Weekends are for enjoying, right? Well, when my kids are busy with Legos and video games, and my husband is catching up on TV, what do I choose to do? Sew, of course! During the week, I'm always working on customer orders, and I'm definitely not caught up. But on the weekends, I allow myself time to try new patterns or experiment with techniques. I consider myself to be in continuing education, so it's important!

When I saw the Emily Bag online, I fell in love with the shape and large size. I just had to buy the pattern (ithinksew.com) and make some! I've made totes and I've made purses, but this bag combines the two styles. 

The exterior is a heavyweight home decor fabric in aqua. It has a subtle tone-on-tone stripe. It's more green than blue. I think it's an outdoor fabric, meant for patio furniture cushions and such. It's very strong and durable. Here's an extreme closeup from my Flickr feed, but it looks a bit too green in that photo. The interior is a brown/aqua floral cotton that matches perfectly!

The Emily Bag can be used as a tote or huge purse. I wanted it to have the features of a Sew Much Cuteness purse, so I added a zip pocket and a darted phone pocket to the lining. 

It was hard to photograph the lining because it's such a huge bag. It doesn't stand on its own, so here's the best I could do.

The approx. dimensions:
18 inches wide
14.5 inches high
7 inches deep
7 inch strap height

Emily has a flat bottom and wide side gussets. Because of the "V" on each side, the top of the bag opens wide too. 

It closes with an antique bronze-colored magnetic snap. 

This bag can be carried on the shoulder, if you're petite or thin. It's a bit snug for me to carry it that way, so I plan to make the straps longer next time.

The strap length is perfect for carrying with your hand or on the crook of your arm. 

This bag is made with typical Sew Much Cuteness quality construction. I double- and triple-stitched all stress points. I also sewed the exterior seams down, so the bag can handle lots of weight.

The interior and bottom pieces are interfaced with my favorite Pellon Shape-Flex. The handles have two layers of that interfacing.

This is a great overnight bag, school bag, work bag, shopping bag, diaper bag, large purse, etc.! It's really quite feminine and elegant... totally modern and eye-catching!

I will be listing this bag on Etsy for $65. You can custom order one in your choice of fabrics too. 

Thanks for reading! I truly can't wait to show you things after I finish them!

-- Rene

I finished a quilted Madeleine bag today. I've made a handful of these before -- but this one has a custom laptop pocket. I hope my customer Liz will enjoy it!

The interior has a large YKK zippered pocket, and a laptop pocket that closes with an elastic Velcro strap. The bag closes with TWO strong magnetic snaps. 

This design is made with two yards of double-faced, pre-quilted fabric. I special-order your fabric after you checkout, typically from Joann or Fabric.com. Because the fabric is pricey and this bag is so large, I charge $85 for them. I offer customizable interior pockets -- if you don't want a laptop pocket, I'll make slip pockets, reader pockets, or whatever you like. The Etsy listing is HERE. 

For $10 less, you can order a non-quilted bag in this style. I will use medium-weight or heavyweight fabrics with a layer of batting instead. 

The bag is 6 layers thick because the exterior AND the lining are made from pre-quilted fabric. It measures about 19" wide, 14" long, and 4" deep. This is definitely more like luggage than a tote bag. The 14" handles are super-reinforced. 

This bag design was born when a customer requested a large Vera Bradley-inspired school bag that could handle a lot of weight. This is literally TWO quilted bags sewn together to give it maximum strength and interior pockets. It can be used as an overnight bag, school bag, work bag, shopping bag, or whatever you need it for!

It's a lot of work to make this bag! I definitely say "Ta-da!" when I'm finished. Ta-da!