Target Knock-Off (Part 1)

I have a philosophy about bags: if I can make it instead of buy it, I will.

Sadly my last bag broke- or, more specifically, the zipper did. In general though it was looking it a bit worse for the wear so it needed to be retired. After a (much much too long) hiatus using a freebie bag from work, a something Target caught my eye:

This is out of stock, oh well.

The outside was gorgeous, military inspired design; I just wasn't a fan of the lining. Not so much the color (I am a noted fan of bright orange- as you will see), but the feel of the material- a cheap, "what hunters wear so they don't get shot," kind of fabric. So one day I went into my local Target with my measuring tape and got all the pertinent dimensions.*

While my final plans for the bag involve some corduroy and gorgeous green leafy lining, I figured my muslin was the perfect place to start using up the giant stash of old jeans I've deemed too ratty to donate to Salvo. In addition I used stash fabric for lining, and some buttons that will look familiar if you checked out that last bag.

The result:

Inside with the first use of the C.R. Loves logo:

I used the last of the orange fabric to line the flaps, but there wasn't quite enough for the interior.

There are a few changes for my second mockup though:

• Front pockets need to be bigger- they are mostly useless, just big enough to hold my work ID, metrocards, and maybe a few napkins
• Needs interfacing or an interior support fabric...maybe? I tend to have those in bags, and I'm tempted to see what this would be like with more support
• Should probably add that handle to the top flap
• Bias tape! Didn't feel like messing with it on this one since I was more concerned about general construction, but feel like it's a good finishing detail I have yet to try on a bag

Hopefully I'll have time to work on this over the rest of the weekend. We'll see how that goes though haha...

*I'm not sure everyone could pull this off, but D works at Target and was standing next to me the entire time I did this so no one bothered me. Apparently though D ends up having to measure things all the time though for people shopping at the store, so I'm sure you could come up with an excuse. Or just buy and return?