Crazy for Bags!

I was raised to love bags...purses in particular. Not because my mother insisted on having every season's Coach, Louis Vuitton or what have you. No, she took a much more humble approach. The bag could be any shape, size, color, brand, material...anything goes was the theme. But one think that was consistent was that every Easter, instead of a cheap basket filled with plastic grass, my sister and I received a brand new purse. Of course the Easter Bunny did not neglect to provide us with delicious treats (I mean a girl needs her Reese's peanut butter eggs). But the best part was a brand new bag for the year. Like I said, it could come in any form...I think I actually recall something denim.

So now, at age 22, I still have a periodic itching for a new purse. For daily use, I prefer something store-bought, durable, and just big enough to hold the bare essentials. But I am also constantly in need of larger bags for all of the extensive traveling that my husband and I do. By this I mean monthly-ish visits to family in Georgia and the occasional wedding.

So after making several tote bags for Christmas gifts, I set out to create my perfect travel tote. I absolutely love how it turned out and I use it all the time! It's a great size for toiletries, shoes, books, whatever!

However, as far as clothes were concerned, I had still been sharing a thrift store suitcase (or something just a laundry basket) with my hubby. Until the day that I decided to tackle my next project...the duffle bag. 

Isn't she cute?! I am so excited to travel with it this weekend for my friend Emilie's wedding! I am so pleased with how the fabrics worked together. And the inside is teal polka dot :)

I actually used an "annoying old school tissue paper pattern that's really hard to work with and why didn't I just find a tutorial online"...and obviously I had a little trouble with it. My two trouble spots were the side pieces, which somehow did not match up with the front and back pieces. I "fixed" that by just making a tuck at the top of both side pieces. It's not perfect but I think it'll pass.

I also struggled with encasing the raw seams inside the duffle. I did one and wasn't too pleased with the results so I gave up on the other two for now. Not sure if I'll go back and do that or not. Maybe before it needs to be washed.

All in all I think it turned out to be a precious companion to my travel tote and I am so excited to put it to good use! Here's to many more travels :)

Cheers!
LB