Making Mondo Bags

Class was in session Monday when Claudia came for more sewing lessons. The plan for the day was to make a Mondo Bag. Years ago I made one (read about it here) and I have had a second pattern for a long while. Claudia had purchased her pattern, and so we devised a plan to work on making this bag.

Claudia selected a patriotic pack of fabrics, and had cut her 2.5" squares ahead of time. Here is one of the 4 panels ready for stitching.

This is the result of Claudia's work on Monday. The outer bag and the lining are both to the point at which the sides are sewn together which will make these strange shapes become a Mondo Bag.

I used a Jelly Roll of Neptune by Moda and Tula Pink. I have had the Jelly Roll for several years and really didn't have any other ideas for how I'd use it. This will be perfect. My first panel, above, is sewn both the width and length seams.

On Tuesday, I went back to work to finish my bag. These are the strips I selected for my handles - the greens are the under sides; the blues are the outer sides.

Mondo Bag construction is the strangest, most convoluted I've ever made. How anyone figured that the odd shapes shown above in Claudia's picture could be turned into this awesome bag is totally beyond me. Above is my lining and batting.

My bag is finished and Gracie's inspection is complete. I guess it earned her seal of "a-purr-val."

I really like the Mondo Bag - both this one and my first one. However, I noticed through all of this that there are some differences. The handles are shorter on this bag than on my first one. Now, maybe I just opted back then to make longer handles; I just don't remember. I sorta' wish I'd made the second bag's handles longer, too, but it's too late now.

And there are differences between Claudia's pattern and my pattern. Hers is newer and that newer version has smaller panels. It took quite a bit of study to figure out why her measurements were so far off mine. She will still end up with a very nice bag, though. She is coming back on Monday to finish her bag, and we are going to try to make a quickie table runner, too.

Hope you have a great Thursday!
Happy Quilting, Friends!