I might have already mentioned that I’ve spent five of the last eight weeks running around the U.S. and Europe. My little electric blue weekend bag, an H&M purchase five years ago, was with me the whole way–and if you know much about the quality of H&M goods, you might not be surprised to hear that its best days are well behind it. The blue pleather is chipping off in places and the blue straps are worn down to the white padding underneath.

On my last day in Europe, I realized it was time to say goodbye to that old purse, and I started daydreaming about coming home and sewing a new weekender bag from leftover denim and (surprise, surprise) rust-colored woodgrain print fabric. I’ve had this foldover weekend bag on my Etsy favorites for over a year, and that served as my inspiration.

I haven’t sewn any bags in a few years, but during a long train ride from Germany to Denmark, I started dreaming up a pattern in my head: a flat back, with an easy-access back pocket, and a spacious front pocket with a zippered top that folds over. A flat, square bottom, reinforced for strength. I loved the tubular handles on my old blue purse–they were so much more comfortable than the leather straps of my luggage.

I came home and, after a good nights’ sleep, got right to work on creating a pattern. I drafted what might generously be called a prototype from newspaper. The idea seemed solid, so I sketched out a pattern on graph paper and got to cutting. I’m not usually great at the whole measure-twice-cut-once thing, but I did my best to err on the side of caution this time. And it paid off. Two days later, I had a new bag that I adore, and I bet I’m going to run this one into the ground, too.

I made the outer shell from denim leftover from this project, and the lining from fabric leftover from the chair featured here. The back pocked is also lined with the woodgrain, and has a little snap to keep it closed. The zipper on the main pocked follows the curve of the top opening.

I’m really happy with how the handles and straps turned out–I folded and sewed strips of (Joann Fabrics’ highest-quality) faux leather around thick cotton welt cord.

I’m so happy with the result. Let me know what you think!