Studio. Draw, calculate, cut, sew. Two sizes… officially a Pattern In Development. Flap’s funny on the tall one. Make it again. Try magnetic closures. Make it again. Ok, I’ll make you one. But I’m still working out this flap, OK?

Email blast to the Tester Peeps! Make a bag! Two sizes! Come on down!

Sorry for the hand sketches. Let me know if the writing makes sense. Yes? Argh, you’re right… I have no idea what I meant by that, obviously needed more chocolate. Yep, that sure is a better way of putting it. Thank you. That step should go first? Got it. Is the velcro in the right place? You think the flap’s fine? How are we doing? Ready to turn the bag? Yay! You made it! Pix for the blog!! THANK YOU!!

Still not sure about that taller bag. Flap still looks funny.

Rinse and repeat with second group of Tester Peeps. Wow, these gals totally saved my patootie. AGAIN. Whew.

Flap still looks funny. Harrumph. Back to the drawing board. Rules of design proportion? Rule of thirds? The Golden Rule? Shorten the flap? Yep, that helped. Still looks funny. The bag’s too tall. But it has to be 10” for the (#@*$) iPad. Too tall! Can’t shorten it. Waitaminute! I can make it wider!

Try 10” x 10”. Echino airplanes and scooters! Sweet fabric, but why didn’t they make it in ORANGE. Because not everyone luuurvvvess ORANGE, Sam. (Fools!) More for me! (Wicked laughter!) Cut, sew, flip, and BINGO – doesn’t look funny anymore. Love that square! Love that balance! Oh, you’d like one, but in linen. Sure. I need to test it again.

It’s Karen’s birthday and I could make her one of these. Except for the small one is too big for her – she likes them wee (she’s a Scot!) Make it smaller. SMALLER? Are you NUTS? Hmmm… 6” x 6” could work. If I move that and squeeze this and keep it SQUARE, and how the hell am I supposed to get my hand through there and yes, it’s so cute! Perfect. THREE sizes for the pattern now. Oh, you’d like one? Sure. I’m still testing it. No, it has to stay SQUARE. Trust me.

A pattern? Of course it’s a pattern. It will be out soon… I just need to run one more test!

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References:

• What does it have in its pocketses? – Gollum, in The Hobbit
• Bad Robot – J.J. Abrams’ production company (and on the end of every episode of Lost)
• Yeah, baby! Groovy, baby! (But with better teeth!) – Austin Powers
• By George I Think She’s Got It! – My Fair Lady
• Love it. I know – (“I love you.” “I know.”) Princess Leia and Han Solo, in The Empire Strikes Back
• Fools! – Mr. T from the A-Team

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