Review of a Multi-Pocket Crossbody Bag Pattern
 

I bought a pattern and video instruction of a cross body bag by Nancy Green distributed by Annies Catalog. The link to a picture of her finished bag is here: https://www.anniescatalog.com/studio...prod_id=110744. The pattern (written and video) costs $10.00. There is a deep open pocket on the front, the bag has a zipper opening with two smallish pockets insider, and a zipper pocket on the back. It finishes at about 9.5" by 11.5".

I was disappointed in this pattern. There were a lot of pieces to cut out and the designer didn't mark any of the pieces with a number or letter so you can easily follow the instructions. She relied on names, like pocket lining and bag lining but the problem was that the names of some of the pieces cut out in accordance with the written instructions did not correspond to the verbal instructions in the video. It was a little confusing at the beginning of the pattern, but did get easier as you sewed up the bag and used up the pieces.

My daughter sewed up two of these in different fabrics with my help, each bag took about 7 hours to make and I made the one pictured below for myself. We used two fabrics, one for the main fabric outside and one for the lining and accent. I made one other change to the pattern, I made the strap wider (1.5") and also made the strap adjustable by adding a slider and length to it. The strap is my favorite part of the bag.

I did leave some feedback for the designer and I hope she will go back and fix her labeling problem.

If you are a new bag maker do not buy this pattern. It's confusing and you will get frustrated. I have made lots of bags and I had some trouble figuring this one out.

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beautiful fabric anyway. Glad you got them done and didn't' give up. they look great.

they look good

Glad you were able to stick to it!!! Looks great!!!

You plowed through. Super bag. BrendaK

Poor pattern instruction is why I have stayed away from making bags and totes. I guess I was the lucky one to get the bad pattern design years ago and the bag was never finished. To many hours trying to figure out where each pieces went. No notches or numbered pieces. Left a bad taste. I have not tried again. I do have a dozen or more patterns here for bags but have not tried any of them. So sorry this one was such a challenge. I do hope the author/designer gets back to you. The bag is pretty and your colors are great.

I feel your pain. Mistakes or unclear instructions are frustrating. Some designers are quick to get pack to you but I have had some who never respond. No response means I never buy another of their patterns. I also crochet and knit - same problem - frequent errors.

Pink Sand Beach Designs is the name of her company, the patterns are sold all over the place. I have purchased two of them and have had the same experience. They have detailed instructions and lots of photos but still not great instructions. Several of my friends and I bought her patterns and had a sew day, we all agreed, poor instructions. We had to search YouTube for videos.

I don't think there's anything more frustrating than poor instructions. I recently finished a quilt that was like that. Discouraging to say the least. I bought some templates years ago made of a very heavy 1/4" plastic. It was a kit. One of the templates was wrong in the dimensions. I spent ages trying to make it fit before I just finally gave up and created my own with the correct dimensions. That is when I really realized not all pattern instructions or pieces are tested. Sometimes it's just good money gone after a bad product.
You did a great job of making it all work.