For the month of October, the Island Batik Ambassadors were challenged to sew a ByAnnie bag. I made the Ultimate Travel Bag 2.0.
Disclaimer: The products used to make this project were given to me by Island Batik and Industry Partners.
Here's the pattern. You can find this pattern, plus a helpful add-on video on the ByAnnie.com website. This is the third ByAnnie pattern I've sewn, and my favorite so far. The step-by-step directions are written clearly and each step has a little box to check off, which keeps me on track and feeling accomplished.
I chose to use the Midnight Glow fabric collection from Island Batik. As I've mentioned many times recently, this is my new favorite fabric line. It's so dramatically gorgeous. You can sink right into it.
One of the first steps to sewing a ByAnnie bag is the cutting and prep. A sheet is included in the pattern that you can copy and use to label each piece as you cut and prep. I chose to print my labels on some light sticker paper so they are super easy to use and remove. No pins needed.
The outer shell of the bag is made from a main fabric, a lining fabric, and ByAnnie's Soft and Stable. Here I am quilting the layers together with matching Aurifil thread.
Zippers are prepped as well. This bag has three zippers, one for the main closure, and two pocket zippers.
I cut bias binding strips from this gorgeous coordinating fabric. The bias binding makes it easy to sew around the curvy elements of the bag.
In this step, I am prepping the bag straps. I did all of my pressing on my Prairie Spirit Alpacas pressing mat. It's wonderful. I love it more with every project.
One of the features of the ByAnnie bags that I love is the beautiful and sturdy coordinating hardware.
Here's the bag front pocket, prepped and ready for bag construction.
After all the bag parts are prepped and sewn, the bag itself is sewn together. The inside seams are covered with bias binding for a beautiful finished effect. I used Quilters Perfect Klips to hold the binding in place. Sewing this part can be tricky. I used a stiletto to help feed the layers under the presser foot evenly and also switched my needle to a Schmetz leather needle. A jeans needle would probably work well for sewing through all the layers, too.
This is actually the inside zipper pocket of the bag. This is showing the lovely finished seam binding. At this point my bag is ready to be turned right side out! Exciting!!!
And here it is! The Ultimate Travel Bag 2.0. This is the front side of the bag, with a pretty zipper pocket.
The back of the bag also has a pocket, and a trolley sleeve. Notice the padded, adjustable carrying strap.
There is a nice poochy pocket on each side of the bag. This will be just perfect for carrying a water bottle and a small snack, or anything else you need quick access to.
Inside view. This is a roomy bag!
Inside three section, elastic edged pocket.
Inside large zipper pocket.
Inside the large inner zipper pocket.
Ultimate Travel Bag 2.0
Bag Stats:
Size: 13-3/4" x 18-1/2" x 8" (at bottom)
Pattern: Ultimate Travel Bag 2.0 ByAnnie.com
Fabric: Midnight Glow by Island Batik
Thread: Aurifil
Needles: Schmetz
All the Island Batik Ambassadors are making ByAnnie.com bags this month! Visit their blogs throughout October to see what they made. Here's a list:
Note: This is an affiliate link. Clicking this link will not affect the purchase price. However, if you do make a purchase, I may receive a commission. Thank you.
Here's the finish of my large Divide and Conquer ByAnnie.com bag! I actually finished a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't get to the blog post until today. It's almost Christmas. All the gifts are wrapped and I have a few minutes to write.
Disclaimer: The products used to make this bag were generously provided by Island Batik, ByAnnie.com, Aurifil Thread, and Schmetz Needles.
This is the front of the bag. I used the Autumn Wings fabric collection by Island Batik. Aren't the butterflies beautiful? I love the colors in this collection. These bags both have a Fall feel to them, my favorite season. I used Schmetz needles and Aurifil thread for all the stitching on this bag.
This is the back of the bag. It has a handy velcro strap that can be used to fasten the bag to a luggage carrier.
When you open the bag there are two large vinyl zippered compartments.
The center of the bag features four mesh zippered pockets to help keep all of your things organized.
This bag is definitely large enough to carry everything I need for a weekend or overnight trip.
I plan on using the smaller bag to carry my hand sewing. I love to travel with an EPP project or a bit of cross stitch. Now I just need somewhere to go!
If you missed my post about the small Divide and Conquer bag, click here.
Note: This is an affiliate link. Clicking this link will not effect the purchase price. However, if you do make a purchase, I may receive a commission. Thank you.
Do you remember my small Divide and Conquer bag I made for the Island BatikByAnnie.com challenge? I'm sure I mentioned that I'm also making this in the large size. It had to go on the back burner for a while so I could finish up a few other projects, but I had some time to work on it one day this week.
Disclaimer: The products used to make this project were given to me by Island Batik and industry partners.
This is one of the side strips for the bag. You can see the the beautiful Autumn Wings butterfly fabric here.
Here I'm sewing one of the side strips to the bag. This pattern was my first experience sewing with clear vinyl. The trickiest part for me was seeing what I was cutting when I cut the pieces out. It's actually really easy to sew. Sew with the vinyl against the machine bed for best results.
Binder clips are essential for sewing ByAnnie bag patterns. Here I'm adding the binding that covers up the inside seams.
Clipping the second side strip to the inside of the bag in preparation for stitching.
And clipping the binding onto that section. This is as far as I got during my sewing session. It's very close to finished. I'm excited, but I was just too tired to complete my bag on that day. Sometimes I just run out of energy. Hopefully I can find another free sewing day to finish this up soon!
This is an affiliate link. Clicking this link will not affect the purchase price. However, if you do make a purchase, I may receive a commission. Thank you.
Pshew! Here I am posting about my byAnnie bag on the last day of September. I just barely finished this morning. I've had so many things pulling me away from sewing time in the last month. I'm actually making two bags, this is the smaller size. The large sized bag is about 3/4 of the way done at this time. I'll show it on another post when it's complete.
Disclosure: The products used to make this bag were given to me by Island Batik, ByAnnie.com, Aurifil Thread, and Schmetz Needles.
This month's Island Batik Ambassador challenge was so much fun! We got to choose a bag pattern from ByAnnie and we also selected the fabrics we wanted to use to make the bags. I've been wowed by the other ambassador's bags all month long. They're all so beautiful and useful. ByAnnie seems to have a bag for every situation.
I chose to make the Divide and Conquer bags. I was sent this wonderful kit that included everything I need to make the bags. ByAnnie's Soft and Stable, zippers by the yard, mesh in two colors, interfacing, vinyl, and beautiful hardware to give the bags a professional finished look.
I chose the new Autumn Wings fabric collection by Island Batik. This fabric features butterflies in beautiful fall colors. Fall is my favorite season and I knew we would be making the bags in September, so it was a good fit. You should be able to find Autumn Wings in your local quilt shops now.
Here's a look at the pattern. Divide and Conquer. It makes a personal sized carry on bag in two sizes. Both bags look like little suitcases and have zippered sections to organize and store whatever you like. The pattern also comes with a coupon code for byAnnie's video tutorial of how to make this bag. The included instructions are excellent, but the videos are equally helpful, especially if you need clarification on how to do a step or two.
Another nice feature of ByAnnie patterns is they come with a sheet of tags to copy and cut out to label all of the pieces. I made my copy on sticker paper so I could easily label everything and just as easily remove the labels.
Before anything is sewn together the main fabric, lining fabric, and Soft and Stable are quilted together. I used Aurifil thread color 2315 and quilted with Schmetz needles.
This is the front of my bag. It has a roomy outside pocket.
The back of the bag also has a zippered pocket, plus a velcro strap so you can attach your bag to a rolling luggage rack.
The inside of the bag features four mesh zippered pockets for organizing your things. I'll probably use this small bag to carry my needlework projects when I go to the beach or elsewhere. This will be great for my EPP projects.
There area also two roomy see thru vinyl zippered pockets, one on each side of the bag. These are big enough to carry a novel, or sketchbook. I like to bring a sketchbook when I travel. You never know when inspiration will strike.
This is an affiliate link. Clicking this link will not affect the purchase price. However, if you do make a purchase, I may receive a commission. Thank you.
