by Linda Theil Bag making has come a long way in the last decade since I spent eighteen dollars on a pouch pattern that consisted of a cover photo and a one-page list of directions with sporadic line-drawing illustrations and notorious gaps in procedure. Patterns today are inexpensive, innovative, comprehensive, well-documented, and instantly available as PDF files. Patterns provide intricate step-by-step instructions with colored photos of each step. Most designers include how-to videos with every design, and feature well-tended social-media sites to support their followers. English designer Diane Spencer-Ogg is one of the best. She carefully engineers her bags to make them accessible to sewists using home sewing-machines. A non-comprehensive list of designer brands I like includes: Spencer-Ogg Noodlehead Sally Tomato Arabesque Minky Kim All these designers have YouTube channels that support their work. They frequently also give their endorsement to other video-makers to showcase vid
Paradox: Even though we're going in different directions we can still walk side by side.