If you are
thinking about making a duffle bag, I highly recommend the Travel Duffle or the
Get Out of Town Duffle by Patterns by Annie. I've made both of them, so I
figured that I should share a few things that I've learned.
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| Front view of both bags |
Until I
took a few pictures of them together last night, I don't think I ever got how significant
the size difference is between the two bags. According to ByAnnie.com, the
Travel Duffle measures 21" x
13" x 8" while the Get Out of Town Duffle measures 16" x
10" x 7". I'm pretty good with visualizing dimensions, but I still
wasn't quite prepared for what I saw in the pic.
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| Pretty big difference, isn't it? |
I've used
the Travel Duffle on 3 airline trips in the 11 months since I finished it - a larger Bombardier regional jet, an
Airbus A320 and a Boeing 737. On all of those trips, I had no problem placing
my bag in the overhead bin. If I had really overstuffed the bag, it might have
been a little iffy on the regional jet.
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| Stowed safely in the overhead bin |
I love this size because it can hold a lot of stuff, and it's a piece
of cake to remove the bottom stabilizer (I have a piece of acrylic in the base) so it can be folded down and packed into another suitcase. As a side note, the Pfaff Passport 3.0 sewing
machine fits great in the Travel Duffle. LOL.
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| My Pfaff Passport 3.0 inside the Travel Duffle (made with fabrics from Katarina Roccella's Avant Garde collection for Art Gallery Fabrics) |
The Get Out
of Town Duffle is a great size that would be perfect for a weekend getaway or
to be stored under the seat in front of you on a plane as a smallish bag. Like the Travel Duffle, it also has a
removable stabilizer base so that it can be folded down (or be carried as a
more slouchy bag).
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| My Get Out of Town Duffle in Galaxy Cats fabric by Timeless Treasures |
Both bags
use ByAnnie's Soft and Stable to provide structure and support without adding a
lot of weight. They also both have slip
interior pockets, 4 slip exterior pockets, and zippered exterior pockets (1 on
Get Out of Town and 2 on Travel Duffle).
In addition, both bags have adjustable shoulder straps that are
detachable.
I really
love both of my bags, and I'm glad that I made both sizes.
