My Splurge Project....

So, I have a confession.  I did not stick to the Sew My Stash 2015 challenge when I made this bag. 

 

I couldn't help it though!  I have been dieing to make myself a new larger sized tote bag for shlepping around all the kiddo's stuff and after being so good for the last two months about barely buying any fabric and producing a lot of projects only from my stash, I decided I needed a splurge project.
Sara over at Sew Sweetness released her Tudor Bag pattern back in November and it's been on the top of my wish list when it comes to bags.  So I splurged. I bought her pattern, bought some fancy bronze purse hardware into JoAnn's, got a couple of metal zippers from Zipit (THE best place to get zippers - seriously!  With their amazing prices and super fast shipping - I refuse to buy my zippers anywhere else!), a little bit of interfacing, and two yards of some Cotton & Steel Metallic XOXO fabric (surprisingly found at my local quilt shop which carries a smattering of Cotton & Steel in the middle of their very traditional fabric selection). 

To be fair though, I had enough of the Cotton & Steel Mustang Metallic Arrows in Navy, Kona Navy, and most of the interfacing I needed for the bag.  (I know....I'm trying desperately to justify this one). 
A note about the pattern.  I actually had the chance to meet Sara in person and take a bag making class from her last March at Camp Stitchalot.  Sara is a brilliant bag designer and I learned so much from her about interfacing for bags and bag making tips in general.  Her patterns are definitely my go to pattern when I'm looking for a bag that has a great shape to it and some stiff body to it.  She has great step-by-step photos to go along with her well written directions.  She also has some great tips throughout the pattern about how to use the interfacing the pattern calls for.  All that to say that I highly recommend her patterns to any sewer.   

I worked on this bag off and on for 4 days before I finished it up.  Although, if I hadn't had to wait for zippers, get a little more of the XOXO fabric, and deal with a million kid and life interruptions, I could have probably gotten this done a lot quicker. 

Final conclusion - this bag was a perfect splurge project.  I used some fabric I've long been drooling over and I got a beautiful bag out of it! 

I'm pretty sure it's a big enough bag to hold my kiddos crap I have to shlepp around for most of our outings.  And most importantly, it's big enough to hold my English Paper Piecing travel case!!  hehe