There is some sort of weird phenomenon that I have encountered while making the Amy Butler Weekender Bag. It has happened to me each of the three times I have made it now. I go from thinking one moment- "Why in the world did I start making this bag... I feel like chucking it across the room!!" to the next moment when I am all finished, thinking- "Oh, I love it so much that I want to make another!". Don't get me wrong... I am totally in love with this pattern! It is very well written and produces the the most awesome bag ever (in my opinion), but there are just a couple steps to making this bag that are tricky and at times frustrating that cause the near "tossing it across the room" feeling.
After making my second weekender as a gift for my mom in law's birthday (and getting that crazy impulse I mentioned to make another), I knew that I wanted to make one for my mom's birthday... annnd... their birthdays happen to be only 10 days apart. So after the madness of putting one together in 2 days, I took a more leisurely pace and made the third bag in 4 days. (can you hear/read my sarcasm?! What in the world was I thinking making these bags with such a short time frame?! Stressful!) Luckily my husband was super dad for about a week and made dinners, cleaned up the house, and put kids to bed- all while doing his normal husbandly duties so that I could sew for all hours of the night to make the bags. Being the awesome guy he is, he did everything with a smile and was totally happy to help out so that we could give our moms something that they really loved this year. What a guy... always reminding me of just how lucky I am to be married to him!
Alright... back to the bag.... :)
Without further adieu... Meet my mom's weekender bag. I am kind of smitten with it. My true love for my mom was tested when I put this baby in the mail and said "Bon Voyage" without a second glance. Ok... let's be honest... there may have been a second glance. It's my favorite weekender I have made thus far, but the true daughterly love won out and off it sailed to Utah and it's happy new owner.
It couldn't have gone to a better home. Like I, my mom has a huge love for navy + white and all things nautical. She absolutely loved it! Score! It's always nice after spending a large chunk of time on a handmade gift to see that it is appreciated.
I really love how all the fabrics came together! I used Premier Prints Anchor Slub in Navy for the main panels of the bag and Premier Prints Stripe Slub in Navy for the top and base panels.
For the patchwork portion of the bag I used a combo of a few prints- some of my favorites are: Anchors away in Navy, Anchors Indigo Chambray, Ships Indigo Chanbray, Bridgetown in Navy, and some navy and white stripes and polkadot fabric I had in my stash.
For the patchwork portion of the bag I used a combo of a few prints- some of my favorites are: Anchors away in Navy, Anchors Indigo Chambray, Ships Indigo Chanbray, Bridgetown in Navy, and some navy and white stripes and polkadot fabric I had in my stash.
I started out with the plan of using strictly navy and white for the bag... but after a quick poll on instagram, I decided to use some Free Spirit Tango solid for a pop of color with the piping and Red and Yellow Moda Crossweave for the handles (it's slightly heavier weight and worked well- plus the color was almost and exact match to the tango solid).
One of the biggest changes I made with this bag that was different from Bag #1 and Bag #2 is that I went with a plastic zipper as opposed to the metal upholstery zippers I used on the first two. Oh my goodness... I love the plastic zipper so much! (I had a bit of scare on bag #2 and put the zipper in only to find out that it was not working the greatest! Biggest bummer ever! Waxed the zipper which helped but still not the ease I was hoping for).
I ordered this plastic zipper and plan on using plastic on any future weekenders (again... they have some sort of spell over me!). The only downfall to the plastic is that it IS separating so I had to make a slight adjustment and stitch it closed which was a bit different than my other bags- but no biggie and totally worth the trouble because it slides open and shut like a dream!
While I was hand stitching the lining into this third weekender, I told my husband that I was "not making another weekender for a very very long time- if ever!"
2 weekenders in a week and a half was a bit much for myself and the family- but you do what you gotta do in a time crunch, right?
2 weekenders in a week and a half was a bit much for myself and the family- but you do what you gotta do in a time crunch, right?
But do ya wanna hear the crazy thing?! I just started a 4th weekender.
I know- I know... someone needs to admit me to a Weekender Bags anonymous support group!
Don't worry though... No more 2 day (or even 4 day) weekender bag projects for me! I am taking my sweet time on this one and things are back to normal with my household- thank goodness!
Anyone else have the Weekender Bug? We can all thank Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson! for introducing us to her amazing weekender and starting the QAYG Weekender craze! Check out these beauties in the Flickr group. ;)
Happy Sewing!
xoxo, Ashley