Quilted Weekender Bag #5

I had the opportunity to do something that I have never done before over the last couple months. 

I taught my very first real life sewing class at a darling local shop in my town! 

It was such a great experience for me. I decided to teach a class on how I make my quilted weekender bag. It was a super intense project for my first time teaching, but all in all I think it went really well. I had 4 wonderful ladies as my students. We had so much fun together! 

My Leopard Print Weekender Bag was the class sample and it was so fun to walk into Sew to Speak and see MY bag in there on display for a few months! 

I love doing tutorials on my blog teaching how to make some of the things I make, so I knew I would enjoy teaching a sewing class in real life. It really pushed me out of my comfort zone though. I don't like having the spotlight on me and tend to be a little on the quiet side until you get to know me, but it was great for me to push myself a little bit and put myself out there.

I figured it would be beneficial to show my students step by step instructions- just like I do on my tutorials. So I decided to make a bag along side my students. Each night I came to class with what we would be doing already complete on my bag so they could see and visualize what their bags needed to look like. It was a good teaching tool for me- plus I had already planned to make a bag for my other little sis, so it gave me the motivation to complete it.  

Here are all of our finished bags together!

So here is how my weekender bag #5 turned out.

I used a kitchen utensil print that I found at Sew To Speak called Scandinavia Style (which I think is manufactured by Westex Fabric) for the Main panels but I have had a hard time finding somewhere that sells it online to link to- so if you are interested in this print, you could call into the shop and I am sure Anita would be happy to send some your way via mail if they still have some in stock. 

I loved all of the colors in the main print and just grabbed various coordinating fabrics from my stash for the patchwork portion of the bag.

It is definitely a loud and funky bag- but that's the fun of it in my eyes! I love putting together something that I know is one of a kind- unlike any bag out there... This one fits the bill! :)

If you are a regular reader of my blog, or follow me on instagram, you will know that I kinda have a mild obsession with this pattern- well maybe "mild" is too mild of a word... This is the 5th version I have made! BUT- making #5 and teaching this bag in a class has helped me kick my habit- at least for a little bit.

I don't wanna make this bag again for a very LONG time! 

Don't get me wrong... I love it with all of my heart... but 5 times making this puppy- plus teaching it has me worn out- mentally and physically! ha ha 

I used the Amy Butler Weekender Bag Pattern to make my bag, but followed a Quilt as You Go method inspired by Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson. 

If you are interested in some of the other modifications that I make to my weekender bag, here are links to other posts that I talk more about that in:

Weekender Bag #1

Weekender Bag #2

Weekender Bag #3

Weekender Bag #4

Happy Sewing!

xoxo, Ashley

Quilted Weekender Bag: Take 4

I finally finished my 4th weekender bag and have been so excited to share it with you all! After making my weekender #2 in two days and weekender #3 in 4 days I decided to keep to a leisurely pace and took my time with this last one. It was nice not having to rush for a deadline for once! 

I really love how funky this turned out! I knew I wanted to have leopard print velveteen handles and leopard print cotton piping. The rest of the bag just came together with lots of prints I had in my stash. Many of them are Anna Maria Horner but there are a handful of other designers thrown in there too!

Of course I have to credit the wildly talented Elizabeth of Oh, Frannson for giving me (and all of the sewing world) the idea of making a quilt as you go version of the weekender bag. I am constantly amazed at all of the versions that have come into fruition inspired by that one bag! She is definitely a trend setter! :)

I made this bag as a gift but it hasn't been gifted yet... Instead, it is on display at my very favorite brick and mortar fabric shop- Sew to Speak. So if you live in my neck of the woods you can see it in person there! :)

Although I don't have any plans to make another weekender anytime soon (never say never), I can't say that I am cured of the "Weekender Bag Addiction". Can someone start a weekender bags anonymous support group soon? I can be the treasurer! 

"Hello! My name is Ashley and it had been 1 month since I made my last weekender bag."

I hope you are all having a fun holiday weekend!

Happy Sewing!

xoxo, Ashley

Nautical Weekender Bag

 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.

 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?

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

Quilted Weekender Bag #2

Well it only took me one year to forget the woes of making my very first weekender bag! 

Last week I braved the infamous pattern for the second time to make a birthday gift for my mom in law... The second time went so much smoother! I think just knowing that I had made it before made it less overwhelming, plus I had another year of sewing experience under my belt- which makes a huge difference when you have only been sewing 2 1/2 years! ;)

I opted to only do quilt as you go patchwork panels for the pocket panels of the bag which took considerably less time than the first time I made it with all the panels being patchwork. I did however quilt both main and zipper panels to give it a uniformly quilted look. For everything else, I made it just like my last weekender bag- you can check out this post for all of the details on the changes I made to the pattern!

I tried really hard to pick out fabrics that reminded me of my mom in law and I feel like the overall effect of the bag really fits her personality perfectly. I love the way it turned out! The fabric that I used for the main panel (Alexander Henry Sew Now!) is just busy enough to make everything tie together in a crazy combination of colors that compliments the patchwork just right. That ruler on the zipper panel is just darling- don't ya think?! I love it!

Most importantly, my mom in law really loved it- which made all of the work that went into it totally worth it! She used it as her carry-on for the flight home after her visit out to see us. (I use mine as a carry-on every time I fly and it is just the right size for all of the stuff I need to entertain my kiddos on the flight!)

So since the 2nd one went so smooth- third times a charm right?! I started another today! Head over to my instagram to check out the darling fabric I am using on this one!! 

Happy Sewing!

xoxo, Ashley

My Quilted Weekender Bag

I finished my Quilted Weekender Bag!!! I love the way it turned out. I took it on it's maiden voyage last weekend to Nashville. 

I always try to be a light packer and only bring the bare necessities- so it was the perfect size to fit my clothes and makeup in... But the blow dryer and flat iron had to squeeze into my kiddos bag.

My inspiration for the bag was this quilted patchwork Weekender Bag by Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson.

 I have heard others call the Weekender Bag the Holy Grail of Bags... I would have to agree. I wouldn't say that it was hard to make- more like tricky... but now that I have made it, any trouble it caused me has long been forgotten due to it's cuteness! ;)

I loved this project because I was able to incorporate all of my favorite fabrics and scraps into one bag. It has all my favorite colors, patterns, etc so it is totally me.

 I used a bunch of leftovers from my scrap pile of fabric so I am not sure of the names of all of the fabrics, but the majority of them are from these fabric lines: Vintage Modern, The Simple Life, Annie's Farm Stand, Ruby, and used this Kokka Matryoska Fabric and fussy cut out the flowers and matryoska dolls as accents in the panels. I also fussy cut the sayings "Life is Beautiful" and "I love my family" from the Odds and Ends Happy Thoughts in Rosebud fabric. 

I used Oh Deer! Twill Cherry Dot fabric for the handles and piping.

For the lining, I used Moda Made with Love Measuring Tape in Aqua Canvas.

I made a few alterations in the pattern when I was making my bag.

1. I did not use all of the Peltex and interfacing that the pattern called for. Instead I used Elizabeth's method for quilting as you go by layering duck cloth and a thin layer of batting and then quilting my scraps onto that. In the end, My panels were very stiff and held their form without the extra layer of Peltex and interfacing. I did however follow the directions for the base of the bag and did use the interfacing and Peltex for that part. My bag stands up all on it's own and in all of these pictures, nothing is in my bag to hold it's form... It's one of the things I love most about the bag- it's sturdy!

2. The Handles: I made them 8 inches longer than the pattern called for (if I ever make this bag again, I will make them even longer). When I sewed the handles onto the bag, I made an X in between the 9 and 13 inch marks. I also sewed the handles to the panel all the way down underneath the X's so that the handles weren't loose in the pocket.

3. The Outer bottom panel: I made my bottom panel out of oil cloth so that I could wipe it off easily in case I sat it on something dirty. Love this! I don't worry so much about my bag getting filthy on the bottom.

4. The Piping: When I made my piping, I did not sew it like the pattern called for. Instead I used 1/4 inch Steam a Seam tape and then when it came time to attach the piping to the bag, I didn't have to worry about covering up any lines of stitching.

Other than that, I followed the patterns directions and I feel like my bag turned out pretty well... 

Can't wait to plan another getaway to use this darling bag! :)