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Bee weekender

by Linda Theil

Our little May-the-Fourth birthday girl has forsaken penguins for bees, so I made her a sleep-over bag using a 2020 fabric panel titled "Bee Grateful" by Deb Strain for Moda. I have made this Spencer-Ogg design from the "Escape Pod Travel Collection" several times. The "Weekend Bag" measures 16x11x6-inches and is meant to meet airline carry-on requirements.I think it makes a nice overnight bag.

With a sturdy interfacing the weekend bag has a solid structure; but I was interested in trying iron-on fleece as interfacing throughout the bag this time. The softer underpinning gives the bag a shabby, slouchy look that I think goes well with the insoucient bees.

To accent the silvery grays in the bee panel, I chose a silver zipper and hardware. The pattern features optional non-woven accents such as zip ends, zip pulls, a bottom gusset-overlay, decorative zip placket overlays, and a front pocket overlay strip. For these elements I used a rich honey-colored Mora faux-leather from Emmaline Bags in Alberta, Canada.

Mora faux-leather accents

From my stash I pulled a gray linen-blend that matched the gray accents in the bee panels for a lining, and a darker gray cotton for the gusset.

Interior zipper pocket and small slip-pocket

Interior showing full-width slip pocket

I used a 1.5-inch-wide, gray, cotton webbing for handles; and a diagonal black and white check that was a perfect accent fabric. I cut the motifs from the Deb Strain bee panel to fit the major pattern pieces of the bag.

To make a pouch for small treasures, I cut the one-pattern-piece, Spencer-Ogg "Cosmetics Pod" free pattern at 85% to fit a remaining motif from the bee panel.

Cosmetics Pod front

This pattern is very challenging for me, but always lots of fun!

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