diy – Sew Beach Life

The Fairway Set

I don’t golf, but the new Fairway Set pattern from Greenstyle is super fun for summer. The skirt is my favorite part. The faux wrap leaves an opening (with optional more or less coverage) for the built-in shorts underneath to show through the slit.

The skirt (and shirt) have three length options. I chose the longest length shirt and skirt, and contrasted it with the mid length shorts. The slit shows a little bit more leg that way, and I am okay with that! The skirt is super comfortable, with a waistband that encloses 2″ wide elastic.

The Fairway Shirt is reminiscent of a golf sweater vest with its boxy shape and round or V-neck design. The side seams kind of join in a V shape, so the armscye bands are almost like a V-neckband. Super cute, and frankly, the most challenging part of the sew.

You really need to pay attention when doing a V-neck, and follow the instructions for perfectly aligning everything. It is very helpful to baste before serging to ensure that you get the perfect inset of the V. But the results are pretty and unique!

It’s easy to walk and move in the shirt and skirt (which is super helpful for a tall girl with a very long stride!) I also apparently walk fast, which is pointed out by anyone trying to walk with me. 😉

So if I did golf, following through on a swing would be comfortable and your outfit wouldn’t be a hindrance. On cooler days, it would be easy to fit a tee-shirt or blouse under the shirt.

I made this set using the new modal cotton spandex from Greenstyle. This fabric is really unique, and different than anticipated when I ordered it. In my mind I guess I was picturing something like a thicker rayon spandex. At first it felt a bit stiff, but after washing, it really softened up.

I know some people don’t bother to wash their fabric before sewing, but I’m of the opinion that ALL fabric gets washed as soon as I bring it home or receive it in a shipment. Fabrics can have dirt or chemicals on them from the manufacturing, dyeing, and shipping process. I don’t want that on my hands, sewing machines, or cutting mat. I also want to ensure that any shrinkage or color transfer is addressed before I invest time and energy into making a garment.

All this to say that washing made a surprisingly big difference in the feel of this fabric. My best description is to imagine that cotton spandex and a high quality nylon/spandex athletic knit had a baby. It has the smoothness and nice rebound of an athletic knit, with a similar drape and weight of a heavier cotton spandex. It is very nice! And the color is very rich and vibrant.

I like trying new fabrics, and am excited when I find something that I like. My best tip for serging and coverstitching with modal cotton spandex is to ensure that you’re using fresh needles, designed for stretch fabrics and in a larger size due to the denser fabric and high spandex content. For my Babylock Triumph serger and coverstitch, that means using ELx705 SUK needles in size 90/14. On my Bernina sewing machine, I used a jersey needle in size 90/14.

The facing on the skirt gives the hem body and a very clean finish. It’s a great design!

Having a coordinating set is a trend that seems here to stay. And I like the look. I also like being able to get more use out of my clothes by being able to mix and match. In the spring I made myself a new Bobby Brami, and was excited to find that it perfectly matches my new Fairway Skirt!

This look really feels like me in the summertime! I would also wear this to step class. I love the fun look of the shorts peeking out of the skirt, and the fact that it has pockets! 🙂

I can easily carry my phone and anything else I need while walking the beach. They’re hidden but easily accessible, especially on the slit side.

The pattern pieces are clearly labeled to help you when laying out on your fabric to cut out. This is super helpful on an asymmetrical look, and important to pay attention to!

All of my step classes, dance fitness, circuit, and yoga classes, along with skating, have given me rather muscular legs. As the muscles have gotten more defined, I’ve noticed that the legs of my shorts tend to creep up as I workout. Just to see if my suspicion on how to correct this was right, I measured my upper thigh. It is 24″ at crotch level, as well as 2″ down and 4″ down from that.

So if the shorts leg tapers in but my leg doesn’t, of course it’s going to try and creep up to try and find a more narrow place on my leg as I move. I straightened out the taper on both the front and back inner leg seam of the pattern using my french curve ruler. That gave me the needed room, and these shorts don’t ride up when I walk. I’m going to do this on all my fitted shorts patterns!

The dashed lines are the original taper on the inner leg seams, which is perfect for the average person whose legs naturally taper in. You can see that I added *a lot* of room at the hem for my leg muscles, and it makes an amazing difference in how the shorts fit! That is the wonderful part of sewing. You can adjust patterns to fit *your* unique body.

Whether you coordinate, or mix and match, the Fairway set is a fun two for one pattern!

The details: the Fairway Set is the latest pattern from Greenstyle. I used modal cotton spandex in the deep royal color for both the shirt and skirt. The skirt was also modeled with a Bobby Brami.

Thank you for reading and sharing my love of patterns, sewing, fabric, and cute new clothes. The links to GreenStyle may be affiliate links (if I did them properly!) which means that I may earn a few pennies if you use my links without it costing you anything extra. Since this is my blog and represents me, I always give my honest opinion about any patterns, fabric, or supplies that I talk about. I do like knowing whether the time I spend writing posts actually interests people enough that they take a look at the patterns I review, but I write for me. It’s one more creative pursuit that I hope is helpful or interesting to others. I write to share my love of sewing and to encourage others to love it as much as I do! ❤

Greenstyle Monaco Tank

As a Florida girl, I live in tank tops. We have summer weather basically ten or more months a year. So anytime I see a tank pattern, I’m instantly interested! I really like that the Monaco Tank has so many options: a V-neck (which is going to be my next make!); crew neck; or a cool modern square neck. The crew and square necklines can have a placket. The back can be a high neck, scoop neck, or racerback. Options galore!

I chose to make a square neck with placket, because I don’t have any tanks with a placket. I love the look of the finished product. The placket dresses up the tank, and if you’re going for a slightly sexy look, you can unbutton a button or two. 😉

I’m a fan of the body skimming look. The tank is more fitted at the bust, but not too clingy at the waist and hips. Tank tops are so versatile, and look great with shorts, skirts, pants, or thrown on over a swim suit.

You can wear it tucked in, or over a Tidal Skirt. It’s a breezy combination for our 90*F plus weather!

The U-back is my favorite option, although I forgot to lift up my hair so you can actually see the whole back. :-). But you can see my pretty haircut, and how much healthier it looks having been trimmed! Long-haired girlies, we are guilty of going months without a haircut. It would probably have looked even better had I flat-ironed it instead of just taking it out of the clip I put it in while drinking my morning coffee. But I’m too busy sewing, and living the easy, breezy Florida life! 🙂

The Monaco Tank is a pretty quick sew if you’re not adding the placket. Shoulder and side seams, and binding around the neckline and armscye. The placket isn’t hard to do, and the tutorial has great instructions and diagrams. The most time-consuming part for me was searching through my stash for buttons. I didn’t have any packages of buttons. What I had were plastic bags in a small bin with all of the loose, random buttons I’ve been tossing in there for years. I finally found four shell buttons that matched. Natural shell buttons are just so much nicer than plastic buttons.

Because I don’t often make clothing with buttons and buttonholes, I always double-check my machine manual to ensure I’m using the proper buttonhole stitch for my fabric, and proper size for the buttons. I’m blessed to own a Bernina 790 Plus, and it makes the most beautiful buttonholes! They are consistently the same on each subsequent buttonhole sewn, no matter the fabric. I was concerned about sewing buttonholes on rayon spandex. Knit fabrics have so much stretch, and you don’t want distorted buttonholes. It’s important to use knit interfacing. It stabilizes the fabric, while also allowing it to stretch just a little bit. Taking the time to interface gives your machine the opportunity to make perfect buttonholes.

When it came time to sew on my buttons, I used my favorite trick. I marked the button placement by putting a little dot down through the center of each buttonhole after neatly aligning the placket. Then cut a small piece of Wash Away Tape and put it over a dot. You can easily align the button on the dot of tape, and it will stay in place while you sew it on!

Bernina sells a button foot, but I haven’t purchased it yet. So I had to use my old machine to sew on the buttons. Ugh! There’s a reason the Bernina foot has an adjustable middle toe to adjust the height of the thread shank. It would have been super helpful on these thicker shell buttons! My old inexpensive machine just holds the button down and the back and forth stitch is tight against the button. This doesn’t leave any room for the upper placket to easily slide under the buttons when buttoning it up. Obviously I need to break down and buy the fancy Bernina button foot!

I’m definitely happy with the Monaco Tank pattern. It will become a summer staple, especially with so many options to sew!

The details:

The Monaco Tank is a new release from Greenstyle Patterns. I used rayon spandex from my stash. I plan to purchase some of the lovely looking modal cotton from Greenstyle for my next one. It was shown worn with a Tidal Skirt and with Tangled Swim Bottoms, hacked to have a clean finished waist with 3/4″ swim elastic serged on, then turned under and cover-stitched, (like you do for the leg openings.)

Sixth Birthday Dresses

I’ve gotten into the habit of making my granddaughters matching dresses for their birthdays. On occasion only the birthday girl has gotten a dress, like the year the youngest wanted a “pink princess dress”, and I only had a limited amount of the fancy, flower and sequin-encrusted tulle. The elder girl got a simpler outfit. But usually they get matching dresses. Sometimes the dresses have matched the theme of their party, and other times the girls have requested what they wanted.

This year when asked, the soon-to-be-six-year old said, “I like it when Grandma surprises us!” In the past they’ve sometimes drawn a picture of a dress that they want Grandma to make. Maybe six or eight months ago, they drew a picture of a dress with a tiered skirt in multiple colors, with ruffles at the shoulders in rainbow stripes. At the time, I didn’t have fabric that would work for that vision, and they kind of forgot about it.

Well, when I bought fabric for my second quilt, as a novice, I of course had no clue how much yardage to buy. (I like modern quilts, so I use yardage rather than charm packs or jelly rolls). Anyway, I had plenty of fabric left over from my quilt, and it kind of fit into the drawing they had made of the colorful tiered dress they wanted. So I got to work.

I used the Little Lizard King Aarhus Dress for the bodice, hacking it to have the Mackinac Island neckline in the front. Then I made up the tiered skirts, adding one and a half times the width for each successive tier. The size 6 dress had a skirt with tiers of two pieces at 5″x 21″, 6″x 31-1/2″, and 7-1/2″x 47″. The bottom tier has a bit more length since it is hemmed. The size 8 dress had tiers of two pieces at 6″x 21″, 7″x 32″, and 8-1/2″x 47″. The 8 year old is slim, so her bodice was size 7 width and 8 length. Honestly, she could have fit into the size 6 bodice.

The fabric is all by Tula Pink (Free Spirit Fabrics) except the lime green as the shop was out of that color. The lion print is called Good Hair Day, which I think is hilarious! Of course a beautiful lion’s mane would look good. So I just had to use the fabric selvedge to make my own tags for the dresses.

I used sections of the lion paw prints (that show all the colors used in the fabric print) for one side of the tags.

Then I used Good hair Day (the name of the print) on the other side of the tag. I used a Tula Pink print called Stargazer for the shoulder ruffles, elastic casing, and handmade piping.

Although it’s not a rainbow stripe, it does contain a rainbow of colors, so I figured it would be acceptable! 😉 The girls like the elasticated back so that they don’t have to deal with zippers or buttons when getting dressed.

I used 1-1/4″ strips of the Tula Pink Stargazer fabric to make the piping. I pressed the strips in half, and basted it to the bottom edge of the first two tiers. That way it was perfectly in place when I gathered the top of the next tier and stitched it to the tier above. I think it adds a nice pop of color.

The girls had so much fun playing with their friends, eating snacks and ice cream cake, and enjoying face painting (done by the eight year old with her fancy face painting kit). Grandma stayed nearby to rinse and sanitize each brush as it was used. The designs turned out super cute. She practiced the night before by painting flowers on Grandma, Mama, and sister. She even made a little sign listing the designs available. She was willing to be a little flexible when a couple of the boys at the party wanted 67 painted on their arms. 🙂

The morning had been nice and sunny, and the afternoon was sunny for a while. But then the rain moved in. Some people left, but you know kids, they don’t care if it’s raining, and continued on playing and running around.

Someone had a canopy in their vehicle, so the adults huddled under the canopy for a bit, trying to stay dry, while the kids had a blast running and jumping and continuing to play on the playground. Eventually the party came to an end, but my sweet girls still looked adorable in their (sopping wet) matching birthday dresses!

Being a Grandma is the best! And I love it when I can make my girls pretty and fun clothes.

The details: I used the Aarhus and Mackinac Island dress patterns from Little Lizard King as the base of the dresses.

I bought all the Tula Pink fabric from a very nice quilt shop in St. Petersburg, Florida called Whim So Doodle. All of the ladies who work there are so friendly and helpful. And they have the largest selection of Tula Pink fabric that I’ve seen in this area.

Thank you for reading and sharing my love of sewing, fabric, patterns, color, and making cute clothes for others. Since this is my blog and represents me, I always give my honest opinion about any patterns, fabric, or supplies that I talk about. I do like knowing whether the time I spend writing posts actually interests people enough that they take a look at the patterns I review, but I write for me. It’s one more creative pursuit that I hope is helpful or interesting to others. I write to share my love of sewing and to encourage others to love it as much as I do!

Dressed Up Leggings

The Greenstyle Volare Leggings Are A Cut Above!

The new Volare Leggings by Greenstyle Patterns really take leggings up a notch into the realm of dress pants. They feature two main styles, straight leg or bubble leg. Both styles offer optional side stripes, with or without added pockets. I am all about having pockets, so you know that’s the version I picked!

The side panel and pocket can be subtle, by using the same fabric, or bold by using a contrasting color or print. Since I use these leggings as dress pants, I went for a subtle look.

The Volare pattern has three waistband options! There’s a yoga waistband with 4″ and 5″ height options, a foldover waistband, and a faux foldover waistband with drawstring. I contemplated the faux foldover waistband because it’s different and fun, but in the end went for the yoga waistband. I wanted my leggings to be super smooth at the waist so I can wear whatever top I want with them, without the bump of a drawstring tie. Speaking of a smooth waistband, the 5″ height I chose is quite high, and I love it! My daughter always wears high waisted leggings (which look adorable with not quite cropped tops) so that no belly skin shows even if you lift your arms above you head. She would love these!

I love the super dressy work appropriate look. Grab a jacket or cardigan and you’re ready for work or church. The best part of all? They are super comfortable!

You can bend or stretch, sit or stand, and the leggings move comfortably with you.

The back fits as nicely as the front, with a smooth fit over waist and hips, turning into straight legs or a gradual bubble at the hem. The bubble leg looks super fun, but I am such a practical person, that I had to sew a pair that I really needed before sewing a pair just for fun.

Though it’s getting too warm here in Florida to wear pants on the regular, these are going to get so much use in the winter. Did I mention that the pattern includes petite, regular, and tall options? Super helpful for this tall girl!

I frequently use a reverse triple cover stitch on my Babylock Triumph to accent the seam lines of leggings and sports bras. It’s super fun to use variegated thread or a contrasting color for an extra pop of color. I contemplated doing that here, but in the end decided on a simple narrow coverstitch in keeping with the dressy look I was going for.

There’s no need to sit and ponder whether you need another leggings pattern 😉 because these are so unique, you definitely need them! Another thing to love about Greenstyle (besides the excellent drafting) is that their size range is so vast. With waist measurements from 24 through 53 inches, and hip measurements from 33 through 62 inches, along with the options for petite, regular and tall lengths, the pattern has been tested on real bodies of all shapes and sizes. For reference, I made size D2. I probably should have used the size D1 waistband, since that’s where my waist measurement falls, but I figured I could always make the waistband smaller, and I had already traced and cut out the size D2 without thinking.

The details:

I used navy nylon/spandex supplex for my Volare Leggings. They are shown worn with one of my Azure Tank tops, which you can read more about here.

My 2026 Greenstyle Fit Capsule Makes

It’s nice to have a little challenge to spur on your sewing, especially if it’s been a minute since you’ve made a new outfit. Greenstyle has an annual challenge to sew at least three new items using their patterns during a four week period in the spring. I looked at it as a mini capsule if I were going away for a weekend. Items that worked with clothing I already made, and filled a hole in my wardrobe.

My first two makes were Bobbi Brami‘s. I love that they have a built-in bra, and that they are super comfortable. I’ve worn the blue star print Brami to step class with Moxi bike shorts. It also looks great with my white Windward Shorts. This is a great outfit for walking around, shopping, or running errands.

I love the smooth fitting bodice that tucks in so that the waistband of my shorts show.

I always choose the V-front and U-back when I make Bobbi Brami’s. It’s my favorite combo!

The second Bobbi Brami was cut at bra length, and hacked into a dress. Simply cut two rectangles which when sewn together will be at least 10-12″ greater in circumference than your hips. This is super important if you’re using woven fabric for the skirt. A pretty dress is essential for a weekend away. It can be worn to brunch or dinner. It can also double as a nightgown, so one more opportunity for wear!

Cotton voile makes an easy breezy skirt for this dress

I love having a fitted bodice with a flowy skirt.

I used french seams to sew the side seams of the delicate cotton voile together to ensure that no matter how often this gets washed and worn, it won’t fray. French seams are made by sewing your fabric wrong sides together with a narrow seam allowance, then pressing and sewing the fabric with right sides together, with a slightly wider seam allowance. I love that my Bernina 790+ needle position can be moved five places to the right and five places to the left of center. This really helps with incrementally making your seam allowance bigger or smaller.

I love the empire waistline look of this hack. With the cotton voile skirt, it’s giving me Bridgerton vibes. Since my hips are 40″, I cut two pieces of fabric 27″ wide by 25″ high. Even with the extra fabric the french seams take up, the skirt is perfectly flowy. I used a 1″ hem which is substantial enough, and ended the skirt at just above the knee. I am tall though, so you could probably get a more couture 2″ or 3″ hem out of that 25″ height if you’re shorter than me.

I gathered the top of the skirt until it was the same width as the outer layer of Brami, and attached it with a zigzag stitch, finishing it off with a 4-thread overlock. You can use a soft flowy knit or a soft and/or drapey woven for the skirt. It would look lovely with a maxi length skirt, though I would reinforce the waist seam with elastic if the fabric is heavy or maxi length.

The third and fourth pieces are an Endurance Bra and Tangled Swim Bottom swimsuit. As mentioned in this post, I always hack the Endurance to not have a zipper. And for this make, I also shortened the band by 5/8″ at center front, up to 1-1/4″ at center back to give it a more “swimsuit” look.

I used size 31D and hacked narrow double straps. The Tangled Swim bottom pattern has a separate waistband, but I was working with literal scraps of fabric and just added 1-1/8″ to the height of the bottoms so that I could turn the top under with 3/4″ wide swim elastic, just like you do with the 3/8″ swim elastic around the legs.

A previously made Tidal Skirt is perfect for throwing on over the swimsuit and walking to the beach. There are pockets for your phone or keys, and it would certainly be a great addition to my weekend bag.

All in all I love every piece I made. I didn’t photograph the combo, but my blue star print Bobbi Brami has turquoise stars in the print. So if you wanted a tankini look, you could pair the Brami with the Tangled Swim Bottoms for an additional swimsuit look.

The details:

The blue star print Bobbi Brami is a nylon spandex deadstock Speedo fabric called stars and stars.

The purple nylon spandex swim for the Bobbi Brami dress was from the sadly defunct Phee Fabrics. The white floral/leaf print cotton voile was from the also defunct JoAnn Fabrics.

The turquoise and white pencil stripe nylon spandex used for the Endurance Bra and Tangled Swim Bottoms was a larger scrap purchased from a fabric destash.

The elastic used in the Bobby Brami’s, Endurance Bra, and Tangled Swim Bottoms came from Wawak and Sew Sassy.

Thank you for reading and sharing my love of patterns, sewing, fabric, and cute weekend wear. The links to GreenStyle may be affiliate links (if I did them properly!) which means that I may earn a few pennies if you use my links without it costing you anything extra. Since this is my blog and represents me, I always give my honest opinion about any patterns, fabric, or supplies that I talk about. I do like knowing whether the time I spend writing posts actually interests people enough that they take a look at the patterns I review, but I write for me. It’s one more creative pursuit that I hope is helpful or interesting to others. I write to share my love of sewing and to encourage others to love it as much as I do! ❤

Delphi Sports Bra

Who can resist a fun new sports bra? Especially with options for a super cute infinity, twist, or simple back design. I am all over trying new sports bra patterns, and the infinity strap design is just so unique and fun.

I don’t limit myself when it comes to wearing sports bras. They get worn to the gym, as a swim top at the beach and in the pool, and for everyday wear. They also get worn with shorts when I skate around my neighborhood, because that is #floridalife. 🙂

The Delphi Sports Bra pattern calls for athletic fabric. I used nylon/spandex Supplex and nylon/spandex Align 2 for my two bras. You could add powernet if you wanted, but I found that the compression and firmer rebound of Supplex and Align 2 were adequate for me. (For reference, I wear and buy a size 32D bra at Soma.)

I wore one of my freshly made bras all day yesterday and it was super comfortable. The straps stay in place, and the neckline depth is perfect. It’s high enough to be supportive, but low enough to not show under a scoop or V-neck top.

You can use 3/8″ or 1/2″ elastic in the straps. Although the pattern calls for 1-1/2″ or 2″ elastic in the band, because I am rather short-waisted (which seems weird for a tall girl, right?) I chose to use 1″ elastic in my band. Of course that meant adjusting my band height to 2-7/8″, but I love being able to personalize a pattern to fit my body. That’s one of the reasons that I sew my own clothes.

Greenstyle has once again nailed it on a fun, great-fitting, well-designed pattern with the Delphi Sports Bra. It doesn’t take a huge amount of fabric, and can be worn with shorts, skirts, leggings, and under your favorite top. Sizing ranges from 32″ to 61″ at the full bust. If you need it, there are 2″ and 4″ full bust adjustment pattern pieces for the front.

The details:

The Delphi Sports Bra pattern is one of the many awesome patterns by Greenstyle. I had some plum Supplex from Phee Fabrics in my stash for the first Delphi Bra I made. The teal Align 2 for my second bra was purchased from Greenstyle a while back. Although this particular color is no longer available, they have lots of pretty colors in stock. I also recommend the Signature fabric line, which is another high quality nylon/spandex athletic fabric.

For reference, I made a size C1 with the plum supplex. For the second bra, I again used size C1, but cut the front in size B2 width (keeping the C1 length), which feels more comfortable for my shoulder width and at the armscye. I dislike anything being too close in the armscye, and this combination works perfectly for me.

I can’t remember which pattern I used for the swim bottoms, but the Delphi Sports Bra is also shown worn with the Windward Shorts and Tidal Skirt, blogged here and here.

I purchased my 1/2″ and 1″ knit elastic at Wawak, along with the Maxi-Lock serger thread. There are steps in the pattern that I highly recommend using your sewing machine to stitch, such as the side seams, and attaching the back infinity straps. It’s also important to trim those seams to reduce bulk and help them lay more smoothly when turned out to the right side. I drive a Bernina sewing machine and LOVE it! Other seams and the cover-stitching on the straps were done on my Babylock Triumph, which I also love.

I cannot stress strongly enough how much easier and more fun it is to sew when you use high quality patterns, fabrics, and machines. It isn’t that you can’t sew with a cheaper machine, because I sewed for decades on much, much less expensive machines. But once I had saved enough money to purchase my current machines, I really feel like the quality of my work, and ease of sewing (due to less frustration with machine capacity, bobbin struggles, lack of foot height, and motor strength) has greatly improved.

Thank you for reading and sharing my love of patterns, sewing, fabric, and cute sports bras! The links to GreenStyle may be affiliate links (if I did them properly!) which means that I may earn a few pennies if you use my links without it costing you anything extra. Since this is my blog and represents me, I always give my honest opinion about any patterns, fabric, or supplies that I talk about. I do like knowing whether the time I spend writing posts actually interests people enough that they take a look at the patterns I review, but I write for me. It’s one more creative pursuit that I hope is helpful or interesting to others. I write to share my love of sewing and to encourage others to love it as much as I do! ❤

Trying Something New – Sewing A Sydney Bag

I like to challenge myself once in a while by making something totally different than what I usually sew. Greenstyle was testing the new Sydney Bag, so I signed up to test it. I’ve never made a “real” bag before. I’ve made a few lined tote bags, just making up my own patterns. But they were simple rectangles with pockets. Here was a real pattern with zippers, inner and outer pockets, and an adjustable strap.

I felt a bit intimidated, simply because it was so completely different than what I was familiar with. Don’t let the number of pattern pieces scare you. It just seems like a lot because there are outer main fabric, inner lining, and interfacing pieces.

No matter how many layers there were, I knew that my Bernina would have no problem sewing them all. It is truly the most fabulous sewing machine I have ever owned. If you’re ready to move beyond a basic model sewing machine, I recommend going to your local Bernina dealer and checking them out. It’s like driving a luxury car, once you’ve driven one, you can never go back to a “basic” model! 😉

The Sydney Bag tutorial walks you through every step whether you’re a beginner bag-maker like me, or you’ve made dozens of bags. There are two sizes: small and medium, I chose small for both of my bags, but I’m here to tell you that they are not tiny. They’re just the perfect size to hold all the things.

The shape is fun, and gives you so much space for all the things.

I used upholstery fabric for the main outer pieces of both my Sydney Bags, and quilting cotton for the lining. The pattern calls for 1-1/2″ wide webbing for the strap. You can get polypropelene webbing in all manner of colors, but I don’t care for the “plastic like” feel of of polypropelene, so I used cotton webbing. I also ordered nylon webbing in black for future bags. It feels similar to the cotton webbing.

Something to keep in mind about cotton and nylon webbing is that you will need to turn the raw edge under twice and stitch it. Whereas you can simply melt the edges of polypropelene. The pattern calls for a yard and a half of webbing for the strap, and I used it on the coral print bag. Even when worn as a crossbody bag by this tall girl, it is longer than necessary. So when I made the leaf print bag, I made it 9″ shorter.

Cutting the webbing 9″ shorter than the pattern called for still gave me plenty of length to wear the bag as a cross-body.

Along with the zipped exterior pocket, there’s an internal pocket. The pattern calls for stitching the internal pocket down the center, making two pockets. I went rogue and added another line of stitching 1-1/2″ from the center line to make a space for a pen or pencil. I don’t like having to dig around when I need a pen, and just adding a second line of stitching customized the pocket for my needs.

My pen stays perfectly in place, and is easy to access.

The pattern calls for the zipper pulls to be on the left when you are looking at the exterior pocket. And I followed the tutorial on my first bag.

Zipper pulls are on the left when closed.

When I carry a bag, I like the strap adjustment to be in the front for security sake. I also like my zipper pulls to the front for the same reason. Since I carry my bags over my right shoulder, this means I like my zipper pulls on the right hand side.

When making the leaf print bag, I simply reversed the direction the pull end of the zipper was facing when following the tutorial. This means I pull the zippers from the front to the back when opening while carrying. Either way works fine, just pay attention during construction if you plan to switch it around like I did.

You can fit so much stuff in the Sydney bag. I’ll be traveling next month and I’m excited that I’ll have no problem carrying my phone, wallet, tissues, lens wipes for my glasses, lip balm, lip gloss, a ponytail holder, hand sanitizer, hand lotion, a book, gluten and dairy free snacks, and a water bottle, leaving my hands free to lug a suitcase and perhaps hold my cardigan if I get too warm while waiting in line at the airport.

I finished up my first bag while my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughters were visiting. My daughter and granddaughters liked it, and the eldest granddaughter wanted to pose holding it.

She doesn’t need to carry a purse yet, but doesn’t she look adorable?

One of the funnest parts of sewing is choosing fabrics and notions. If you’re already a bag-maker, you probably have several sources for fun hardware. I wanted a quick turn-around and knew that Wawak ships quickly. So I ordered my zippers and hardware from them. I love the fun rose gold rectangle ring and adjustable slider buckle on the coral print bag. I went with simple white zippers so that the fabric and hardware would stand out.

I went for a pop of color and used light green zippers on the second bag. I love the rainbow finished hardware and think it’s so cool how the colors change from purple, blue, and turquoise to pink, green, and rose gold. So I used a rainbow rectangle ring and adjustable slider buckle on the leaf print bag, as well as adding a cute rainbow finish “Handmade” label bar tag to the upper pocket flap.

I took my time centering it on the upper flap to ensure that it wouldn’t be in the way of any stitching. Speaking of stitching, I love how close I can get to the edge when top-stitching just by adjusting the needle position on my machine. It’s those added features that make a high end machine so helpful when sewing.

Don’t get me wrong, you can make this bag on even the most basic machine. I’ve sewn many, many garments and a couple of tote bags on my inexpensive Brother machine. I’m just still excited about having a nice machine even though it’s been a year and a half since I got it. My best tips are to use a fresh needle in the proper size for your fabric (I went with a size 90/14 needle since my fabric was thicker and a bit stiff) and to follow the tutorial, looking at the illustrations carefully if you get confused. They are very helpful.

My final tip is this: DON’T BE AFRAID TO CHALLENGE YOURSELF AND TRY SOMETHING NEW AND DIFFERENT! My second bag went much more quickly than the first because I felt confident in what I was doing. I’ve sewn literally hundreds of garments, so it’s weird that I let myself feel intimidated about sewing a bag pattern. It’s like anything else, the more you do it, the better you get at it. I absolutely will make this pattern again, and won’t be afraid to tackle other bag patterns.

The bottom gusset can be cut as one piece or two. The two-piece option is perfect when your fabric print is directional. All the leaves are upright using the two-piece method.

The details:

The new Sydney Bag pattern from Greenstyle is great! Both my bags were made with upholstery fabric and quilting cotton from my stash. All hardware and notions were purchased from Wawak. (Don’t forget to order washable basting tape, as it’s a big help when installing zippers!)

The blue dress I’m wearing is the Savannah Dress, which you can read more about here.

The links to GreenStyle may be affiliate links (if I did them properly!) which means that I may earn a few pennies if you use my links to purchase, without it costing you anything extra. Since this is my blog and represents me, I always give my honest opinion about any patterns or supplies that I talk about. I hope that the time I spend writing posts and sharing sewing tips interests people enough that they take a look at the patterns I review. I write to share my love of sewing, patterns, fabric, and supplies, and hope that it encourages others to love sewing as much as I do! ❤ Try something new and maybe challenge yourself a little bit today.