Amy Butler Weekender Bag- Part 2, Making the Cording

If you don't already know how, one of the skills you will learn from making this bag is how to add cording.  Sometimes cording is called welting.  It seems intimidating at first, but it's really not that difficult and it adds so much to the overall look.  If you've never made or used cording before, read on and I'll give you a quick little cheater tutorial :)

This pattern calls for you to cut 1 1/2" strips of fabric on the bias.  (Oooh, quick tip- if you are applying the cording to corners, you'll need to cut your fabric on the bias.  If you're applying the cording to a straight edge without turning any corners, you can cut your fabric on the grain.).  Normally you would encase the cotton cording in the strip of fabric and sew a seam.  As you apply the cording to the bag, you are supposed to continue sewing your seams closer and closer to the cording so at the end you have a nice tight cord without any seams showing.  This can be tricky.  So I cheat.  Enter Stage Left:  Stitch Witchery 

This is a technique that has been around forever, but for some reason I don't think very many people know about it.  This stuff is a lifesaver- once you try it, you'll never go back to sewing cording the old fashioned way again.  Stitch Witchery is basically a roll of glue which allows you to fuse two pieces of fabric together.  Have you ever bought curtains from Ikea?  This is basically what they give you in each package to hem your curtains- no sewing needed.   

1.  Lay your strip of fabric wrong side up.  Cut a piece of Stitch Witchery the same length as your strip of fabric and lay it just a tad above the edge of the fabric.  Then take your cotton cording and place it above the Stitch Witchery.  Not on top of it, but above it.

2.  Fold down the top of the fabric and match up the edges.  Pinch it tight with your iron so there isn't any wiggle room for the cording to move around.  It should form a tight seam right up against the cording.

3.  Continue until you reach the end and voila!  Your cording is ready to use without any thread seams to worry about.

See, it's not as intimidating as you thought!  Continue to apply the cording per the pattern instructions and you'll soon have a nice pocket detail like this: 

Amy Butler Weekender Bag- Part 1

Thank you everyone for your opinions on the Weekender Bag.  After a lot of contemplating and flip-flopping, ultimately I decided to go with the celery green.  I've made some progress this weekend and might actually get to start sewing it soon.  There is a lot of prep work for this bag.

It seems there is this overall feeling in the sewing community that this bag is really difficult to make, not to mention expensive.  For Part 1, I figured I would share my costs with everyone.  As far as the difficulty, I'll get into that later. 

For this bag, I decided to reduce the pattern 15%.  I didn't want to put all this energy and effort into a bag that I only got to use when I "went somewhere".  I have a 15 month old and one on the way, remember?  Chances are I won't be going anywhere anytime soon.  So if I was going to enjoy this bag after I finished it, it needed to be smaller and more of a large purse size.  That being said, here is the breakdown of my costs.  The black is what the pattern calls for at 100% original sizing.  The red is what I used based on reducing 15%. 

Pattern from here:  $12.00 + $2.00 shipping= $14.00
 
1  7/8 yards of 54” wide heavyweight Home Dec fabric for the Exterior
I used approximately 3/4 yard, which accounted for pattern matching the front pockets to the main panels.  Fabric cost $21.24/yd., used 3/4= $15.93 

2 5/8 yards of 54” wide coordinating heavyweight Home Dec fabric for the Lining, Handles and bias cut cord cover.
Fabric was 30% off and there was 1 3/4 yards left on the bolt.  I wanted 1 1/2, so I got the first yard at 30% off, and the last 3/4 yards for 50% off.  Fabric cost $9.17 

2 3/4 yards of 20” wide fusible woven interfacing (we use Shape Flex® SF-101 by Pellon®)  Had 1 yard in stash, bought 2 more yards at $3.49/yd less 40%= $6.98

2 1/2 yards of 20” wide Peltex® #70 by Pellon® or a similar extra heavy stabilizer.  Bought 2 yards at $5.99/yd less 40%= $11.98

1 sheet of 12” wide x 18” long Heavy Duty Template Plastic from Prim-Dritz™ (found with the quilting supplies $4.49 less 50%= $2.24

5 yards of 6/32” cotton cording (found in the home decorating departments of most stores)
Bought 5 yards at $0.29/yd= $1.45

30” coordinating plastic or metal teeth heavyweight zipper (non- separating)
With the reduced bag size, I needed a zipper that was approximately 26".  I found a 30" zipper in the upholstery section of Joann's and will cut it down to size.  $2.49 less 40%= $1.49  

1 spool of coordinating all-purpose thread (we use Coats Dual Duty XP®)

As you can see, the costs add up.  I bought most of my supplies from Joann's and I always tried to use a 40% off coupon.  I spent a little more on the main fabric and ordered it from here.  I've been buying my supplies since December (geesh, has it been that long?) so it hasn't felt like I've spent that much since my purchases have been spread out over the last 5 months.  Watch Joann's sales and wait until the items you need are 50% off.  Especially the interfacing, since that's a bulk of the cost.

I'll be back with Part 2 soon.  If you've always wanted to make this bag, I say go for it!  Start gathering your supplies and dive right in :)   

And the winner is....

AnnieJackDesigns check your email!

Thank you to all who participated, it was so much fun reading about where you all are dreaming of vacationing!  Now we just need to make those dreams reality :)

Help me choose!

Looking for the Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway?  You can find it here!  But...

since you're right here, will you take a moment and help me with choosing a fabric?  I've been ready to make the Amy Butler Weekender Bag since the New Year.

I've had all the interfacing cut out and ready to be applied to the fabric, but, I couldn't decide on one.  Well, I've finally committed to this Thomas Paul fabric:

Now I need to choose the color for the handles, lining and the welt.  I've narrowed it down to these three options:

I'm leaning towards the one in the middle, I guess I would call it celery green.  I like the kelly green on the left, but think it might be too much (I want the print to be the focus), and the mustard yellow on the right doesn't feel "me".  I've thought about orange, but haven't gone to the fabric store to see if they have anything in that range.  Thoughts?  Opinions?   

Giveaway!!!

UPDATE~ Giveaway is now closed, thank you to everyone who entered!

If you've stopped by from Sew, Mama, Sew- welcome!  I'm a stay at home mom to my very busy 15 month old daughter and we've got another one on the way :)  Sewing keeps me sane so I always make time for a project or two.  Feel free to stay awhile and have a look around- you might be interested in this virtually no sew diaper clutch/changing station made from a placemat, or now that summer is here, you might want to turn some of your jeans into capris like here and here.

Now onto the giveaway!  This little tote was made from two fat quarters and is just in time for summer with the addition of some jute trim and wooden buttons.  There is one open pocket on the inside and it closes with a magnetic snap.

Ahhhh, this turquoise blue and green is making me long for a trip to the Caribbean.  For a chance to win this bag, leave a comment telling me where you're dreaming of going these days.  International visitors are welcome to enter!  Only one entry per person please and this giveaway will remain open until May 20th when I'll choose a random winner. 

Good Luck!         

It's that time again

Sew, Mama, Sew is hosting a giveaway day!  The last time I participated in this was a lot of fun, so I thought I'd do it again.  Come back on Monday for your chance to win!  You can also check out Sew, Mama Sew for a list of all the other blogs participating.  Have fun and good luck!

New bags for summer

I've had some pictures in my mind of some new bags, and I finally got around to making them.  These are a lot larger than I normally make, because I wanted something that would be good for a day at the beach, a shopping trip around town, or maybe even for your commute.  I love the palm leaf fabric and the orange geometric is just fun.  My favorite of the two is the palm leaf, I'm going to make this style again in another fabric.

And I ~think~ I have finally picked out the fabrics for my Amy Butler Weekender bag.  I'm loving the grey, citron yellow and eggplant color scheme, so I think this Thomas Paul fabric might fit the bill.  Now I just have to find the right citron fabric for the accent.  (Ignore the yellow dandelions sitting on top, that is for a different project).  Now if only I could commit to this, I would actually start cutting the fabric.