Completed: The great getaway bag

This was named by Koen as the neverending bag. I started before Christmas with the intention of using it when going to Vigo, but it soon became clear that not even spending hours and hours each day was going to make that real. I finally finished it almost a month after Christmas and reminded to myself that I should be more realistic about deadlines. If several people on internet mention that this is one of the most complicated bags from the book The Bag Making Bible, then they should be right.

I first used this book one year ago when making a handbag for my sister. I remember spending quite some hours but not as many as with this one. Also, when the book mentions the fact that you should keep your pieces organized, do so, or you’ll end up like me. Especially in the cases where it tells you to cut a rectangle of fabric of x and y dimensions and then cut a piece from that rectangle, and that several times. If at that moment you cut from the wrong rectangle (because believe me, you will have several rectangles that look just the same) then you’ll be almost as lost as me. So first rule, be organized and don’t throw your bag pieces into a plastic bag without any kind of label and expect to have everything clear the next day.

The instructions were clear but I’ve missed a couple of pictures extra about the process, just like with my previous handbag. All in all, the bag came out beautifully and it’s exactly like I expected.

If you intend to tackle a project like this you will need a walking foot. I wouldn’t have been able to sew this without it. Not only due to the laminated fabric but also due to the thickness off all layers together. I had a couple of issues due to that (my machine is not super powerful) but the walking foot helped to have things running smooth.

One of the features I like is the piped handles. I couldn’t find ready made ones so I had to make them myself. The book instructs you to buy flexi-tube, but that couldn’t be found here either, so I had to improvise. This is the best thing I found:

I’m also proud of my adjustable strap. Having made it before for my sister’s handbag helped me to know how to achieve clean results and that walking foot avoided major issues.

Another thing that I love love are the pockets, because what’s good about a handbag if it doesn’t have pockets?

The exterior pocket comes in handy to keep things you may need accessible, like your boarding pass.

The flush zip pocket is a feature I consider a must in any handbag, to keep your small valuable things, like your keys.

And the lining  pocket, divided in two different sized pockets, to store some extras, like documents, thread, your sewing shears.

I love this bag. It’s really spacious and comfortable to carry around. At first sight no one can guess it’s handmade. It has vibrant colors and it makes me feel proud of myself for being able to make it and  also finish it.

I’m not going anywhere right now so I currently use it to carry my projects to my sewing class. And it works great for that too!