Suitcase Update

Bottom half complete!

This is probably my last update before the big reveal of Sidekick Suitcase for Ben.

I was thinking about just waiting until I finished,

but I thought I would share my experience so far

especially in regard to my first experience with piping.

Top half complete!

In my last update, I showed you how I had made the piping.

Jodi's tips and tricks really helped in that department.

But I was still feeling overwhelmed by attaching the piping to the suitcase pieces.

Bottom half inside. My lining still makes me swoon.
LOVE this fabric.

Let me just say that it wasn't as difficult as I had originally thought.

However, I did have my fair share of frustrations.

Not with the directions/pattern, mind you.

Those were crystal clear (Thanks, Jodi!)

It was just quite a process to get through the middle steps of attaching the piping

and then sewing all of the pieces together.

Top half inside.

The biggest frustration for me was repeatedly breaking my needle trying to sew through so many layers (some of them being pretty thick fabrics).

This is, of course, my fault (it usually is).

I was rather excited to use an additional accent fabric for the corner patches and the handle,

a pretty, slate gray (thick) corduroy that I had left over from another project.

yes, THIS was the part that gave me the most trouble.
Darn corduroy. If only you weren't so great.

While I'm really happy with the way it looks,

and I did get it eventually,

as I progressed in the steps of the pattern, it became increasingly difficult to get through the layers of fabric without breaking my needle (which I should mention, drives. me. BONKERS.)

zippity zip zip zipper.

Anyway, I ended up sewing with a 120 needle (jean weight) instead of a 100 needle for the heavier parts, and that worked much better.

So there you have it.

I'm almost done... I've gotten a little bit ahead of the sew along and only have a few steps left, but I'll wait to share all of that until I have it completely finished. :)