Sewing A Bigger Field Bag, Artist Version

The one field bag that I made last January is great for sock projects.  It has been in heavy use for the year.  In fact, there is a sock project in it right now that will go with me shortly for an appointment that guarantees a little wait time.  However, that project is a small repair that won't take long.  The only other knitting project on the go right now is a sweater.  That project is far along, with the sleeves and body attached together.  It simply won't fit into my field bag.  In order to bring it with me, there must be a larger bag.   I looked at the Town Bag, available like the Field Bag, as a pattern from Grainline, but it has a lot more pockets than I need in a knitting bag.  Realizing that led me to look at the fabric that came with my "artist" version of the field bag kit.  

The kit was a present from Christmas 2022.  This project used the Field Bag pattern again, along with the fabric that came with the kit, a canvas painted especially for the bag.  Additionally, it used a yard of duck cloth for the pockets and lining, a yard of webbing for the handles and a small part of a package of cord for the drawstrings.  The painted canvas was a couple of inches wider and longer than the pattern piece, leading me to believe that it could be made into a somewhat larger version of the field bag.  I was correct, but my math was off.  Using the same size pocket meant that the box edges didn't line up properly.

The pocket seam lines are not visible from the outside because they are sewn to a lining (the Field Bag pattern does not call for a lining).  The lining forms the back of the casing for the drawstrings, making it unnecessary to fold the bag fabric over to from the casing.  That makes the bag a little larger, too.  With all these changes, the pocket portion that delineates the fold lines for the bag should have been made larger.  It wasn't off by much, just enough to make the folding a little cumbersome.  However, the sizing is good.  This larger bag easily holds the sweater.  

The handles work very well. They are easy to grab and just long enough. The drawstring does not draw up much, simply because the painted fabric is so stiff.  The fabric was painted with something other than fabric paint.  The end effect is nice, but the fabric is scratchy and somewhat strange to touch.  Perhaps it will soften with use.  Between the stiffness of the outer fabric and the reinforcement of the duck cloth lining, the bag doesn't fall over, even when empty.