Mini | Mr X Stitch

My life revolves around five major things - family, friends, craft, music and Minis! We love our Minis, old and new - as you may remember from my first column where I upcycled myself a foot stool with some fabulous Mini fabric my mum gave me. I’m never short of Mini fabric - my family and friends are great, they always keep an eye out for it and buy me lots as gifts. Lots of lovely Mini fabric, I'm a lucky gal! I recently took part in the London to Brighton Mini Run with my husband Neil. It was my first time doing the run and I absolutely loved it. It was the best day out, so much fun! But when we drove off I realised that a combination of the seat belts being so good and me being so small meant I couldn't reach the dashboard to pick up my phone or a camera. So with that in mind I thought I’d make a Mini themed bag that can go in the door bin of the Mini to house my goodies during a trip - something with a handle, so it could easily be lifted to go into the boot or carried as a handbag. To begin with I had to pick which Mini fabric to use, not easy with such a lovely Mini fabric stash! After much deliberation I decided to use some cool fabric I’d found a remnant of online, a blocky Lego-ish number. How fun is this fabric! I thought I would use it for the front and back of the bag and that denim would work well on the bottom and sides, it would be sturdier than cotton too. To begin with I measured the door bin on a classic Mini and drew out a plan for the bag. Then to create the exterior I cut a long denim panel which would cover the base and sides and hemmed it. I then sewed the side panel fabric onto it in the relevant place so it looked like a cross. Then I sewed up the sides and the exterior of the bag was made. The exterior of the bag complete I then repeated this process to make an interior of the bag. For this I used some funky Tetris game fabric I found online. I thought the blockiness of the Tetris worked well with the blockiness on the Mini fabric I used. And now I’ve put the Tetris music in your head, haven’t I? Sorry (not sorry), hee hee. Tetris and Minis - perfect! And now for the fun sandwich bit. I turned the lining bag inside out and put the outer bag inside it the right way round so they are right sides together. Then I used a bazillion of my favourite clips instead of pins to hold it all together tight. A crafty bag sandwich I then cut a suitable length of this fabulous Stoff and Stil webbing for handles and sandwiched the two handles between the two bag layers, ensuring they were both set in the same place, in this case three inches in from each side. I had to remember to cut enough webbing to get a suitably long handle and have enough left to sew the handles into place too. I bought this webbing at a show and it's one of my favourite products I then sewed around the top of the bags, leaving a hole to turn it though, turned it the right way round, and hand sewed the hole closed. And my bag was ready to pack. The finished bag full of essential road trip goodies I’m pleased with the result and have already used it in the Mini and it worked really well. I had my goodies in it in the side bin during the trip and easily transferred it all into the boot when we arrived at our destination. It's a good size too, I could fit in a book, sun glasses, a bottle of water, my phone, sun cream, all sorts! A perfect fit for the Mini door bin, hoorah! Do you craft for your cars or make bags? I’d love to hear about it if you do. Please comment below with your crafty car ideas and plans. Best cake: Chocolate Best song: Italian Job theme tune! Costs Denim: £3 worth from my stash Tetris fabric: £2 worth of a remnant Mini fabric: £2 worth of a remnant Webbing: 50p worth of a big spool Total: £7.50 VERY happy with that :-)