Quilted Duffel Finished

I finally finished the quilted duffel. It's been sitting for about 3 weeks because zippers are scary. But now less so (even if I did break two needles making this when going around the edges of the end pocket piece). I had been wary of my ability with zippers, but making the two triple zips certainly helped allay those fears. It was also a WIP that I really wanted to finish before I go to Navy training in three weeks.

The outside of the bag is home dec weight, almost feels like a light canvas, and the blue dotted print is also the lining of the main bag and the side pocket. 

 

The fact that the side zig zags line up on the zip pocket with the body of the bag 

is totally by happy accident. 

I'm quite pleased with how this project turned out. If I hadn't done such detailed quilting (zig-zag stitching around 2 lines of the pattern, skipping one, then outlining 2, etc.) I probably would have finished it sooner, but I like how sturdy it feels with that much quilting. I did leave out the side pocket which would be sewn in between the straps since I didn't feel like an open pocket would ever get any use. but I did put in the zippered, pleated end pocket seen in the picture on the left. This bag is bigger than I was thinking it would be, but that's never a bad thing.

I can certainly see making more of these. The pattern from Studio Cherie was straight forward and detailed. I never felt lost while making it. I'm looking forward to being able to travel with a hand made bag that's absolutely sturdy enough to hold up regardless of where I'm going.