Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Duffle progress

I'm making really good progress on my duffle bag project and I'm super happy with how it is coming together.  As usual with me + bags, I'm taking it pretty slowly and carefully as I find bags to be a lot less forgiving than quilts.  Once again, the pattern I'm using is the Carry-on Travel Duffle by Studio Cherie.  I'm making modifications, but I'll mention those more specifically once the project is complete. (Note: I have the pdf version of this pattern, as well as the Simplicity version of Studio Cherie's larger duffle, and I can highly recommend the pdf.  The directions are much clearer, and at least in this new carry-on size duffle pattern, there are a few more details that make for a much nicer finished project.  Plus no pattern pieces at all, with measurements for all pieces given so the whole project can be rotary cut.)


Here we have one zippered pocket end panel, one magazine pocket end panel, and two side pockets.   Seeing these individual parts come together has really made me feel very good about my fabric choices.  I am absolutely loving the orange!  I wasn't sure at first because it is really quite bright, but now I'm enjoying it so much that I'm adding some in as many places as possible.  :)


This crazy strap took probably 4 hours to make (with some laundry, lunch, packing for son's camping trip, etc., thrown in here and there!).  It is a 118" continuous loop, 2" wide, 4 layers of demin thick.  Phew!  The denim, by the way, is leftover from my Super Tote and was the perfect amount I needed for this.  It looks blue-ish in the photo but it is actually more of a gray/black.  The pattern called for 2" webbing which I could only find in white, so I decided to make my own strap instead.  As you can see, I added some orange stitching here too!  It was a lot of work, but totally worth it.  Oh, and once again I used a 90/14 denim needle and had absolutely zero trouble stitching through the 4 layers, which in some places is more like 8 layers due to seam allowances.  Amazing.  

The main part of the bag is still remaining, which came first in the pattern instructions but I have left it to last, and hopefully soon I can show off my new bag.

Take care all.

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

15 comments:

Nat at Made in Home said...

I love the colour and fabrics!

Kirsten said...

Looks lovely so far Heather! I have made a few bags lately and found the denim needles are essential to get through the layers of fabric and batting etc.

CitricSugar said...

Looks gorgeous so far! And so professional… I'm uber-impressed by that strap.

Jess @ Elven Garden Quilts said...

What Carly said - that strap looking amazing! Love the stitch detail.

Erica said...

I love your progress, that strap is amazing! I tend to go much slower with bags too. For some reason I am naturally more careful when working on a quilt and when I work on a bag (or other sewing project) I can get a little sloppy. It's always better to take your time :)

Annabella said...

The orange stitching on the whopper strap is incredible - so neat and beautiful. This is going to be a fab duffle!!

Tanyia said...

I am definitely not ready for a project like this, but wow, I just love yours, especially the colors and fabric choices!


I am stopping by from the WIP hop, hop on by if you can! http://domesticdeficitdisorder.blogspot.com/2013/06/wip-wednesday-june-4th-edition.html

Debbie said...

This is looking great and I love your contrasting orange stitching!

marcella said...

That orange trim looks amazing. Perfect choice! Also, the stitching on your strap looks so very perfect. What a great job you're doing on your duffle.

Poppyprint said...

Looking good! I love the stitching on the straps!

Renee said...

What a fun color scheme for your bag! I love the handles, the detail stitching is awesome

Svetlana said...

it's going to look amazing. Love the colors you chose.

Sara said...

The story of my life too when you mention that you had to make your child's lunch do this do that...etc;) Why oh why?! Anyway I like the strap very much and all the orange!

Vicki said...

In love with the orange! Great stitching on the straps.

Taryn V. said...

It is going to be such a beautiful bag! The orange works perfectly with your feature fabric. The strap looks awesome! It looks so professional and I love the orange thread.