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Amy Butler’s Style Stitches – No. 12 Take Flight Shoulder Bag

I wasn’t really supposed to be making this bag until the end of the year for the Amy Butler Style Stitches Sew Along. When I got this book last year and saw the sewing pattern for this bag, I knew that it was meant to be made for my friend, Kim. She is the most generous person ever, and the reason that I started quilting. I am so thankful for that, because I really love making quilts and it’s opened a whole new sewing door for me! Kim and I are working on a Heather Ross Quilt Along right now, and she basically sent me all of her Heather Ross/Munki Munki collection. She.is.the.best.EVER. So that’s why I started this bag way ahead of schedule, because I think that she deserves to have it now.

I made the bag with some of the Heather Ross fabrics that Kim sent me. She doesn’t really like pink, so I went through and picked all of the fabrics with blue as the main color. If you have seen this bag from the book, maybe you noticed that that bag has 7 petals and mine only has 6. I started out with 7 petals (the other one was from some Munki Munki pajama bottoms with roller skates on them), but one of the fabrics was a bit too green, so I opted to leave that one out. I just rearranged the petals to compensate for the one that was missing in the center of the bag.

Fabrics – The sewing pattern calls for 1-1/2 yards of fabric for the top, edges, and inside of the bag; 1/2 yard for the main exterior; and yardage for the petals, but since I was using scraps, it worked out just fine. This bag needs a lot of interfacing (some pieces are interfaced with woven, fleece, and peltex…all 3!).

Pattern Pieces -There are 4 different pattern pieces to cut out for the petals, a piece for the main side of the exterior, and one for the side panels. All of the rest are rectangular cuts based on measurements from the pattern. A lot of cutting, measuring, and organizing here people!

Illustrations/Instructions – If you’ve made up any of the other patterns from this book, you’ll know that there are no photos to accompany the instructions, and that the illustrations are very limited. If you are new to sewing bags, I would not start out with this bag as your first project from the book!

There are several parts to this sewing pattern that can be a bit tricky. First off, the petals are surrounded by bias. It’s not necessarily tricky sewing the bias onto the petals, but it is a bit difficult getting the curved edges of the petal bias to lay flat. It takes a lot of clipping and easing! Then, the petals must be attached to the main part of the exterior via stitch-in-the-ditch. I have never done this before, but I wanted to make my first quilt last year (initially) using this technique. Was I crazy?!? Stitch-in-the-ditch is very time-consuming, and I was almost squinting to make sure I was getting it in the ‘ditch’ between the two fabrics.

The zipper is really easy to install with Amy Butler’s instructions; you just sew the two top pieces of fabric together with a basting stitch, sew in the zipper over that seam, then use your seam ripper to remove those basting stitches.

I love the detail on the handles (if you can see). I sewed 1/2″ from each edge of the handle and then again 1/4″ from both edges. Another simple detail I really enjoy is the stitches across both side panels, right below the zipper.

I didn’t make any other modifications to this pattern besides removing one of the petals. This was sort of a complicated sewing pattern in every aspect, and so I did my best to just stick to the instructions, lol. It is such a beautiful bag, and I can’t wait to make another one for myself (but in a little while, haha!).

Conclusion – This sewing pattern is not for a beginner. I would recommend this for an intermediate sewer with some handbag-making experience. It is really, really nice to make up though, and completely different from any of the other bag sewing patterns out there. I am so happy with how it turned out, and I hope Kim loves it!

P.S. I’m posting this project for Sew Modern Monday and Fabric Tuesday!

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18 thoughts on “Amy Butler’s Style Stitches – No. 12 Take Flight Shoulder Bag

  1. Elizabeth D. says:

    Way cute! I love all the Munki Munki fabrics you used, they make the bag so much fun 🙂

  2. Becky says:

    Very cute! I don’t think any Amy Butler pattern is for beginners. What is up with that? Love what you did though.

  3. Bree says:

    Beautiful! I love that you used the Heather Ross fabrics for the petals. This is one that intimidates me a bit, but I am looking forward to getting to it. Great job!

  4. Sourkraut says:

    I adore the fabrics you chose for the petals and bravo to you for forging ahead with this pattern! I really like the design too but could tell it would take a lot of work. Thanks for once again skipping ahead and doing such a great review for all of us.

  5. QuiltyGirl says:

    Cute! I love HR fabric, too.

  6. Teje says:

    Hello! You have doen perfect work with your bag and it’s really beautiful! I enjoyed also seeing your older posts and all those lovely and happy fabrics!
    Thank you for your sweet comment!
    Sunny wishes! Teje

  7. Jessica says:

    oh wow! I have to admit, I am super super intimidated by that pattern, but I’m hoping by the time I make it to that pattern, I’ll be a little more confident. Your bag looks amazing!! Lucky friend 🙂

  8. Mary says:

    Wow wow, I’m sure she’s going to LOVE this! I’m scared to make this bag. I had a hard enough time with the MissMaven Handbag! 🙂

  9. Kristen says:

    Beautiful bag! Love the fabrics!

  10. That bag is one of my favs and would love to make one some day. Thanks for the review!!!!

  11. Vickie says:

    I have not seen this pattern, but it is really great! Love your fabrics

  12. Megan says:

    Eeek! Fabulous! I love how the zipper looks and your bags always look perfect! Thanks for linking up to {Sew} Modern Monday!

  13. Quiltstory says:

    This looks so great! Well done! Love the Heather Ross fishies, so cute. Thanks for linking up to Fabric Tuesday!

  14. Fabulous! I was wondering: what made it most tricky? (I saw it listed for “Experienced” sewists.) Was it the curves and the bias tape or the base of the bag? I have a hard time with curves but it seems to me if I removed the petals, this would be an easy project…

  15. Janet says:

    I enjoyed the review. I like the bag.

  16. Kim says:

    I love my bag!!!! Thank you so much Sara :o) You ROCK!!!!!!

  17. Mickey says:

    I cut out this pattern (and my fabric & interfacing & fleece) this week. After petal two, out of fourteen, I put it aside. I am going to try a simpler pattern from the book first. I LOVE yours though. HR rocks!!!!

  18. Sue says:

    HI any tips on attaching the handles. I am finding the instructions tricky to follow. Do I baste them on the right side of the bag or on the wrong side?

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