My Favorite Duffle Fabrics

I get the question from time to time about what fabrics to use for sewing up the duffle pattern. As I was typing out my response to the question over at Craftsy, I realized it would be better as a blog post with links.
Thanks for asking! There are 3 types of fabric I use in this pattern. The main exterior fabric I like best is home decor weight cotton. If you like Waverly fabrics, there are a lot of good choices at JoAnns. The rose fabric I use is Waverly Norfolk Rose. Also any of the 45" wide home decor fabrics on bolts at JoAnns work well. That is where I found the black and white houndstooth - and I bought all I could find in Washington and North Idaho. The fabrics in my main photo on Craftsy are all Amy Butler Fabrics. At Westminster fabrics you can find modern designers like Joel Dewberry, Ty Pennington, and Amy Butler. They all have home decor weight cottons that work well in a variety of prints. The great thing about using those designer fabrics is they have coordinating/contrasting fabrics in quilting weight to use for the strap fabric. You can use quilting weight for the main fabric as well, but I do like the home decor weight better for it's durability. The bag shown above has Amy Butler home decor fabric from her Lark collection paired with Kaffe Fassett's paisley jungle in tangerine.
When I quilt the main fabric, I like to use a premium quality muslin for the back. That becomes the inside of the bag. I don't use fashion fabric for that because you don't really see it. You need a high quality fabric there though because it is getting used as you load and unload the bag. My favorite for this is Kona premium muslin. I have linked to the 44 inch wide, but it does come wider if you are making more than one duffle.  A lot of my links take you to fabric.com. One of the things I like about ordering from them is free shipping on orders over $35. If you ordered all 3 fabrics together, it comes to about $50, so your shipping is free.
I get my jute webbing at JoAnns. I like the quality they carry. I have ordered it elsewhere, but I did not like it as well.
JoAnns is also where I go for the batting I use. They don't have the one I use online, but it looks like this one. The one I use is Soft n Crafty batting in the 8 ounce. The one online is 10 ounce which would be too hard for you to work with. I get a lot of questions about the batting. Yes, you can use any batting you like. I suggest if you are using black fabric that you use black batting.  I use the 8 ounce (and after making hundreds of duffles I still like it the best) because it makes the bag stand up on its own while it is empty. I need that for photographing the duffles. If you would rather fold your duffle and put it in the linen closet when you are not using it, you can use something like warm and natural for the batting. The very first duffle I made was with warm and natural and I still use the bag. It is holding up perfectly well to tons of use. It is easier to sew with the thinner batting. If ease is a factor and you don't need photos, use the lighter batting. JoAnns has loads of coupon and sales. I never pay full price there. Usually, the prices I pay at JoAnns are lower than I could get wholesale.
I hope this helps you! Please feel free to ask questions.
Here is the post with the quilting plan I use:
Quilting the duffle fabric

Customer Success Show-Off Time

Ellen sent me this lovely photo of the duffle she made from my sewing pattern, and I wanted to show it off here for several reasons. First, I have not made any in tiny prints and I wanted to show you how darling that can be. Also to let you know it is perfectly fine to use whatever batting you like for these. When you use the thinner batting, it does not stand up on its own empty, but it will when you fill it up. I think it makes storing the bag easier too. The other thing is the straps. Notice she didn't use jute webbing. I thought maybe she had found a 4" wide twill tape, but it is actually 2 side by side pieces of 2" twill tape. She butted them against one another and zigzagged them together.  I like to dry clean my duffles because I like the jute handles.  For those of you wanting a washable duffle, I recommend using this 2" wide twill tape - prewashed of course. I would buy 8-9 yards of it to make sure I had enough after shrinking. Ellen just started a blog too, here she is, the crafty geek.

Another customer show-off that turned up in my Etsy feedback as an appreciation photo (I love those) for my luggage tags pattern. Here is what she said:

Thank you! This pattern is great; actually I liked it so much I incorporated the tags into my wedding invitations. Highly recommend this pattern!

I thought it was very clever how she made the paper long enough to easily pull out of the tag. Lovely photo too.

Ready to Ship Duffles Now on Special

If you have been saving up for one of my fabulous travel bags, now is the time to get the best deal. I have 7 bags made and ready to ship. Go to my duffle section to choose one, and enter the coupon code RTS20 to get $20 off at checkout. This special applies only to my ready to ship duffles pictured here. There is still time to order a custom duffle for Christmas. Those are regular price and we need to talk fabric ASAP, so contact me if you want something other than what you see in this photo. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. We are heading to Seattle to enjoy it with family. More Israel and Egypt photos coming.

Buttercuppity is a dangerous place

Sunny Sunglasses Case
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

I went in for some fabric for a custom duffle that just got ordered. I came out with fabric for new sunglass cases too. At least this time I had a reason for buying the fabric and I actually used it right away. I have a stack of folded fabric about 2 feet high, all impulse buys. If you can believe it, I sew even more in my head than I do on my machines. Oh, I just found out I am in the Etsy voter this week. If you could vote for my weekend in wine country duffle, I would appreciate it. If anyone has an actual weekend in wine country to give away, I'd like that even better!

14 months later...Yes!

14 months ago, I posted this dream of mine. To re-do some of my own furniture in the beautiful bright fabrics that come out of Rowan and Westminster fabrics - like Amy Butler. Rory laughed back then. Now he agrees that it's a good idea. My kitchen is about to get a makeover! The photo above shows the one yard wonder kitchen chair cover - which is my submission for the upcoming one-yard wonders 2 book. I will be doing a demo and hands-on workshop at Buttercuppity on April 7th.
Now I just have to pause the duffle factory long enough to recover 6 of our big parsons chairs. I bought 9 yards of fabric at Buttercuppity the other day for them. Here is a photo of what I am calling the duffle factory. Some new fabrics in the works that will be ready to ship duffles unless someone buys them before they are ready. If that happens, my ready to ship dream will remain a dream for a while longer.

How I spent yesterday afternoon

At Heartbeat Quilting. My daughter came with me and was extremely helpful. (She inspired the silly pose...or maybe I should blame it on my ponytail...Note to self - do NOT pose as a little teapot, you will not like the results...Note to self - check left boob for thread - Oh, I have some there now...) I wanted a picture of both of us, but we worked until closing time. My goal in the New Year is to have duffles ready to ship and not do as many made to order. (Honestly, I didn't even decorate my own Christmas tree this year because I was too busy sewing duffles. I vow not to repeat that next year.) Of the six I quilted yesterday, three are already sold. I can hardly wait to show up at the quilt shop with an actual quilt instead of duffles - I do have a great one in the works...better get back to it now.