Aeroplane Bag - I did it my way!

As soon as I saw Sara's Aeroplane Bags, I knew that I would be having a go sooner or later. 

I had expressed an interest in making a Weekender when they were all the pre-Sewing Summit craze; but to be honest, all the 'oh yes it is', 'oh no it isn't' complexity-chatter kind of got on my nerves, and for the time and aggro, perceived or real, my heart wasn't really in it.

Then in waltzes Sara with a big old holdall, which held endless possibilities in my head!

So here is how I made mine, just in case you are interested; what I will say before you decide, is that this came entirely from my stash except for the 99p zipper.  If I was going to mess it up, I didn't want it to have cost a small fortune, and if the more casual finish of mine is not to your taste, that is purely me and not the pattern!

I bought 2 meters of Amy Butler wide home dec on sale for about £5 about 3 years ago; having realised pretty quickly this was not going to make a cosy quilt backing, it sat in the bottom of my fabric box, neglected waiting... until last week!

Front and back.

The pattern calls for all sorts of interfacing and things of which I have no knowledge.  I am sure they, or suitable substitutes, are all available in the UK, but I decided to get on and simply use cotton wadding offcuts and an extra layer of thick cotton, the excess from some of my parent's curtains; kind of a linen feel, which frays like a bugger, but easily zig-zagged.

I cut panels slighter larger than required in the pattern, layered the home dec, wadding and curtain fabric, quilted parallel lines c.1" apart, and then cut out the pattern pieces. 

Not the best photo, but shows the quilting on the panels quite well.

In the original pattern the bottom section is cut straight, and once the corners are boxed the bag tapers in; I wanted mine to go straight, and because I did not decide this until after I had cut and quilted, I reduced the top section by an inch (well 2, as it is cut on the fold),  and then extended the angle of the top section down across the bottom panel.  If you have the pattern, this will make more sense, I hope.

I also decided, in an ode to the Weekender, that piping would be a nice touch, especially as I was using one fabric for both the top and bottom panels, and because I had a pink zip and orange fabric, I wanted something to unite it all.

Thinking that a pocket between the two handles would also be a good idea, I used this to practice my piping skills, because I basically had none.  I found a tutorial online that suggested using bindaweb, you know the trouser hem stuff, to seal the folded fabric and squeeze the piping against the edge with your iron, but I can't for the life of me find it again, sorry.  I then trimmed the flat edge, and used Lisa Lam's tute.

It worked at treat.

So I added piping between the main panels; some AMH flannel, which matched perfectly.

My 16 layers were literally only where my bottom panel, piping, top panel, pocket and handles met; so for all those who envisaged a nightmare of sewing, honestly, it may have busted a needle, because I was going too fast, but it was fine when the thickness was not a surprise!

I didn't measure the placement of my handles, I think they have come out slightly closer together than the pattern, but somebody didn't think of that when they made the pocket!

I only inserted one internal zipper, part laziness, part balance with the one outside pocket, and Sara's method is excellent and turned out perfectly.

I didn't add interfacing to the lining; I didn't have enough.

Luckily for me, the main zip I bought was for a jacket, and therefore it unzipped and separated into two, like they do, which made inserting it onto both side panels really easy.  My second needle catastrophe happened when joining the two panels and all my own fault!

The only areas for improvement are my top stitching along the zip where it crosses over the darts, as I should have trimmed them better, so the second side faired better, and the zip ends are not perfect.  I managed to hand stitch up to the zip far more neatly and snugly than I could with the sewing machine.

Although it might look like I made lots of changes to Sara's pattern, they really are superficial, and I followed her clear and logical instructions step by step, and I was able to just pop in my taste and fancy at the appropriate places.  I would definitely not have been able to make it without Sara's guidance.

That's my 72" Scrappy Trip Along in there for scale.

I love it!  This is the large version, and easily big enough for a weekend away... oooh like Fat Quarterly Retreat!

If you haven't bought the pattern, I can highly recommend it.  And as you may have noticed, it didn't take long at all.  I was originally tempted to use quilt-as-you-go to make the panels, but that would have taken me days and days of indecisiveness, which I didn't have the patience for, and as it goes, I really like the effect of using the same print for the whole bag.

I would definitely make another one, and probably use the same construction, because I am cheap frugal like that!

Bonus: whilst people are still linking up their FAL plans for Q2, I have my first tick!!  And I got another today, but I'll show you that tomorrow!

Flight Delayed...

I was making such headway with my Aeroplane Bag today, I even thought a full on finish was on the cards, but it was not meant to be.

My first needle shattered into 4 pieces (one of which I think is still embedded in the seam allowance somewhere!).  I was going to save all the 'how I did it' details for my reveal post, but let's just say at this particular point there were 16 layers including 4 of batting!!  I thought there were 14, but on a re-count it went up to 16, so I guess it was no surprise.

The second needle objected to the end of the zipper getting in the way; like they do.

 But I have gone on to handstitch and neaten up both ends of the zip, because they were looking a bit roapy, and that took a good couple of hours; and once I get some more needles, I only have to box the corners and sew the lining closed.

Before I sorted the zip ends.

Hubby is off work for the rest of the week, moral support for the end of the Easter holidays, so we will be out and about, but I hope to get the bag finished tomorrow; you didn't think I could stomach having 5 WiPs for long did you!?