Amy Butler Weekender: Piping, Seam Ripping, and Re-sewing...oh my!

For those who are following the step by step commentary on the making of my 2nd Amy Butler Weekender, I'm sorry for my long absence. I'm happy to announce that I finished the bag last night and have gifted it to the intended recipient...Grace, my awesome knitter friend.

Now that I'm done, I can say that this bag was more difficult to make than the first one because of the following reasons:
1) getting used to a new sewing machine
2) Amy Butler's Nigella fabric line frayed more than her August Fields line
3) not having a proper sewing space at my Denver apt
4) had to line up the fabric pattern on all pieces because the design is so large and distinct
5) busy work schedule in Denver

But before I post about the final product, I want to finish what I set out to do...which was to share my tips and comments about the process of making the bag. On my last post, I shared about how handy Steam-a-seam is when covering the piping. The heavyweight linen that I used for the piping was definitely a hard material to work with...it was stiff, yet weird and stretchy so it was hard to cut consistent strips.

After making the piping, you've finished you "prep"work and are ready to start on the bag. You first make the pockets for the outer side panels. I followed these steps according to the instructions. Then you make the handles and attach them to the side panels. I wanted to use the exterior fabric for one side of the handles, and the interior fabric for the other side (instead of using the interior fabric for both sides) so I cut 1 strip of each fabric at 2" and sewed them together with a .5" seam allowance giving you the 3" wide strip that the original instructions called for. For extra reinforcement, I sewed an X when attaching the handles (the original instructions just have you sew 1 horizontal line across).

Then you attach the pockets to the side panels. Again, I followed the instructions. Then you attach the piping to the outer edge of the side panels. This is probably the first place where it starts getting difficult. Some reviews I read said it was good idea to hand baste the piping onto the panels first. I did that on my first bag, but was too lazy to do that on this bag so I just used binder clips. I made the mistake of crowding my piping and not making my piping strips wide enough...so that made the rest of the bag construction kind of painful.

craftybakeshoppe.com

a few weeks ago, my hubby bought me my own domain name...craftybakeshoppe.com! don't go there yet, because i haven't created the website yet. but at least i have the domain name and no one else can steal it! thanks hubby, for helping me get one step closer to realizing my dream!

M.I.A.

hey faithful readers, sorry that i've been missing in action lately. my project team has been wrapping up the design phase of our project so it's been a pretty stressful past few weeks. plus, i caught the seasonal flu and was out of commission for a week. but, i'm all better now and looking forward to the holidays!

i was reminded today about this blog...about how it's not just a sewing blog and about how i haven't posted in a LONG time. so i wanted to take the chance to post about some cookies i baked and decorated for my co-workers here in denver.

i baked the cookies in houston over the weekend, but didn't have time to decorate them. so i made the icing and stored them in small pyrex containers the night before i had to fly back to denver. the total volume of liquid was too much to fit in a 1-quart plastic bag so i had to check in my luggage...all because of the icing! i carried on the cookies because i didn't want to risk breaking them. i then decorated the cookies last night here in denver and below is the end product. i had to make do with less decorating tools/supplies than i normally have...hence, some of the sloppy work. but overall, i'm still happy with the end result!

if you want to make the perfect sugar cookie that is soft, moist, and tasty...paired with a tasty icing that dries hard and shiny, let me know and i'll email you my personal instructions and recipe for making yummy sugar cookies!

Amy Butler Weekender: Thank goodness for Steam-a-Seam

Sorry about the hiatus in blog posts. Work has picked up and the weekends have been super busy. But good news, hubby bought me a new Singer Curvy 8780 to use while I'm in Denver. We'll see if I'll be able to part with it once my project is over!

So back to the Weekender. After cutting all of the pieces, the next step is to make the piping. I decided to use a navy colored heavy weight linen for the cording so that the outline of the bag is more pronounced. The instructions call for using the lining fabric for the piping. I bought 1 yard of heavy weight linen for the piping. Linen is kind of hard to work with...it's stretchier than cotton. And I had to buy a white marking pencil since the fabric is so dark. After cutting out the pieces for the piping, I sewed them together according to the instructions. It's not very clear how to figure out where to sew the seam, but you'll get the hang of it after a few pieces.

Next, the instructions say to use your zipper foot to sew the piping cover around the cotton cording. Make sure you followed the revised materials list and got 6/32" cording instead of 8/32". I followed the advice of the bloggers I mentioned in my first post and used Steam-a-Seam instead of sewing the piping together. It might take a little longer, but it elimates one of many seams against the cording that will be sewed in future steps. The fun parts are coming up next!

Amy Butler Weekender: Cutting, cutting, and more cutting...

So now that you've purchased all of the materials, you've got to cut out the pieces. Give yourself a good chunk of time for this or spread it out because it has taken me hours to measure and cut out the pieces. Also, if you plan on making more than 1 Weekender, you can save time by tracing the pattern pieces and measuring out the rectangular pictures onto tracing paper and cutting out the tracing paper...so you can preserve the pattern. I hate cutting out original pattern pieces...although I know they're meant to be cut out. If you trace out all of the pieces onto tracing paper, you'll never risk loosing a piece of the original pattern because the original pattern stays in tact. Also, since there are many parts of the bag that don't have a pattern, they require you to take a ruler/yardstick and measure out the pieces...so you might as well do the measuring once onto tracing paper and you'll never have to measure again on future bags!

The revised instructions address one of the main frustrations with the bag...sewing through the peltex/timtex. The instructions tell you to trim away .5 inch from the edges of the original pattern pieces for the peltex/timtex pieces so that you don't have to sew through it. You might as well create pattern pieces for the peltex/timtex pieces also, to save you the hassle of cutting off .5 inch from the original pieces.

I generally follow the revised instructions on how to lay out the pattern pieces, but I try to waste as little fabric as possible so sometimes, I tweak the layout. By wasting as little fabric as possible, I'm able to have enough fabric left over to create internal pockets (the original pattern doesn't include any internal pockets). Also, if you have a distinct pattern on your fabric (like the exterior fabric that I purchased) and you want your pockets to line up with the fabric, you have to pay extra attention to your layout. You may also want to purchase an extra half yard of your fabric if you're unsure. The handles and top of the bag (where the zipper is) require the longest parts of the fabric so make sure you don't improvise too much on your layout and not have enough continuous fabric for your handles and top of the bag.

Not counting the pattern pieces that you have to cut out from tracing paper, expect to cut about 70 pieces, including the strips you have to cut for the piping. That's including the extra 1 large interior pocket that's the same size as the exterior pockets, 2 small interior pockets that are the same size as the 2 small exterior pockets, 1 zipper pocket inside the lining, and 2-sided handles (the instructions call for using the interior fabric for both sides of the handle...I like using the exterior fabric for one side, and the interior fabric for the other side...suggestion courtesy of hiuma). I also lengthened the handles from 48" to 56" so it'll fit over your shoulders easier.

Amy Butler Weekender: Purchasing the materials...

My friend Grace, who is a very awesome knitter, was admiring my bag one day and instead of her learning how to sew and me learning how to knit, we decided to barter =)! I would make her a weekender and she would knit me an Every Way Wrap and a hat. Being the speedy and dedicated person that she is, she has already finished my wrap and I have barely started her bag! I blame the fact that I'm traveling to Denver every week for work and I only have time to sew on the weekends at home. Hubby thinks I should buy a cheap sewing machine here in Denver and sew on the weekdays so that I can get it done faster. Until then, the progress will probably be very slow. Sorry!

Ok, so you want to make an Amy Butler Weekender bag? First off, after buying the pattern, make sure you print/download the revised material list and instructions on Amy Butler's website. Second off, it isn't a cheap bag to make...especially if you use designer fabric. Here's what a breakdown of my costs for grace's bag look like:

Purchased from Fabric.com:
- 2 yards of Amy Butler Nigella Twill Primrose Nickel ($29.96) for the exterior
- 2 yards of Amy Butler Nigella Twill Wood Fern Silver ($29.96) for the lining
- .5 yards of medium weight linen indigo ($5.99) for the piping (the lining fabric can also be used for the piping; add .5 yards to lining fabric if using lining fabric for piping)
- 2.5 yards of Peltex Sew-In Ultra Firm Stabilizer ($12.95)
- 5 yards of cotton piping size 1 or 3/16" ($.22) for the piping
- 4 nickel 14mm purse feet ($2.59) you actually need 6 purse feet, but I had 2 purse feet leftover from when I purchased 8 purse feet for my first bag
Subtotal: approx. $66 (that's with free shipping and 25% off my entire purchase; you'll also need to purchase the pattern (~$12))

Purchased from Jo-Ann Fabrics:
- 1 30" dual-separating zipper (~$4) - this allows you to unzip the bag from either end of the bag
- 1 9" all-purpose zipper (~$3) - this is optional; only purchase if you are sewing an internal zipper pocket into the lining
- 1 sheet of 12” wide x 18” long Heavy Duty Template Plastic from Prim-Dritz™ (found with the quilting supplies) (~$3)
- 3.75 yards of 20" wide fusible woven interfacing (~$12)
- 2 spools of coordinating thread (~$4) - the instructions say 1 spool, but I would buy 2 to be on the safe side
Subtotal: approx. $16 (that's with making several trips and using 40% off coupons)

Total: approx. $82

The only area that you can probably save the most money is to use cheaper decorating weight fabric...but if you're going to spend so much time on sewing a bag, you might as well choose a fabric that you love!

Amy Butler Weekender: A Step by Step Commentary

After I made my first Amy Butler Weekender Travel Bag, I decided that I wanted to empower novice sewers with the ability to make their own Amy Butler Weekender Travel Bag.

I recently learned how to sew back in April of 2009 (thanks to my hubby who bought me a sewing machine and lessons at Sew Crafty Houston for my birthday). After learning how to make a pillow case, simple tote bag, and pajama pants, I decided to try my hand at the Amy Butler Goddess Apron. After making 2 aprons, I decided to take a shot at the weekender.

I first went online to read reviews of the pattern. I stumbled upon several blogs with helpful tips and pictures. All of the blogs talked about how difficult it was to make the bag because of all of the layers and piping. But they also mentioned that the finished product was worth all of the finger pricks, seam ripping and re-sewing, and long hours.

So before I start documenting the process of making my second weekender, I want to give credit where credit is due. These are the blogs that provided the helpful hints and pictures and helped make my first weekender a success:
The Lint Knitter
Miss Behave
craftoholic
all buttoned up
hiuma
wise craft
needle book
sewpixie - tutorial on how to make a pocket inside the lining of the bag

Thank you for sharing your tips and beautiful bags...I hope my blog posts will help others as much as those above have helped me!