This is the Maddie makeup bag I found on Bluprint* and decided to make as a Christmas gift. The zippered pouch is a good size, and the brush flap is a nice touch for storing brushes. I may have to make one of these for myself; I always end up cramming my 2 faithful brushes in a smaller bag than this with all my make-up bits. Having one of these would actually be really nice for traveling.
*Bluprint shut down in the fall of 2020 and was acquired by TN Marketing, which has taken up the torch as far as classes go on craftsy.com. I’m not totally sure what their plans are for offering patterns that Bluprint used to carry. All I know is they plan sometime in the future to make available to users any patterns they’ve previously purchased from Bluprint.
About the Pattern
It’s straight text; no photos. That’s a bummer, because it takes about twice as long to read and re-read and re-read and re-read and finagle the thing til you land on the “ah-ha!” moment a photo could’ve showed you in a fraction of the time. For $10, I’d expect photos of at least the really confusing bits. I would not throw this pattern at a beginner unless they have previously worked with zippers, bags with linings, and shaping bags. I had to stop quite often and visualize the next few steps to make sure I was doing the current step correctly.
While the instructions are pretty well-written, there are a half dozen spots that need to be tweaked for clarification. For example:
- Rather than referring to pattern pieces “8 and 9” after they’ve been constructed into the brush flap, just call it the brush flap and stop making me hunt for numbers over and over.
- When attaching the handles, it doesn’t say the fabric should be right side up, and it should.
- Better descriptors throughout: “edges” could be “raw short edges” and so forth.
- At the very end, it should say to sew through ALL LAYERS after mushing together the sides into the flattened X’s. That whole bit desperately needs photos. Or even just one photo would’ve helped immensely. Like this:
Other than that, the pattern is quite nice. It allows for plenty of seam allowance so you’re not fighting with your sewing machine near the end to catch all the bulky layers in your seams.
About the Finished Bag
Like I already mentioned, the zippered pouch is a great size and the brush flap is super handy. The handles, however, aren’t the greatest. With the way they are attached, they get lost under the bottom of the bag. I’m going to try to think of a way to affix them to the sides on my next version so they’re easier to grab’n’go.
Floppy handles. 😟
As bags go, this is one of the better ones in my opinion; definitely better than the nightmarish Sew-Together bag.
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