Amy Butler Weekender Bag

I am so excited to show you my Amy Butler Weekender bag. I love it and I actually appreciated the challenge it was. Yes, it was a challenge. It is by far the hardest thing I've ever sewn. In a good way, you know?

The piping, handles and lining are Happy Campers Plaid in yellow from American Jane. The outer fabric is by Orla Kierly. She is my all time favorite fabric designer. You make recognize this or this from her collection. I really want that second bag, you know the luggage, but of course I can't afford that. Actually, if I am completely honest, I can't afford anything from Orla Kierly right now but a girl can dream.

A while ago she did some kitchenware designs for Target. My dream come true! It was amazing. Her linens were the best and I got a steal of a deal on a tablecloth. I'm not kidding, it was $4.95 for a massive square tablecloth. I saved that tablecloth knowing I wanted to sew something out of it but I couldn't decide what. I thought about a dress, a trench coat and about a million other things. I'm so glad I saved it. It is perfect for this bag. I totally want to get this to go with it.

Here are the tips I have for constructing the bag.

• Follow the updated material list on Amy Butler's site.
• Plan about 5 hours to cut out the fabric. I'm not kidding. I think this took longer than just about any other part of the bag.
• Go slow. I didn't have to rip out any of the piping because I went slow.
• Read the instructions over and over again. It will eventually make sense and the information is in there, you just have to find it. There was one step I just didn't get. Thankfully I woke up one morning and it just clicked!