Trick or Treat Bag Tutorials

Who wants a hard plastic pumpkin or an old pillowcase, when you can sew up an adorable trick or treat tote following one of these tutorials?!

Cute Scrappy Owl bag by Ohdeeoh

Quilted bags from Teeny Tiny Quilts

Felted candy corn bag, made by Purling Sprite (pattern by Lion Brand Yarn)

Felt or fabric candy corn bag by My Little Gems

And this absolutely adorable slouchy bag by Lazy Daisy Cottage
She also sells readymade bags, and they come with a pocket for a little lantern

Escama Bags

I was in the gift store of the Museum of Art yesterday, in Balboa Park (San Diego), and I saw some beautiful bags made from soda can tops by Escama.
This may give you an idea

Are the words "handmade" and "sophisticated" an oxymoron?

Poor neglected blog!
I'll have to make a point of stopping in more often.

Tonight I have been searching for a purse pattern so I can make a friend a bag for her birthday.
The odd fact here is that when you go to a department store and buy a bag, it's usually leather, and it's usually plain black or plain brown.
Why then, when bags are sewn from a pattern, are they so often wild prints with that not-in-a-good-way handmade look?

I don't want a cutesie bag (though, to be honest, I am using a fabric with beagles all over it).
I don't want soft sides, but I want reinforced details as found on the leather bags I usually carry.
I don't want quilt blocks on my tote, or faux fur, or a teeny tiny paper sack of a bag.

There are a lot of indie designers out there with great patterns, but they're sometimes hard to find.
Purse Patterns (dot com) has 1100 ideas to browse through.

I think my best options for a sophisticated take on handmade might be The Cosmo Bag

or the Classic Messenger Bag


Hmmm....maybe a yoga bag would make a fun gift!

Though Carol's Executive Tote is seemingly more of a simplistic style that I'm trying to get away from, there is something about this design that I find quite pleasing, and I think it would work really well with the fabric I have chosen


Another option is to sacrifice a favorite bag and make a pattern from it, which I may do as well.
I will post my results when I finish the bag.