The Amy Butler Weekender Bag...day four

I inserted the zipper last night. Ugh...the zipper wasn't hard per say, but the fabric again was a challenge. I used a 30 inch nonseperating upholstery zipper purchased at Joann's Fabrics as that was the only 30 inch zipper that was nonseperating that I could find. I have to say her zipper insertion technique is very easy and it gives a really professional looking result to the bag. Today I plan to attach the sides to the zipper and if I have time I will attach those to the front panel. I'm probably 60% done.

You don't say ?

Recently out of curiosity I added a site meter to my blog to see how much traffic I was getting. I guess I wanted to know if I was talking to myself or what...not that it really mattered you know, I would still blog. Anyway, I was pleased to see that I do get a few look sees. Unfortunately if it weren't for the meter I'd never know it because I rarely get any comments. It got me thinking...what makes a person leave a comment anyway. If you go on a blog that is "popular" do you want to leave a comment because all the cool kids did and you want to fit in. When you come to my little old blog do you see a poor girl with a skinned knee and greasy hair eating alone at the lunch table and don't want to be caught dead sitting at that table? Is the world of blogging the new lunchroom? Anyways, it's something to ponder. I don't know if it's marketing (you know spamming your blog all over the net and getting on other blogrolls) or what, but you have to admit it's a curious phenomenon...if I must say.

Handmade vs. Homemade

I realize to many there's a big difference and one brings up images of fashion less, shoddy, cheapness and shabby and one brings up an image of artistry, creativeness, quality and uniqueness. Can you guess which is which?
A few weeks ago my mother and I had a conversation and it went something like this. I was talking to her about how I really have never purchased clothing for dd since she's been born w/the exceptions of undies, tights, coats and shoes. She's had a lot of hand me downs from friends and a ton of mama made and how I plan to make all her clothes for the summer and next fall. There was this long pregnant pause and then she says..."well...does the stuff look homemade (or something to that effect). This is from the woman that bought my sisters and I our first sewing machine and signed us for summer sewing lessons. Even she was looking down her proverbial nose at homemade. Honestly...isn't homemade synonymous with handmade. I mean if you make something at home isn't that being made by hand. But homemade lacks cache. It's the ugly stepsister, the mangy dog in the lexicon of craft talk. I've even succumb and find myself correcting it in my mind...it's not homemade, rather it's mama made or handmade. Ah well, I still plan to create my handmade stuff at home.

Well, it's day 3...making progress

Ok, a couple things I thought of to share. Fabric selection is essential. I wanted my bag to look high end, perhaps like a knockoff of Louise or Coach. Anyways I'm using this lovely chocolate brown microsuede. It's a bitch to work with! I'm a pretty seasoned sewer and bag maker, but if I weren't I'd probably be in tears. It's slick and stretchy for one, but oh does it look good. So something to consider strongly is your fabric choice. AB recommends home dec weight, that's a great choice and there's some great fabrics to be found, but I had to be different so you know it serves me right if I'm finding my microsuede a less than forgiving choice. The other thing I learned is about helpful feet to use, she suggest a zipper foot and she's not kidding. So far I've been sewing this on my PC 6000 (I know, I said I'd use the necchi...but the Brother is my dear friend and she didn't want to be left out, besides I have a lot of feet for her and apparently I have every foot for the necchi except a zipper foot or cording foot, so boohoo for me)and alternating between my zipper foot and my 1/4" foot.

So progress for today. I've made the outer pocket. I altered the way she had you attach the lining to pocket. I couldn't seem to get it stitched without the stitching showing through even though the directions said they shouldn't...I tried her way, then my way , my way was to make a little hem 1/4 at the top of the lining and then attach it right side together to the cording and then stitching in the ditch stitch the lining down. On further consideration I was obsessing a bit too much about it. It's an interior pocket...it lays flat and it's stitched straight and now you can't see the stitching on the outside. I think it would pass inspector #8's scrutiny.

So here are pictures of the two front panels w/the handles attached. I used her measurement, but I think next time I'd like the handles a tad wider and longer. The length they are now will require that it be carried by hand, it wouldn't go over the shoulder, so for the next bag I'll add 12 inches to the length and an inch to the width. Oh well, live and learn.

Aren't these the cutest?

I went to Elegant Stitches which in my opinion is THE fabric place in the triangle. Anyways they had these cute patterns by Liesl Gibson called Oliver + S . I love the paper dolls and the classic styling is right up my alley. I hope she will expand her line each season. Nevertheless, as I was in there to get feet for the AB bag and some fabric so I didn't get one...but I will be going back to pick up one. Just thought I'd share a bit of cuteness!

The Amy Butler Weekender Bag...day two

Alright, on to day 2. Oh, I thought of another hint to share as you embark on making this bag. After you read through the instructions you'll realize that her way of organizing them is a bit unusual. She has you cutting out pattern pieces and fabric 3 separate steps. I understand why she does this, but kept having to get pattern pieces out to use again. So read through and take note of what all you need to cut for the exterior,interior lining, timtex/peltex and interfacing and cut everything out in the beginning. What I mean is cut all the pieces that need to be cut using a particular pattern piece and then put that pattern piece away. That's what I'd highly recommend to someone who likes to be organized when they start on a project. Get all your pieces together and cut them out systematically.
Well...I think today I will cut out the five gazillion strips I need to make the piping. Some reviews I read said they used bought piping or bias tape, God knows I would have too if I could have found some that worked with my fabric choices. Sadly, I'm left to make my own. It's pretty simple though. You find the true bias of the fabric and cut strips at 45 degrees and then miter them together to make even longer strips, lol. Here's a cool site to learn how to make your own bias tape in several different ways.
So this is me cutting out my fabric strips and then sewing them around the purchased cord to make coordinating piping for my bag

The Amy Butler Weekender Bag...day one

So, I've been planning to make my mother a AB weekender bag for Mother's Day for months. I want it to be really special. She's a nurse and works in a neighboring city and when she works she goes and stays her three shifts and then returns home so she could really use a cute bag. I've agonized over what fabric to pick, I finally thought I had settled on some Alexander Henry for the exterior, but I couldn't find anything that looked good as a coordinate with it and I didn't want to use cream for the handles and the piping since it would show dirt so easily. So I've dug in my stash and found this really nice chocolate microsuede. I think that will work. I'll use the AH as the lining and trim and the microsuede as the exterior fabric.
So...I'm photographing the process. I don't know if it would be considered a sew along or a tutorial (I'm not really sure what the difference is), but I thought it might be helpful to someone to see how I made my bag. First off...I'm not using my usual machine which is a Brother PC6000, which I just adore. However after reading a bunch of reviews about this pattern on Patternreview I've opted to use one of my vintage machines and the lucky winner was my Necchi Bu Nova. She's black and beautiful. I haven't used her in over a year so I dusted her off and gave her a drink last night and she's ready to go.




Alright, first things first. Here's a bit of a criticism. When I pay $12 for a pattern I expect all of the pieces to be there. It might not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but she has you measure and cut out the bottom pieces and the straps. Could she not have made the pattern pieces one more page and included these pieces? Ugh! So...off I go to create my own since I do plan to make this bag for myself and perhaps if all goes well 2 for my sisters for Christmas and I don't want to spend nearly as much time as the first. So there's a hint. Create pattern pieces of these pieces for the bag for future use. Jeez Amy!



So here are my missing pattern pieces. I traced them on freezer paper using a yardstick and a sharpie, oh and of course my kai self healing mat was pretty helpful too.
Boy...I'm beat. Off to bed. I'll work on it some more tomorrow.