Brianna Roberts
- Apr 3, 2023
- 3 min read

A Bit Of This And A Bit Of That

Updated: Apr 5, 2023

This colorful bag was made using one of the newest fabric lines from Island Batik fabrics. These fabrics were designed by Kathy Engle for Sherry Shish of Powered By Quilting. It is a beautiful line filled with shades of purples, blues, greens and magenta. The designs are lovely too. Each one has a fun pattern mimicking pebbles, tiles, water reflections and more.

I was lucky enough to work with this line while testing one of my new upcoming bag patterns. This bag is called the Tabitha Tote that features two outside pockets, one of which is zippered, shoulder straps and a zippered top closure. It has gusseted sides and two side slip pockets inside as well as another zippered pocket. It is very roomy and perfect to stuff all your belongings in it for a day trip, beach outing or to visit a friend.

I loved the contrasting and saturated colors in this line. It is out is stores this March and is perfect for the season. Check out this line in your local fabric store. It is lovely and batiks are beautiful hand dyed fabrics that are unique and great to use in any project.

This bag used shoulder straps and if you have never made straps, I have a quick and easy tutorial to show you how to do it for any bag.

Strap Tutorial:

Supplies: Fabric, Pellon SF101 fusible interfacing, Coordinating Thread, 90/14 Sewing Needle

There are many ways to make a strap and this is one that I like to make. It is sturdy and using fabrics that coordinate with your bag makes it much more special.

Step 1:

Choose the size of the strap you want to make. If the strap is 1" wide then the fabric will be cut 4" wide by the length needed for the bag. In this case two 4"x30" pieces of fabric were cut for two straps.

Formula: Strap Width x 4= Fabric Width to be cut by length of strap needed. The same amount of fusible interfacing will be cut for each strap needed.

Example: 1" x 4 = 4" width cut by length of strap

Example: 3/4" x 4 = 3" width cut by length of strap

Example: 1/2" x 4 = 2" width cut by length of strap

Step 2:

Fuse Pellon SF101 interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric per manufacturers instructions. This brand is one of my favorites for bag making. I use it for handles, to stabilize interior linings and pockets.