Weekender Finished - or Ignorance is Bliss

I'm sure many of you have heard of the infamous Amy Butler Weekender Bag and its notoriety for being difficult to assemble. I had never heard of it when I spotted the pattern at my LQS and decided I had to have this fantastic bag. Let me say, I'm glad I was totally unaware. I would never have attempted this bag if I had read all the blog reviews about it and I'm so glad I did it!

This is my 2 year old in the unfinished bag a while back. It's a good reference for how big this bag actually is. I've heard a lot of people use it for carrying their sewing machines - a great idea!

Here's my finished bag! Let me say, I've only made 2 bags and probably about 3 pouches before this so I am definitely a beginner when it comes to bag making. The bags I've made were Lazy Girl patterns too which are fantastic patterns and from what I've seen they are super easy. So if I can make this bag - you can too!

The challenge with this bag - it is not quick. Be prepared to go slowly, be patient and READ all directions (maybe even twice) before doing the step. The lining was a bit of a pita. It's all sewn in by hand. I wish I had hubby snap a picture of me sewing it in the bottom because I literally had my whole upper body in the bag to sew it.

Some details from my experience:

1. I did not use Home Dec Weight fabric as the pattern calls for. You can get away with this if you want because of all the Peltex and stabilizers used. BUT - be aware, the pieces that the zipper is attached to run from the bottom of one side to the bottom of the other side. Quilt weight fabric will not be wide enough to make these pieces in one cut. I pieced mine together and hid the extra piecing in the side pockets. Hopefully this won't affect its durability.
2. I didn't like using binder clips as recommended for holding together multiple thick layers (during one step). I found that as I released the clips all the layers went everywhere. I found my daisy head long pins worked well. 
3. Pretty much all the pins I used for this project are warped and have been thrown out.
4. I also lengthened the straps so they fit nicely over my shoulder. My strap and binding fabric is Quilters Linen by Free Spirit. I cut the length to WOF which I think was about 54".
5. **ETA - I forgot to talk about the cording. I didn't sew my fabric to the cording the first time, I used steam-a-seam to attach it. I think I steamed my fingerprints off my left hand, but I'm glad I did it. Each time you sew the cording (about 3 times I think) you get closer and closer to the cording and have to hide the last row of stitches. Using steam-a-seam gave me a little more flexibility and less stress with that step. 

I decided to add a zipper pull to this. I figured with such a big bag it would be nice to find the zipper faster.

I've never done a zipper pull myself before. I followed this tutorial. I am a little nervous about how well it will hold up since it's just bent wire holding it all together. But I have zero experience making jewelry so I have no idea how to make one of these. If anyone wants to share a great tutorial, I'd love to see them!

I'm linking up to Sara's Amy Butler Sew Along over at Sew Sweetness.

Project Stats:

Pattern:  Amy Butler Weekender Bag

Fabrics: Quilters Linen by Free Spirit in Turquoise, 

Laura Gunn - Big Poppy in Aqua and Dogwood in Olive

Date Finished: 8/23/11

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