Amy Butler Birdie Sling Bag–Pattern Review

 

Today I want to share a bag that I made at the weekend!  This is the first bag I have ever made, and apart from starting a basic quilt and never finishing it! my sewing experience is very limited.

The pattern I used is the Amie Butler Birdie Sling Bag, which you can see online here

Pattern Description “This honey of a sling holds everything and it's easy to make! (Great for beginners.) Modern styling and dynamic proportions will make this one of your favorite carry-all bags!”

I purchased my pattern from my LQS and if I remember correctly it was approx. $13.99.  The fabric I used to make my bag was by Joel dewberry from the Heirloom Collection and was about $9.00 a yard, so including all the interfacing and fleece interfacing this turned out to be quite an expensive bag to make because of the designer fabric I used. This bag cost about $50 to make, mainly because the LQS is much more expensive than your local Hobby Lobby or Joannes! (but I am OK with that as the “big” stores do not carry all the designer fabrics) and this is a LARGE bag.  If I were to make this bag again, I would maybe just use designer fabric for the outside and use cheaper fabric for the lining, or even just use cheaper fabric for all of it. 

Having never made a bag before, I was extremely pleased with the result.  The pattern was extremely easy to follow and even though I have never sewn pleats or gussets, with the help of the instructions I managed to!  So if I can make this bag anyone can. The only thing I disliked about the pattern was the amount of material that it says you need to make the bag.  I had a lot of material left over,enough to make another bag! (which I will share with you soon) and probably a third if I had not originally cut the fabric out as suggested in the pattern.  Overall though it is a great bag, and it is a BIG bag, which will be great for days out on the beach or messing about on the river!

If you got this far reading my review then wow, now I will shut up and let you see some pics.

Look at those gorgeous pleats!

Inside of the bag is lined with Joel Dewberry – Tile Flourish, it has 2 quite large pockets (the ones you can see in the pic) and one larger pocket on the opposite side.  Like I said this is one large bag, great for holding all your essentials on the beach………………

FABRIC USED - JOEL DEWBERRY
TILE FLOURISH IN AMBER (Lining)
RIBBON LATICE IN AMBER (strap, band)
ORNATE FLORAL IN AMBER (main part of bag)