Ready to go

In 50 days, hubby and I will be on vacation. Not that I'm counting, obviously. We are going somewhere spectacularly warm and tropical to relax for a week without child. And for as much mom-guilt as I am suffering {already}, I am really excited. It is kind of a honeymoon take 2 since we couldn't go where we wanted at the time/10 year dating anniversary trip. I'm not sure I remember what it is like to have adult conversations for an extended period of time, or how to relax for that matter, but I am looking forward to relearning. But I digress.

The point here, is that I naturally needed an awesome carry-on bag to bring with me. Ideally it will be the only bag since I am not feeling the checked luggage. I thought about making a weekender, but I don't entirely love the shape of it and if I am going to put that much work into something, I am sure going to love it. So I bought this pattern. I was going to buy it anyway to make the small version for the little one to pack on trips to grandma's, but I liked it a lot and figured I could make the larger one for me. I changed a few things, like the straps and added some pockets on the outside, and I used an extra stiff interfacing so that it would be nice and sturdy and stand up on its own.

Honestly, making it was pretty horrible. It was so hard to work with such stiff interfacing and the piping didn't help. I had to rip out a bunch as I was sewing the outside together and I'm still not entirely convinced my seam allowances are quite wide enough in some spots. The piping is totally uneven going around and the sides don't exactly line up. Also, by the time I got done shoving it under my sewing machine, some of the interfacing was coming un-fused so I hope that's not a problem down the road. But, I love it. Assuming it will stand up to a bit of wear and tear, I think it will be fantastic. I love the look the piping gives, and the fabric makes me happy every time I look at it. Even when I think of how dirty it's going to get. I can't wait to do some traveling with it. I think the finished size is something like 20x14x7, so it is a good size and should hold a lot. I thought it might be a little weird with the pockets being so different on each side, one between the straps and on covering them, but I really like it.

And I couldn't get a nice outside shot of me with the bag to show the size better, so a crappy inside one will have to do.

At any rate, the pattern was pretty good and I love the way it finally came together. Now I just have to figure out how to pack for a week in a relatively small space. I guess I'll have to start practicing.... Well happy weekend everyone!