Made by Rae Showoff Bag

This Christmas we travelled to the Dominican Republic with my in-laws for a week. It was my first trip to the Caribbean, my first trip to the beach during winter, and our first time traveling internationally with two small children. It was not easy, but it was really nice to enjoy some sun and warmth during December, and to spend some time with AJ's siblings who all live far away from us.

A few days before we left (while I was scrambling to finish a lot of work, pack, and wrap all our Christmas presents since we weren't returning til the late afternoon on Christmas day), I decided that I really needed a bag to carry. I debated between noodlehead's 241 bag, and her go anywhere bag, but I didn't have all the supplies on hand (the two zippers, the magnet closures) so I ended up deciding on Made by Rae's Showoff Bag.

Ironically the idea behind the bag, according to Rae, was to "show off" some special fabric, and instead I used some old curtain material that my mom just found in the back of a closet she was cleaning out.

Moreover, the top panel and straps are out of an ikea curtain panel that I wasn't using anymore, and I lined it with a thermal curtain from target that I burnt a whole in (trying to keep it pulled back by draping it across a lamp for a few minutes one day).

I downloaded the pattern and printed it at home, had some scraps of heavy-ish interfacing and the small old zipper... so my only cost was the $8 for the pattern itself.

It was pretty quick and easy. I made the zipper pocket with this tutorial that someone else had linked to somewhere.

The only problem was my failure to follow directions (maybe it was the Malarone). Despite Rae's helpful diagrams of suggested topstitching, I somehow missed that step and didn't topstitch around the top of the bag but instead added a second line of stitching down the straps attaching them to the top panels. It looks super messy up close.

But, oh well, I can add the topstitching when I am not feeling lazy, and I might make the bag again and spend more time on my fabric selections and use some even heavier interfacing for the top panels. You definitely need some stiff fabric up there. I thought my curtain panels were heavy enough with the interfacing, but it is still quite floppy.

But the colors were great for the beach and I fit a ton in the bag. The pockets were essential.

I miss the ocean already!