Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge 2011-January's Bag

So I stumbled across a new sew-a-long group via a post on the Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber.


It is being hosted by Jemellia of JemJam. Inspired by Amy Butler's new book, Style Stitches, Jemellia decided that she is going to challenge herself to make one bag a month from the book. Since I just received the book as a Christmas gift, joining the challenge seems like a fun way to push myself to start making stuff from it. I find that having people to stitch with (like a quilt along or a BOM group) really helps motivate and inspire me (and keep me on task!). I don't know that I'll manage to make a bag every month-- but I'm hoping to at least try a few of the designs out.

First up in the challenge queue is the Cosmo Bag. It is big and spacious and looks like it will be perfect for an all-day diaper bag (as opposed to my current bag, in which I only carry a single change). I found some fabrics in my stash that I think will make for a fun bag:


I didn't actually have the yardage requirements for the exterior or the "solid" coordinate, but having made some Amy Butler bags previously, I felt pretty confident that I could go with less fabric than called for in the pattern. In this case, the design calls for 1 3/8 yard of the exterior, and 1 1/4 yard for the coordinating solid-- I managed to get what I needed out of just 1 yard pieces. Yay!

Tonight I cut all the pieces. Now I'm ready to start sewing!