Bum Bag

Here is the 4th of my launch night samples. As I was off camping for the weekend I knew I would need something small but secure , big enough for my purse, phone and camera..

What else but a bum bag...

First off I had to find a pattern, that in itself was harder than I thought, for some reason there just aren't a lot of free bum bag/hip bag patterns around.. who knew?

Eventually I found one, but again I came up against a wall. The pattern was in German. After much translating and copying and pasting, and working out which bits of the pattern were relevant....I could finally begin. 

I cut some heavy weight white cotton, just a little larger than the pattern pieces. 

Next I mixed some Concrete Fresco paint with fabric medium and gave each piece a good even coat. 

My next layer involved a text stencil, this time I used Stone, Elephant and fabric medium

Layer 3. Slightly darker again, using  Elephant and a tiny bit of black Fresco and the fabric medium and the circle stamp from ESN 09. 

I also added the  scratchy lines from ESN10

I then added more black to my mix and stamped the circles from ESN10 This completed the background. 

Next I mixed Turquoise and Slate from JoFYs new limited edition colours, added some fabric medium and then stamped the feather from EDY09

and also the birds from EDY10

Next I used Red Geranium Archival ink to stamp the heart flower from EDY10.

I began to fill in the hearts, using  Blood Orange as the darker shade in the centre. 

Then I added Cherry from the JoFY range. 

I finished off by outlining the hearts with a permanent black pen. 

Now all the pieces were decorated, I let them dry thoroughly and also ironed them on the reverse. Then I was able to trim them to the correct size. 

Following the pattern I started to make the bag. Because the fabric is painted it is a little difficult to manipulate, but not impossible. You can see the bottom section is gathered, this was a challenge because of the stiffer fabric, but again it all worked out ok. 

Finally I added the straps and the buckle. This is the back of the bag. 

and the front..

As you can see it has 3 pockets, all with zips. Making this a really handy little bag. I had so much stuff crammed in here. Camera, phone, purse, toilet tissues, lip balm, mints, band aids. 

The wide top of the bag wraps around the hips perfectly. it was really comfy to carry around. 

I am so pleased with the way it turned out, and of course there is only one like it... It took 2 days to make, 1 to paint the fabric and the 2nd day to stitch it all together. 

If you would like to see the pattern then go to THIS WEBSITE , here you will find the 5 pages of instructions. There are lots of variations within the pattern so you can choose exactly what kind of pockets you need. It was originally a sew-along. The lovely owner of the blog has some great patterns, so go and check them out. 

Darcy x