Hey there! Happy Thursday to you all! TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! Summer here we come! So excited to slow down and do some fun stuff with my boys!
We have several trips planned for the summer months which prompted me to finally make this Weekender Bag! I've been hoarding the pattern for over a year. Got it at a JoAnn's pattern sale for $1. Sweet deal. This is a great bag. It's big. I mean REALLY BIG.
This is
Simplicity Pattern 2274 designed by Studio Cherie. Like I mentioned above, I got mine at JoAnn's during a sale, but it is also available on
Amazon. I'm going to show you a few pics of my finished bag and tell you a few things that helped me along the way should you decide to make one of your own!
For reference, this is comparable in size to the large Vera Bradley bag.
To construct this bag you need:
*8 ounce polyester quilt batting 1.5 yards
*Muslin (or other desired lining fabric) 44” wide, 1.5 yards
*Feature Fabric 44” wide or 54” wide, 1.5 yards
*Contrasting fabric for handles 44” or 54” wide, one yard
*#5 Nylon Coil Zippers one at least 21” long and one at least 13” long
*Jute Webbing (found in upholstery notions)3.5” wide, 3.5 yards
*Optional Wide Seam Binding 6 yards
Dimensions:
20"(51cm)long
12"(30.5cm)deep
12" (30.5cm)high
Strap Drop 11"(28cm)long enough to wear over your shoulder.
Sew Chatty Notes: I am not of fan of polyester batting. I like the finished look and feel and weight of cotton batting way better so I chose to use cotton. However I didn't get enough! This bag is GIANT! I ended up piecing some scraps together which worked but took a lot of extra time! If you choose to use cotton batting instead of polyester, make sure you get enough! I chose to use a Kona cotton solid for the lining instead of muslin. For the outer fabric, you just can't go wrong with Amy Butler! Her large beautiful prints lend themselves to a beautiful finished bag! I couldn't find the jute webbing so I used 2" wide twill tape instead and it worked out just fine. I just had to narrow the handle strips. NBD. I love how they turned out. I did not bind my seams either. The pattern didn't recommend that, but she does mention it on her shop listing. Anyhow, I did finish all the seams with a zig zag stitch and I'm confident that they'll hold up nicely.
Here is a close up of the outer pocket on the front of the bag. Great for maps, tickets, itineraries, etc...
This is the outer, pleated, zipper pocket. Super handy for chargers and other small items you don't want floating around inside.
A close up of the quilting! I quilted it much heavier than the pattern said to, but I like the quilted look. I made sure to cute my lining and batting pieces an inch wider/longer to account for any shifting during quilting. I quilted straight vertical and horizontal lines and doubled my horizontal lines with an additional stitch line 1/4 below the first. I also did a lot more top-stitching than the pattern said to. I like top-stitching. Pretty and sturdy!
Some additional things you might find helpful: I would consider this an intermediate sewing project. The construction is pretty straight forward of you've made bags, quilted and worked with zippers before. If you want to save yourself A LOT of time...buy pre-quilted fabric from the fabric store and use a pretty print as the pockets, handle, and tab accent. This bag cost about $40-$50 to make and about 15 hours of time total. I am making bags for my husband and son and have already purchased pre-quilted fabric for theirs as well as really fun prints for the accents. I would probably us a layer of interfacing on the tabs next time because they feel a little flimsy to me. This bag came together really easily with no seam ripping at all!!! Woo hoo! The trickiest part is attaching the side pieces to the body. Make sure you really pay attention to the pattern markings. I found it easiest to stitch the top, then each side, then the bottom.
Hopefully my tips will help you if you decide to make yourself a pretty new bag! If you have any other questions I'll be happy to answer in comments.
See, I told you it was big! ;)
I can't wait to take her on many many summer trips! If you make one, I really want to see it so post the link in the comment section ok??? I wish you all happy and safe summer travels!
