September 30, 2009

Snail Mail Craft Swap Project- REVEALED!

Drum-roll Please...!

Ladies and Gentlemen, my Snail Mail Craft Swap Project for Alia was the Weekender Travel Bag by Amy Butler!!!


After many hours at the sewing machine, +/- 5 denim sewing needles, shedding a few tears, and a custom made box for mailing, the Bag is in Alia's possession (whoo hoo!).

Before purchasing the pattern I Googled the bag and found so many good (and true) reviews by bloggers (here, here, and here) of their sewing experience. I'll be the first to admit that some of the reviews scared me as I had never made a bag, sewn in a zipper, nor made cording, however there is a first time for everything- right? :)
Note- all of the fabric used for the bag was purchased from JoAnn's (on sale!). I used Home Decor fabric for the outside, handles, and cording and I used a great Heidi Grace orange cotton fabric for the lining (I forgot to take a photo of the interior, so you'll just have to trust me that the orange fabric is stunning, or you can venture to this post [last photo] and see the fabric for yourself as I'm using the extra fabric for the apron!).


A couple tips from my personal experience:

  • When preparing the cording, DON'T crowd the cording (Amy's specific instructions, although I had no idea what that meant at the time...now I do!). After preparing the cording you will sew it onto the main panel and then when putting the bag together- every time you must sew to the left of the original stitch, thus if you crowd the cording (as I did) it makes everything that much more difficult, as if you don't sew to the left of the stitch you will see the stitch on the finished bag, which is a bit unsightly.
  • I was not able to find a 30" non-separating zipper, granted I only looked at JoAnn's, however I've come to learn that I'm not the only one to not find the 'correct' zipper. I purchased a 30" separating zipper and hand stitched at the end of the zipper to disable the 'separating' component.
  • I also added inside pockets, as the pattern does not provide instructions to do so. I cut extras of the Main Panel Pocket (from the exterior fabric), I sewed 1/4" along the top with wrong sides together, turned, basted the remaining 3 sides, top stitched along the top (just like the directions for the Main Panel Pocket), sewed the inside pocket panel to the lining a desired (I chose to sew one vertical line making two pockets).
  • I added four purse feet to the bottom of the bag, as the bottom is light colored and I didn't want Alia to have to worry about setting the bag down! I found the purse feet to be hard to find locally, however they are very available online. Supposedly a special tool is needed to make the hole, however I just made a little snip with my scissors, inserted the foot, fray-checked the edges and then added the finishing plate- voila!

12 comments:

  1. You did an AMAZING job! I bet it was hard to let it go after all the love (and tears) that went into it.... CUTE! Lori

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  2. That is gorgeous! I love Amy Butler fabric.

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  3. This Bag is BEAUTIFUL!!! Congratulations on completing such a SUPER project. Alia is one lucky-duck for sure!
    Have a fun day.
    Joan

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  4. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this bag! You did such an amazing job period. But now that I know this was your first time sewing a zipper and cording - I am super duper impressed. I love how you lined up the material on both side panels.

    Now how are you going to top this project!?!?! ;)

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  5. You did a very nice job on this bag. It looks like something you could buy!

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  6. Thank you everyone for the sweet comments! :o)

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  7. Oh I LOVE this! Maybe we should do a swap...you make me a bag...I design you a blog! ;)

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  8. read about you on Strictly Simple Style. WOW what a gorgeous bag. I love the assortment of pictures you took too. Once I am a more experienced seamstress I would love to try and make the same bag. Wow.

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  9. This bag is amazing! I know nothing about sewing but would love one of these! Does anyone make these to sell?

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  10. I made a bag similar to this one. I made the Vivian Travel which is by Swoon Patterns. It turned out very much like the Weekend Travel BagI also added a another pocket to my linig and pockets on the lining side panels just like the pockets on the outside of the bab.

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I LOVE your comments, and read them all! Thank you! :)