The Companion Carpet Bag - Bag of the Month Club - January 2015

Well it's January and that means Bag of the Month 2015 has kicked off.

I was thrilled to be asked by Samantha to test the January bag and of course jumped at the chance. I did some testing for Samantha of her Nappy Bag last year  and also I won second prize for my version of her Convertible Bag in last years inaugural Bag of the Month Club, so Mrs H's patterns are some of my favourites.

As with all of the Mrs H patterns, the instructions are clear and easy to follow and includes the use of interior zip and slip pockets as well as external slip and magnetic catch pockets.

I loved the challenge of using new to me hardware - an internal tubular frame and hand stitched handles. Actually the installation of the new hardware was very simple, except for the operator error on my part of initally putting the frame together back to front.

The bag comes together really quickly as well, I was able to sew it all together in one night, which is a big plus for me as I only get to sew at night these days.

The bag I tested was the 8.5 inch small frame size and for a small bag you can fit a surprising amount of stuff in it. I emptied the contents of my current daily bag, which is significantly larger into it and it all fitted.

 For scale and context the contents are:

600ml stainless steel water bottle
A5 hardcover diary
Hardcover glasses case
Necessary Clutch Wallet
Packet of Asprin
Samsung Galaxy Phone
Bank Deposit Book
Keys
Pen
LipBalm
The Incredible Hulk
Leonardo - Ninja Turtle
Matchbox plane
Dinosaur (no idea which one sorry)








And they all fitted, not too snug although there isn't a lot of rummaging room.

And yes I have a 4 year old son, these are not my toys, promise!







And after all that the bag also closed - winner!

I highly recommend all of Samantha's patterns and rate this suitable for a confident beginner.

Come and join all the fun of the Bag of the Month Club. For $40 US for 6 patterns from 6 of the most fabulous bag designers right now, its an absolute bargain.

Simone

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Bag Stats
The Companion Carpet Bag
8.5" Small Frame size
Outer Fabric - Sebastian Ghastlie by Alexander Henry Fabric
Inner Fabrics - Basic Dots Fabrics from Spotlight
Bag Bling from Emmaline Bags