A Men’s “Dopp Kit” & Luggage Tag

I sewed gifts for four people in total for Christmas 2014. Go me! One lucky recipient received a gift that was 100% handmade by me; the other gifts were mixed handmade and bought.

Today I will share with you the gift that I made for my mum’s partner; a “dopp kit” and a luggage tag. This was the 100% handmade gift. I showed you my sister’s sewing kit last week, and I’ll share the other two gifts together very soon!

So here’s the “dopp kit”:

Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this but this gift cost me very little – I used the leftover fabric that I used for my Sew Simple Lottie Skirt – and only needed a few extra bits.

I found this fab tutorial for the “dopp kit” on The Cottage Mama. I say “dopp kit” because that’s what they call it but I have never heard the term before. I would call it a washbag!

My washbag turned out smaller than it would have had I followed the instructions to the tee. The tutorial called for pieces cut 13″ by 14″ – meaning that [obviously] the kit would turn out almost square. Once I cut one of the sides, I realized quite how big this really was. So I cut rectangles instead, with the vertical sides being about half the instructed size. (Of course silly me can’t remember the exact measurements I used now!) I’m glad I did this because I think the size I ended up with is pretty much perfect. The bag would have been very roomy if cut 13″ x 14″. OK, half the reason I cut it smaller was because I had a limited amount of fabric!

I really wanted to use this wool fabric for the kit because it’s fantastic quality and very smart-looking. I wish I had more to make more bags with, now!

I’m so pleased with how it turned out, and as far as I could tell my recipient was happy with it!

My favourite part is the joined sections because I joined them up so neatly!

My least favourite part is the inside. It is lined, so the zip is caught between the layers, but the raw edges are on show. I’m pretty sure that this is what it’s meant to look like, but I’m not too keen. It means that the lining can’t come away from the bag, but it just looks messy. Also I didn’t finish the edges (I was thinking that they’d be hidden!) Luckily, they won’t fray, but it would probably not look so bad if they were overlocked.

Nevertheless, it’s a nice roomy bag and I recommend the tutorial! I will probably make one for myself out of a pretty fabric – maybe I will even brave some oilcloth… one day.

And let’s not forget the luggage tag that I made as a little extra:

Made with a couple of pieces of fabric, a scrap of vinyl and a little square of cardboard. Then finished with a sweet little rivet and a piece of twine. Simple, but effective.

Beth x