Travel Handmade: Simplicity 2274 Pattern Review

This post is part of the Travel Handmade series, for more great travel bag posts click here!

Travel Handmade: Duffel Bag!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Today I'm going to be reviewing Simplicity Pattern 2274. The pattern was designed by Studio Cherie, and is also available in her Etsy Shop.

This pattern makes a BIG bag! The bag finishes off at 12" tall, 12" deep and 20" wide. I have never attempted a bag this size and I won't lie, I was slightly nervous. Especially since I was using pricey fabric! My partner in crime, Amanda, picked it up for me on sale, but if I messed up, it would be an expensive mistake! I used two prints from Heather Ross's Far Far Away II for the exterior and handles and a print from my stash in the interior. The advantage of using the Far Far Away II, is it's weight. It is a cotton linen blend, so it is somewhere between a quilting cotton and a canvas in weight. It was easy to sew and quilt with, but gives it a nice sturdiness. Because of the added bulk of using heavy fabrics and the multiple layers and batting, I used my walking foot for the entire bag!

Travel Handmade: Duffel Bag!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

As I started to cut out the pattern pieces, I got really excited to realize I only really needed to cut one of them! There are only 5 pattern pieces for this bag, and all but one of them is a rectangle or square. I really do not like using pattern pieces, so simply measured the other pieces and used my rotary cutter for the cutting, yippee! Just be careful to transfer your marks correctly too! If you have a fabric print that is directional, you'll need to follow her directions and cut two pieces for the main body of the bag instead of one. Just make sure you add in the seam allowance!

Once all your pieces are cut out, and there are quite a few between the exterior, lining and batting, the main pieces and side pieces need to be quilted. The pattern recommends using high-loft batting, but I cheated and just used Warm and White cotton batting, which is a low-loft batting. So, my bag is a little less puffy! It also doesn't stand up on it's own, but that doesn't bother me personally!

Travel Handmade: Duffel Bag!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

My biggest problem with this pattern is the quilting instruction. You are to make a quilt sandwich like normal and quilt the ends and middle. However, when you quilt, there can be a fair amount of shifting of all the layers, even with a lot of basting. I didn't think about it when I was cutting, but I would definitely recommend cutting your batting and lining even 1" larger than the exterior. This way there is room for shifting and you can simply trim it off when you're done. I also quilted mine a little more heavily then suggested, so maybe that added to the issue for me! I quilted straight lines, varying the width apart.

Whenever it is recommended to zig-zag stitch or serge, do it! You end up with exposed seams on the inside (which could easily be covered with binding or seam tape if you want), so be sure to take the time to do that. Once my bag was finished, I did a final round of zig-zag stitching to finish it off. It looks much more finished now!

Travel Handmade: Duffel Bag!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I had a little trouble finding the jute webbing for the handles. My local JoAnns didn't have it, but I did end up finding it at Hobby Lobby. You can order it online, but it's a bit pricey, Hobby Lobby had it for $1/yd. Be aware that the webbing usually has colored (or black) stripes on it. My webbing has red stripes on it. I thought, oh no worries it will get covered by the fabric! But! On the other side, some of it is exposed. So if that bothers you, you'll need to add a little fabric lining there as well, maybe only 5" or so. Do NOT skip pre-washing it! I almost did and I am so glad I didn't! I hand washed mine, and as soon as the webbing hit the warm water (in hindsight, should have used cold water!), the red bled like crazy! My shout color catchers are still packed away in a box somewhere, so I continued to rinse the jute for a while and then soaked it in soapy water and vinegar to help set the color. I dried it on high for about 30 minutes and then hung it to dry the rest of the way. It ended up being a lot softer after washing which was nice!

Travel Handmade: Duffel Bag!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Really the only confusing part about this pattern is attaching the sides at the end. I think you were supposed to use the marks to line it up but that wasn't working very well for me. I ended up marking the center at the top and bottom of each side piece as well as 1/2" in on all four corners. I lined up the top of the side pieces with the zipper and pinned. Then I sewed 1/2" in from the side all the way over to 1/2" on the other side. Then pinned and sewed both sides, then the bottom. This worked out quite nicely and any excess ended up at the bottom, so my top corners were super neat!

Travel Handmade: Duffel Bag!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

All in all I think this is a great pattern! In general it is easy to follow and I think there are some really great details on it. Included with the pattern there is also a clutch pattern and luggage tag pattern! If you're not up for sewing one yourself, you can also buy already made bags in Cherie's shop.

I am really, really happy with the way my bag turned out. I love it! It's going to be perfect for Sewing Summit as well as a lot of other overnight trips! I did not have a duffel bag so this will get a lot of use! :)

I hope that this was helpful, please if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to leave a comment here or email me!

PS - Simplicity patterns will be 5 for $5 this weekend at JoAnn Fabrics!

Will continue to edit this post to address questions here!
- Totally simple construction! It's basically got 1 body piece, straps and the two ends, and everything else is simply embellishment. I think on a scale of 1-10 (10 being easy, 1 being hard) in terms of bags I've made, I would rate this as probably a 7 or 8, really not bad! Just don't let yourself get befuddled by the instructions. Stop and think about how it all fits together and things will make sense! :)

- The jute did not end up shrinking much at all! Just bled everywhere and softened up!

- I think this bag would look fantastic done in patchwork, if you don't have enough of one fabric for the exterior (it takes 1 5/8 yds and uses most of it)! I am planning on making another that's all patchworky, maybe even with a pieced block on the one end!

- It's really not particularly time consuming either! I worked on it here and there over a week! The most time consuming parts were the cutting and the quilting!