The Epiphany (chriswdesigns)

I was at a loose end with my sewing when Christine asked if I wanted to enter her Instagram Competition for her Epiphany pattern, so I said yes!  I knew I would spend a lot of time picking fabrics, so to help me choose I traced the bag details so I could have a good look at how it went together, without the distraction of pattern and colour.

Once I could see how it all fit together I realised this could be pieced together from several fabrics in a variety of ways.  Then I remembered my collection of Nautical/Maritime fat and thin quarters I had collected to make a cushion that hasn't happened yet, and decided they would be perfect as I am not far from the sea.

Next was matching the pattern pieces to my fabrics by size, then arranging them so I was happy with the way they went together.  There are a lot of pattern pieces, which all have to have interfacing fused on, and the process took quite a lot of time.  I had to piece the straps too and decided to do the optional cross-body strap as well.  

Happily I had the hardware, all except the 1 1/2" Rectangle Rings, so I decided to use 1 1/2" rings to match the Gate Rings on the cross-body strap.  These lovely swivel hooks came from bobbingirl.co.uk.

I always struggle with gussets and ByAnnies Soft & Stable, I simply can't see what I am doing so I have found it best to hand baste them in.  I forgot that for the first one and had to do a couple of corrections afterwards, but the second one I did baste and it went in well.

Apart from that it all went swimmingly.  I used my Stitch in the Ditch foot to do the 1/8" topstitching and my 1/4" foot for the 1/4" topstitching.  I got right to the end, adding the rivets, before I spotted my mistake - strap tabs were long and thin instead of short and fat!  I had made them the wrong way round, and now they didn't match the straps.

I had to use 3 rivets arranged in a line instead of 2 next to each other, but I kept calm and carried on.  This is the back view with the zipper pocket, and the Anchor charm Zipper Pull I bought myself from eBay

The top of the bag is closed with a recessed zipper.  I used a YKK No. 4.5 Long Pull Handbag Zipper for the top, and a shiny metal zipper end from u-handbag.com.  You can see the pieced straps and striped lining fabric.

I made both the inside and outside zipper pockets along with the slip pocket arrangement.  I didn't add a key fob as I can clip my keys to the o-rings or use the outer pockets.  I had carefully cut my lining pattern pieces so the lines would match perfectly.  Sadly I forgot to mark the top on both pieces so I accidentally turned one up the wrong way.  Never mind, no-one else is going to see the inside of my bag.

I used a different style of Bag Feet this time, these domed ones also from bobbingirl.co.uk, and this was a new way of doing a base too!  As always Christine's instructions walk you through the whole process with helpful Tips along the way.

My Seaside 'Epiphany'