Bonsai! Rae's New Fall Bag.

Here's my newest bag. I'm calling it the "Bonsai Bag"*Update: Bonsai enjoyed some time in the Made By Rae shop, but is now resting on its laurels and is no longer available as a sewing pattern.I'm really digging orange right now, and these colors really get me in the mood for fall. The ties even look like little leaves. Since it's pretty much felt like autumn all summer long here in the Midwest, I'm not experiencing the usual shock to the system, round of denial and all the wishing that summer would last just a little longer. No way man. Fall, bring it on! Stop messin with me already.

I'm really interested in your feedback on this bag. I can't tell if it works or if it's too much. I tend to go over the top with stuff, and I'm aware that the orange poms might qualify as Too Much. But I saw a bag in an Anthro catalog with pom-poms around the top a while back (not there any more) and ever since then I've wanted to make a bag with them. Does it help to know that I also wanted to put orange poms around the neckline of the unicorn top, but restrained myself? I'm not sure.This fabric (Good Folks fabric by the lovely Anna Maria Horner) lent itself perfectly to a little hand embroidery (you can just see the orange stitches in the pic above). I already have plans for another one; I'm imagining so many options for the center panel -- maybe some more embroidery on a solid background (birds? trees? an owl?), quilting, applique, or another showcase fabric? It makes my brain hurt thinking about what you could do with this if you had one of those fancy embroidering sewing machines (I don't). And instead of the pom-poms, maybe some ric-rac or a ruffle...

I can see this with metal hardware too...maybe those silver rectangle thingies?

I really like the size of this one; it's pretty large so it holds lots of stuff. I made it with a magnetic snap but I think it would work better with a recessed zipper. I took pictures while I made it, so I'll put this out there like I usually do: if there's enough interest in this I can make a pattern available. Meanwhile I'm on to bigger projects. I really really need to finish Elliot's quilt before it starts to cool off outside.*the name was my seester Elli's idea. It makes no sense but I like it. And I love that it reminds me of that ridiculous show Banzai! which was completely insane but the Mr Shake Hands Man segment still makes me laugh when I think about it....