Anyone who reads sewing blogs religiously has heard of
SoZo. Designer of the "
Dolores" pattern, awesome sewist and mum to one of the best dressed kids in England! As well as being extremely talented in the sewing department she's also super nice { I personally can either be nice or talented but both at the same time is too much} To the point where I sent her an out of the blue email asking why I was having problems sewing knits on my machine, "WHYS IT NOT WORKING HELP ME!" and she was kind enough to other several solutions!
And she was even nice enough to ask me to do a small review of her latest pattern the "
Anya Bag"
Which naturally I was thrilled to do!
So lets start with how SoZo describes it:
The Anya shoulder bag pattern is a deceptively voluminous, lined shoulder bag with an optional button tab closure which measures up at 38cm (15") wide and 27cm (10½") high without the straps.
Which pretty much sums it up. Now in all honesty I wouldn't say this bag is my style however after making it I think I might be in love.
Lets start with the pattern, it consists of three pattern pieces and one that you draw directly onto the fabric (this is for the strap and the dimensions are given). As the pattern comes in PDF from you have to print the pages off and stick them together yourself. BUT! The entire Anya pattern prints onto 4 pages of paper! 4! which is virtually unheard of for any sewing pattern. And the instructions are on a separate pdf so you don't have to print them if you don't want to, you can read them off your tablet or smart phone. I personally printed the pages but did that thing where you print four pages to one page? I couldn't tell you how but I managed it at the time, it uses less paper and means you always have the instructions with the pattern.
Fabric wise I think you could use most cottons and heavier weight fabrics, because of the interfacing. I personally used a length of curtain fabric and some old sheeting to line. I didn't use interfacing because of the thickness of the curtain material, however if I used a cotton I would definitely use interfacing.
I think this is a great canvas for fun prints and designs, in fact I've already messaged my mum to see if she still has her curtains from the 70s, or if she's binned them.
Due to the detailed instructions and the simple construction techniques I'd say this is the perfect pattern for beginners, or people who have just started sewing, it really does look professional when its finished in fact one of my friends was shocked I'd made it. And its a very quick and satisfying sew if your not a beginner.
The button tab is option and you can tweak the straps to make the bag suit your body. I especially love that the raw edges of the straps and button tab are concealed by the lining. Due to the nature of the pattern you can tweak the design to fit different occasions for example I'm already thinking of enlarging the pattern to make an awesome beach bag!
The pattern also features three small box pleats on either side which make the bag a lot roomier than it looks {here its stuffed with a tea towel} But I can imagine you'd be able to fit all of the essentials you'd need for a walk in the park or a trip to the shops. In fact if I had a daughter I would totally be making matching versions of these for shopping trips.
Here's a close up of the button tab, my top stitching could have been better but I did make this in an afternoon before I had to pick up lil man from nursery. Only needing one button means you can use some of those awesome feature buttons that you only have one of!
My absolute favourite part is the condensed instruction option at the back of the construction pdf. This means that after you've made it a few times you won't need to go through all the instructions you can just remind yourself what's next with the condensed version! I think this is a brilliant idea and I wish more pattern companies would do it!
All in all to say I though this pattern was going to be a bit meh for me, I actually love it! I have about five more versions planned as well as a few for gifts! Oh yeah I plan on busting out quite a few of these this year as gifts , think teachers, friends, family! In fact I might make these for all of lil mans nursery teachers as a leaving gift, and I could pop an apple in!
If you wish to purchase the Anya shoulder bag pattern you can find it here:
http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.co.uk/p/anya-shoulder-bag.html
It's definitely worth the purchase
Much Love
Frankie
xxx
Disclaimer: Although this pattern was sent to me free, all opinions are my own. I would never provide good reviews for items I myself would not use, as a teacher once told me I'm honest almost to a fault!
