Custom-ordered Make-up Bags

Even though this project wasn't for me, I still enjoyed it.  :)  A woman from church brought me a store-bought make-up bag and asked me to make one like it, but deeper.  She also wanted a flat, pencil case-type bag in the same fabric.

The bodies of both bags are interfaced and there is layer of batting in the boxy one.  I used a thicker cord than I usually do for the piping.  I think this helps the bag keep it's shape but the combination of the batting and heavier cord made it hard to get the piping to look good.  I had to stitch around the bag more than a couple times before I was satisfied. 

The bag on the left is the one I was copying.  I put the zipper in the center along the top rather than on the edge.  The pieces bordering the zipper do not have a layer of batting.  The zipper color isn't a great match for the bags.  I probably should have gone with pink, yellow, or off-white to compliment the dots in the fabric.

My daughter noted that the one I made would look much nicer with a zipper like the other one.  A giant pink bauble makes everything look nicer.

Now I think my sewing machine needs a bit of a tune up.  I should have brought it in awhile ago, but I've been babying it along for "just one more project" too many.  A good cleaning and tension adjustment would probably do it a lot of good.  There are some other non-sewing things I should be doing (has anyone told you that Christmas is coming?), so a forced break wouldn't be so bad.