Weekender Bag Obsession

I am *almost* finished with my Amy Butler Weekender Bag (I have to finish the lining and sew it in) . 2 1/2 evenings of insane cutting, sewing, cursing, and ironing and I came up with this -



Here is another view -



And the side view -



I picked this pattern up Saturday at Brooklyn General after knitting with mah girls. I had just gone on a fabric buying binge and needed to soak up that fabric somehow, so I thought I'd give the most challenging pattern a try...what was I thinking!

The pattern itself isn't complicated but the pinning, maneuvering and sewing of all those thick layers is. I did take some shortcuts though -

- I used Fast2Fuse instead of the timtex - it's basically the same thickness but the advantage is you can fuse it to your fabric instead of having to sew it in. (for those of you in NYC I picked this up at City Quilter)

- I also used fusible interfacing instead of sew in - the less sewing I have to do the better (eventually it was going to be sewn anyway when attaching the sides.

- instead of going out and buying proper cording I had some lacing which I covered to make the piping - I think even a thick yarn would have worked...I didn't want my piping to be too thick anyway.

- I don't think I'm going to need the false bottom - it's already very sturdy.

- I'll be adding a zippered pocket to the inside. (38th Street between 7th and 8th in Manhattan is the best place to get zippers by the way)

I really liked the way it came out and I think I would make another one but next time I might use maybe two layers of heavy fusible interfacing instead of the fast2fuse (timtex). I enjoy the way it's very sturdy and stands up on it's own, but I think it would be just as strong without it and a lot easier to sew. Although if I did that, I would definitely do the false bottom (whenever I type false bottom I think about those pants with a fake butt sewn into them...like I need that! LOL)

Hopefully the bag will be totally completed by Saturday...I'll keep you updated