Vacation, anyone?

I need a vacation.

Not because I do anything more difficult than anyone else. I'm a mom to five kids. I homeschool. I bake my own bread. I hound kids about piano practice. I read stories. I fix dinner. I do laundry. Lots of laundry. I do dishes. I buy groceries. I help my law student stay focused. And I sew.

But that's not why I need a vacation.

I need a vacation so I can use this gorgeousness:

I love this bag. Everyone says that, right?

And, don't hate me, but it wasn't all that difficult. Maybe because I'd built it up in my mind as some sort of sewing Mt. Everest and it was totally manageable.

A few things:

• Buy a cording/piping foot. A narrow one. Way better than a zipper foot and I could get so close to the cording and keep it really tight.
• I used the steam-a-seam tape for the piping. The ONLY way to go.
• I lengthened and widened the handles a bit. Good move.
• I made a inside zipper pocket, my first EVER, and I love how it turned out.

• I didn't break a single needle, and I didn't use a special needle. I should say though that my machine is a beast, and super strong. And I went very slowly.
• Since I was using directional prints, I had to piece the top panel dandelion pieces. I also wanted to match the patterns, which took some figuring out. It would have been nice if there had been some small pointers on doing this in the pattern.
• I attached the lining by machine at the zipper opening. Just followed along the original stitching and it's just fine. I put on some old Downton episodes and hand-stitched the rest.Give yourself time to do the hand-stitching. It's worth it.

I've got requests for more for Christmas, so this won't be my only one. And I'm okay with that. In fact, I've got my second one cut out and ready to go! On second thought, maybe these should be birthday presents . . .

So where should I go? Just for fun, here are my most realistic fantasy vacation spots of the moment:

Source: creaturecomfortsblog.com via Jennie on Pinterest

A treehouse in Issaquah? Near my favorite city with my favorite bakery and Greek restaurant? Um, yes please?

Source: runoftheriver.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Or a fabulous B&B near Leavenworth, Washington. They have a fabulous Christmas festival. It's a great little Bavarian village in the Cascade Mountains. Love it.

I just need a babysitter for a weekend . . . I have the fabulous bag covered now!Oh, and I'll need a somewhat fabulous wardrobe to go with the bag. You know. Because that's important.

The Official stats:

• Fabric: Premier Prints Small Dandelion Candy Pink/White (it's on sale right now for $5.98/yd.), Ticking Stripe Azalea/Ivory
• Lining pocket tutorial
• Zippers purchased here

Marking this one off the 4Q FAL list and linking up!