Yay! I am finished! And I love this bag! It’s huge. Lots of pockets. Very sturdy.

I started this project back in March. I barely touched it in May, so I really didn’t spend 3 months sewing it. The pattern is written very well, it is very detailed and I followed every single instruction without modification.

I wanted a stand up kind of bag so, I used the thickest canvas I could find at Fabric.com. It’s listed at 12oz Cotton Duck and isn’t the easiest stuff to work with, but I took my time and used lots of clips to hold the layers together while sewing.

Cutting all the fabric pieces took a long time, and I’m glad that I labeled everything as I went along. I also tried to group pieces together, making the construction easier as I progressed.

I also followed the pattern recommendation to zig zag the raw edges of the cotton duck after cutting all the pieces out. This stuff frays like crazy!

The cotton duck is pretty hefty, and I broke 2 needles trying to force the thick seams through my machine. The Juki is pretty strong, and I should have just let the machine do the work. Instead I tried to force it through and broke a few needles. Learned my lesson there!

The seam allowances change from 1/4″ to 5/8″ to 3/8″ depending on which part of the bag you’re working on. I used painter’s tape to help me sight the different seam allowances – the markings on my throat plate aren’t that easy to see.

The weight of the bag also took some manipulation. As I was sewing the lining to the exterior, I rested parts of the bag on my head while slowly feeding the bag through the machine bit by bit.

The quilted outside pockets are nice and large – big enough for my rulers and books. The inside pockets are plenty big as well for some of the little stuff I take to sew-ins or to a friend’s house for a sewing party.

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