Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 10:30AM Weekender Bag, v. 3.0
How many times am I going to make this bag? As many as it takes to get it out of my system, I guess. While I was making my mom's bag, I thought that her friend Pat would probably want one, too. Less than a month later, I get a call from my mother asking me if I would make Pat one for her birthday. I love Pat. She's crazy and carries an eye patch in her purse and performed our wedding ceremony.
I started more than a month in advance, but of course I let it languish until two days before I had to deliver it. When I picked it back up, I was tired and not feeling well, and the instructions didn't make any sense at all even though I'd already made the bag twice before. There was a lot of ripping of stitches that night.
It all worked out in the end. Phew.
The main fabric is a Kaffe Fasset home dec print, and the binding and lining is actually from a home dec fabric store. I never even considered getting bag fabric there, but man, it can be a lot cheaper than getting fabric from the quilt store. A lot more options, too.
I made the straps four inches longer for over-the-shoulder ease, and instead of using thin interfacing for building the bottom panel, I used some scrap quilt batting. Genius! Much easier to wrangle and it provides a little more stability. But really, I didn't feel like looking for interfacing that night, so batting it was.
Is this my favorite one yet? I'm not sure. I do love the fabric, and the more times I make it, the easier it gets. I love my original, and I fixed the straps before our trip last week so I could sling it around the airport. (I also noticed that I had only basted in the lining, which was quickly becoming a hot mess. I sewed that bad boy in by hand on Thursday night, and I used such stiff canvas for both the lining and bag that my thumb was numb for three days afterward.) But there are places where I didn't catch the seam allowance, and it's maybe starting to show a little wear. And I sure do have a lot of scraps left over...
bags, gifts, sewing, weekend bag in sewing 
Reader Comments (1)
That looks great! Nice work!!