Sewing

Sandhill Sling Pattern Testers

Today’s the day for showing off the beautiful work of the Sandhill Sling pattern testers. Yayyy! Also, I wanted to say thanks so much for your overwhelming response to my newest pattern, the Sandhill Sling. I’m so glad you’re excited about it! While my family and I have been busy packing orders and doing all the necessary behind the scenes work, I’ve been enjoying hearing from all of you. It’s always a bit tricky during a pattern release, but I think things are going smoothly so far. I’ll have some time to restock some of the items and will work on showing off a few more of my samples of the pattern, too.

I’m excited to show you some of the pattern tester’s samples! I am so lucky to work with so many amazing women (no men so far, but if you’re ever interested let me know!). They ALL did such an amazing job and I absolutely loved seeing what they made.

Without further ado, here’s some great examples to hopefully help get your creative juices flowing!

Natasha (@housefulofstitches) made this gorgeous sample (View A) for her tween daughter. So cool, right? She said she’s making more for her other children. And that yellow lining, I love it!

Dorothy (@casocreativedesigns) made one for herself (View B, the blue sling) and one for her husband (View A, the green sling) how sweet is that?! I mean, come on! She said she gave it to him for his birthday present. Love!

Donna (@donnabakertx) made this lovely sample using my Driftless fabric for the exterior and those ADORABLE cats for the lining! She also used zipper by the yard, which is a great option for this pattern if you have some in your stash!

Megan (@wholalacrafts) made this gorgeous sample of View A using this amazing print from Sewtopia (looks like it’s sold out, but they carry lots of other great canvas & more!). So good isn’t it?! And she did it all while moving into a new house!

Sudi-Laura (@sudilaura) made this beautiful green canvas sample of View A, she lined it with some Driftless and I just love how it all looks together! She always puts together such great combos.

Mallory (@malloryhillmakes) made this stunning sample using some Amy Butler twill. She did some amazing pattern matching for View A, look at how the print lines up! So good Mallory!

Last but not least is this sample sewn by Amanda (@amanda9822)! She used Driftless as well as some Carolyn Friedlander Jetty for the lining. I absolutely love this color combo!

Thanks SO much to each pattern tester! It’s always SO great to see what fabrics they use. Hopes this gives you plenty of ideas for maybe that special print you have hiding in your stash. Also, this pattern is pretty versatile as far as fabrics go. It’s small enough of a bag that it lends itself more options than a larger bag would. If you have something lighter weight that you want to use, go for it! You could add a heavier weight lining or bulk up the interfacing. Or try quilting a quilting-weight fabric to some fusible fleece, I made a Buckthorn recently using that method and I really like the result. Quilting is fun!

I do want to note that because I’m a one person business it’s sometimes difficult to navigate all the things I want to do (so many fun things are possible!). I DO want to do it all, which just can’t quite happen all at once. I am working on getting more videos out there. Unfortunately videos are very time consuming, but I’m squeaking things in along with managing all the other aspects of my business. So hang tight on that! I’m working on setting up a Patreon page too, so I’ll touch base here again when that is set up. I have SO MANY ideas about that!

13 thoughts on “Sandhill Sling Pattern Testers

  1. Treehouse.girl says:

    Love making bags it is so personal – the choice of fabrics … exterior and lining! Fun to see these.

  2. Kristie says:

    I have the pattern, and need to dig out some fabric. This gives me some good inspiration. Now to squeak out some time. 🙂

  3. Josephine says:

    Thanks so much for sharing pictures of what your pattern testers made. It sure helps to inspire me! I bought the pattern and can’t wait to make it with some Rifle Paper Co canvas that I preordered for it. Also, how does one become a pattern tester for you?

  4. debbiemc2015 says:

    I just love this pattern! Your version and the test versions are so cute. I’m working on my first one now — many more to come 🙂

  5. Stacy says:

    I have been in a sewing funk, but I love this design and the inspiring styles and fabrics the testers used! Love!! Going to buy!

  6. Donna Greene says:

    I love this pattern. One done and starting another one this weekend.

  7. Deborah says:

    I like to use metal zippers in my projects, and I wish I had read more closely that this pattern uses intentionally-longer zippers that then get cut off. I had to do some VERY careful maneuvering around the zipper with my hand wheel, and if I make another one, I’ll just order zippers of the correct length. That would be a 7″ zipper for the exterior pocket (View A) and a 14″ head-to-head zipper for the main compartment.

    1. Anna Graham says:

      Thanks Deborah. I usually do, too, as you can probably see in almost all my other patterns. In this case, when developing and testing this pattern, I felt the longer zipper method’s ease of construction FAR out-performed using zippers cut to size. Either way works of course!

      I would urge you and anyone else to use extreme caution (especially on View A with the zippered front pocket) when attaching the gusset as you will need to know the PRECISE location of the metal end stops to avoid major headaches.

  8. Lisa says:

    Hello Anna—love the Sandhill Sling pattern and am excited to get started. I was wondering if you would recommend using a heavier weight fusible interfacing if using a cotton or cotton/linen blend for the exterior fabric instead of a canvas.

    1. Anna Graham says:

      Hi Lisa, glad you’re excited! If you’re using a cotton or cotton/linen blend you could do a couple of things. One option would be to use two layers of a fusible woven (SF101 or similar) on the exterior pieces. Another option would be to use one layer on the exterior pieces, but also use one layer on all the lining pieces. Hope that helps! 🙂

  9. Theresa Linkous says:

    I really would like to buy this but I’ll have to wait for pay day.

  10. Kaat says:

    Should you need more testers I volunteer! I just finished 2 sandhill slings!

  11. Barbara says:

    So Ive completed six of these for Christmas presents. I have gotten so much better at this pattern having done so many consecutively. It’s a great pattern. I do a lot of by Annie bags and I can honestly say your pattern is right up there on how well its written. However I have a few “suggestions”. On the pages that you show the cutting layouts it would be super handy to include the measurements there as well. I hand wrote them. Rather than flipping back and forth which can lead to mistakes.
    I also included a key leash and a handle above the shoulder connector to hand carry.
    I probably have no business giving this advice but I loved this little bag so much. It’s a perfect size for me and the by Annie bags do not have a bag that’s this much fun or this size. Plus no quilting and it’s made of canvas!!’ I have never sewn canvas before. It’s just such a great bag.

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