A cute way to store my iron

I hate ironing, totally hate it.
In fact, I don't even iron hubby's business shirts, nope they get a good flick when they come out of the washing machine and then are hang straight to dry so no ironing is needed but with all this crazy sewing I've been doing lately, my iron is out a lot! ..yeah, ironic
The iron was forever sitting on the kitchen bench waiting to cool down so I could put it away and hubby was getting annoyed that I would then forget to put it away and he would move it to some weird spot that took me forever to find. I needed to find a way to put my iron away whilst it was still hot.. and I found the solution.

Pattern Review: The Bionic Gear Bag

An honest, unbiased pattern review of the BGB pattern, all opinions are my own.

What bag is it?
It's the Bionic Gear bag and you can get it here BUT the pattern is super expensive, it is over $20 for just one pattern!  ...No, you didn't read that wrong, twenty bucks is really expensive for a pattern.  
I'm a knitter and a pattern for just $7 is costly but over $20? That kind of money would buy me & my two kids lunch or it would buy 5 fat quarters of fabric or it would buy a new cookbook.
Honestly, I can't believe I coughed up the money for it but I really wanted to make my brother something for his birthday and this was the only thing I could decide upon.

So, I paid megabucks for a pattern, was it worth it? 
No.
Nope.

Absolutely Not.

So what is it (apart from the ridiculous price) that I don't like?

Well,
~ the pdf document is a massive 82 pages long
~ I couldn't figure out what pages to print because there is no note at the start or a Contents page. In fact, I ended up going to an online sewing group especially for the bag & asked as I couldn't figure it out on my own
~ Oh my gosh... the waffle, the dribble, the unnecessary words, sentences, stuff about her mother, her grand-daughter etc
~ I thought I bought a pattern not a book
~ I thought I bought a pattern not a tutorial
~ There is not actual 'pattern' or easy to read sewing instructions
~ It's written like a tutorial and I quote "I’m writing this as if we were having fun and doing this project together.  :)".
No!!! I wanted to buy a pattern not a ruddy tutorial.
~ It hasn't been update since forever
~ It talks about why she 'invented' it ... umm, I don't really care I just wanted the pattern not why etc, if I wanted to know why, I'd read your blog/website
~ It refers to a website that is out of date & gives you a password to access special features on the site but there is no where on the website to add the password
~ It over explains the most basic things, over & over & over again
~ By page 7, I was so confused that I just wanted to poke my eyeballs out
~ There are no quick-easy-to-reference sections just lots an excessive amount of worthless words & photos that really don't explain anything at a glance
~ It keeps referring you back to their website & the useless password
~ She talks about a "Futz Factor"  ...wtf?
~ When you really need some diagrams to help explain things like "Mark a dot 2” in to the left from the future right side" ...there is nothing to aid you and it fact tells you to go "the site" but doesn't bother to give you a direct link
~ gah... the overuse (& un-necessary use) of the words "Lather, Rinse & Repeat" 
....once again..wtf?
~ and if you are lucky (or unlucky) enough to get the Bionic Dumpling Dish included with your pattern, it includes things in the materials list BUT doesn't bother to tell you where or how to actually put them into the dish. Totally useless.
~ Silly me thought that paying $20 for a pattern that it would be a PROFESSIONAL pattern not an amateur pattern.

It's possibly the worst written pattern in history ...but the finished result is really cool!  
Yes, totally weird!   

I wish the designer would 'cut out all of the crap & waffle' and just have a plain pattern with instructions instead of a "hey, I made a bag & put together some instructions that'll be lost in my long-winded tutorial because I'm going to assume that you can't sew for shit" type of thing that costs the earth to buy. 

The designer assumes that you need help,
instead of giving you confidence in making it all by yourself.

Am I being harsh? No.
I joined some of her Facebook groups to get the confidence to sew this bag and then promptly removed myself from them because geesh, things got spiteful when people asked polite questions about their orders, what I saw made me so sick to the stomach with the horrid way they treated people that I run from that group so fast. 
I do not condone bullying in any format for any reason.

Ok, so all this sounds a bit tough but I was just so shocked by the pattern that I wanted to share and if this helps you to decide to make this or not or to choose another pattern then go for it.
Live a little, perhaps try the pattern and see if you agree with me or not, tell me, try another designer just keep making!  
If still in doubt, try one of these patterns and then you will understand what I'm talking about when I talk about a good pattern (especially this one).

Or even better, try the 'original version' of this bag, grab the pattern here....

So tell me, have you made this bag and what did you think of the pattern? 
Perhaps you would like to review the pattern in the comments too.

The bgb / bionic gear bag pattern, is it really worth the money? No.

If you need more Crafty Inspo, then check out my shoppable lists here....

I utilise affiliate (aff) links throughout my blog as a way to help me keep crafting. If you click on an aff link, I receive a very small amount from it at NO cost to you. So please help me to keep CraftyRie up and running by clicking on my aff links! Many thanks, Rie

Makers Tote

I've done it... I've finally impressed myself with my sewing skills!  (It's only taken 30 years!)

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This most awesome bag is the Makers Tote and I made it!  Yip Yip!

At first I thought the colours were too much but I stuck in there and finished it but when I stepped back from it ... wow!  I LOVE it!

What do you think - too much colour or just right??

So what pattern did I use?
Pattern is the Makers Tote - keep an eye out for it here.
Magpie fabric is from my stash.

The pattern was easier to make than I thought it would be!  Honestly, I thought I may have been out of my depth when I decided to make it but the hardest thing was just cutting the fabric and that was only hard because my workspace is the kitchen table and well, I have two young kids with bottomless pits for stomachs - if you get my drift!  I used all my skills from when I made this bag -- it was a great way to start my bag journey! 
I'll be making myself another bag and then another -- I LOVE it!

#MakersTote

Tote supplies.

I thought I'd bombard you with yet more piccies of the tote bag I made AND provide the details of where I got some of the supplies from because I just know you want to make the bag too!

Tinker Tote

Here I am, sitting here staring at this bag. It is awesome and I made it!  Yes, a super proud Ta daa blog post from me!

                          this post contains affiliate links

The pattern was supplied via this Craftsy class. The class was awesome! I sat down with a cup of tea, watched the it and totally enjoyed it, the instructor is very inspiring.

I then sewed & sewed & sewed!

I LOVE it!  In fact, I'm thinking of making another with longer handles to go over the pram.
I found the skills that I learned in this class will be skills that I can use in all of my other sewing projects. I can now confidently choose colours, cut, sew, quilt as you go, add zippers, attach clasps and ...bind!  Yep, all the most essential skills that you can have if you want to sew!  I totally recommend it, even if it just for the confidence that you gain from the making it.
Have you made this bag?  Will you make this bag? Maybe we should have a bag-along!