Ty Pennington |

A quick update for those of you following the Long Weekender Blog Hop.
I finally decided on my fabric. I wanted to use Ty Pennington’s Foliage in Spiced Chocolate. Finding it was another matter altogether! Hawthorne Threads carries both the cotton and the home decor weights, but it was completely sold out in all the colorways. I had considered Amy Butler Love -Paradise Garden in Midnight, but I could not find an accent I was completely happy with. ( I may still make that one, we will see….)
I stumbled across a site called Stitchsteals completely by random chance. I don’t think I could repeat the search that led me to it, but lo and behold, there was the fabric I wanted, and only 5.50/yard! throw in cheap shipping to the USA and a shiny new mailbox across the border, and I had my fabric in my hands in 3 days! Woot! That mailbox may get me into trouble……

Foliage in Charcoal

I also ordered the co-coordinating print Lace in Spice for the inside of the bag and the piping. So much piping! My friend was over the night I planned my cutting layout. I wasn’t too keen using the accent for the handles, and she suggested piping them so it still has a nice pop of color. “What a great idea!” my sleep deprived brain screamed at me, “its only 45″ per handle so that not too much extra!” Right. It did turn out fantastic though. For whatever reason the local stores here either don’t carry cotton cording or they hide it so well you need a bloodhound to sniff it out. I was starting to panic, then I remembered that I have a ball of Bernat Handicrafter cotton yarn in my closet. I measured it and it turned out to be only 1/32″ smaller than what was required. It made a suitable alternate in a pinch.

Piping the bag

The pattern calls for home decor weight, but all I could get my mitts on was cotton. I know cotton sateen is slightly heavier and has a firmer drape to it so I added a layer of lightweight non-woven fusible interfacing to the wrong side of all my pieces. It took a little more time but was well worth the effort. The pieces held their shape much better while sewing and because I used the flimsiest interfacing I could find it did not add any extra bulk. It was as close to home decor weight you could get without actually being home decor.

To make a long story short, after only ripping out my finger once on a pin during the final stretch of hand sewing, I finished the bag! Serendipitously it just happened to be a long weekend so my husband could watch Harry while I sewed up a storm. They kept me company in the final stretches so I didn’t go completely crazy. After the piped handles I needed some support, though you will see that i did indeed add some to the side pockets as well. I had all this extra length and Brain though “well, it really shouldn’t go to waste….”