Top five picks for overnight or travel bags
The joy of using a handmade bag as your luggage for a long weekend or your carry on for a flight never gets old, and believe me when I say that people notice and comment on your bespoke and unique bag. A real moment to feel proud of something you’ve made, and of course the perfect opportunity to say ‘Thanks, I made it!’.
I’m sharing a few fan favourites with you today, and offering my opinions on the patterns and their practicality. Being a travel bag, you want it to be; robust, spacious, wide opening, stylish,…and most importantly, something you feel proud of. Let’s see what these patterns have to offer.
First on the list is a pattern which has attracted a lot of attention over the last year or so, and that’s the Noodlehead Patterns ‘Oxbow Tote’. I’ve written a blog post about this pattern previously, which you can find here.
One of the features of this pattern is that it comes in 2 sizes. The larger size is ideal as an overnight bag, and I’ve used it on plenty of weekend trips as well as carry on for long haul flights. The smaller size is probably better suited as a handbag, rather than a travel bag, but it’s a perfectly cute little bag too. The larger size was able to hold a change of clothes, general carry on items (book, headphones, small wash bag,…) as well as my Hovea Jacket and my laptop on a recent flight to Australia. The bag didn’t fit under the seat in front of me when it was packed this full but was ideal for the overhead locker.
Another great feature of the Oxbow Tote is that you can opt to make this with canvas and interlining, or use quilting cotton and quilt the outer or inner layers. This option is fun because you can really personalise your bag. The quilted bag option offers you a padded bag, which offers more protection for the things you’re carrying (hello, laptop!) but you will lose a tiny bit of space in the bag as the wadding is approximately 0.5cm on each edge, and the space has to go somewhere! The canvas option will be harder wearing than the quilting cotton option, on the basis that the threads used for weaving the quilting cotton are finer than those used for weaving canvas. Using quilting cotton opens up a huge amount more opportunity for patterned fabrics than the canvas options, so there are plus sides to both options.
The Oxbow Tote has a full width opening at the top of the bag, and it’s easy to access your items from within.
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The next on the list is the ByAnnie Patterns ‘Ultimate Travel Bag’. Well, that’s a good start and a bold claim – but coming from the queen of quilted bag patterns I think that’s okay.
The Ultimate Travel Bag has clearly been well considered, with many pocket options both inside and outside the bag. Internally there is a mesh pocket option, which allows good visibility, and helps with organising all your overnight bits and pieces. Externally there is a double pocket to the front (one zipped and one slip) and one slip pocket on either end of the bag. As well as the pockets, there is a sleeve to the back allowing you to slide your bag onto the handle of a suitcase.
The zippered opening at the top of the Ultimate Travel Bag goes part way down each side panel too, allowing for really wide opening and easy access into the bag. This is a definite selling point for this bag.
The bag is designed for quilted fabric, and is bound inside, rather than having a separate lining. The binding adds structure and rigidity to the finished bag, helping it to retain it’s shape.
There is a sew in sleeve in the bottom of the inner bag, for a Perspex bag base to be used. This allows for weight distribution, and structure again.
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This next one isn’t a bag pattern that we stock here at Tuesday’s Child Fabrics, but we have some excellent fabric choices for it. The Sew Over It ‘ Weekend Bag’ is designed for sewing with canvas, and features a handy external pocket, and nice sturdy straps which are sewn into the base seam.
The straps have been carefully considered, and feature a rectangle ring half way up the body, to help them to lie out of the way when you’re accessing the contents of the bag. Little design features like this make a big difference into a bags usability.
The bag features a full width zipper closure across the top and boxed corners at the bottom to add width, a clever feature which helps keep the sewing pattern beginner friendly whilst maintaining style and functionality.
Sew Over It are known for their stylish and fun dressmaking patterns, and their weekend bag is no exception.
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The Dhurata Davies Patterns ‘Rome Weekender Bag’ makes a feature of its gusset piece, which is a great way to add consistent depth across the bag, and allowing for a decent opening space to get your things in and out of the bag. The zipper closure at the top goes across the top and down the side of the gusset pieces part way, meaning the bag opens more widely than those where the zip is purely at the top of the bag.
This pattern has the option for quilted front and back panels, which gives nice padding to protect your belongings. Especially useful if you’re planning on toting a laptop or other tech with you on your trip. Indeed the design of this bag has taken that into consideration with a large inner pocket just the right size for laptops/documents. This is an ideal bag to pack for a work trip, for sure.
This pattern recommends cotton canvas for the outer, and quilting cotton or similar for the lining. As talked about earlier in this piece, canvas is robust and hardwearing, which is ideal for bags which will got a lot of use, and may get thrown about a little.
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The final offering in this blog post today is a little different. This is the ByAnnie Patterns ‘Going Places’ garment bag. It’s all very well talking about the main travel bags, which will carry all your belongings for a trip, but what about when you need to keep garments neat and flat. Perhaps you’re going to a wedding, or have a work event that you need to be dressed smartly for? This is the bag pattern for you. Maybe you will make this a matching item to your other luggage? It would go beautifully with any of the other patterns discussed here already.
So, what are the key features of this beautiful pattern? The pattern is a quilted bag, providing padding and protection for your most treasured garments. It has a full length zipper up the centre of the bag, with a clear vinyl window on the opposite side. There is a hole at the top of the garment bag for a coat hanger to pass through, so you can keep your garment inside the bag whilst it’s hanging in a wardrobe too.
As well as the main body of the bag, there are 5 additional pockets to keep accessories, shoes or other smaller items for your trip. Additional pockets are mesh which helps with visibility.
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I hope you’ve found this blog post informative, and it’s helping you to chose the right sewing pattern for you to make your very own travel or overnight bag.
