Pattern Review: Indygo Junction In-Style Suitcase Bag IJ913

I was so excited about this bag.  The photos of it make it look so cute and sharp.  I was so excited that I actually bought the specified size of the D rings (I usually just find something that is similar in my stash).  I also bought buckram to use in place of the polyester foam, and I actually bought medium-weight interfacing (I have a bunch of lightweight interfacing I usually use).

But this was an awful project.  I think I would be less annoyed if it were a tutorial, but I spent $10 for the pattern.  I would think that a paid pattern would be better than this, and I am sorely disappointed.

Why did I hate this project?



 1. The raw seams are exposed inside.  They are serged or zig-zagged, but still... exposed seams in a lined purse? C'mon.

2. The pieces are all cut using eighths of an inch.  Really?  Can't we work in fourths or halves of an inch?  Must we be that precise?

3. You had me buy a really long zipper then cut off a third of it (inches on each side).  Why not just specify the size of the opening?

4. The inner pockets look bad.  It is actually clever in theory how they are attached.  They are lined up with the sides and bottom on each side, then your seams to attach the straps on the outside double for the inner pockets.  But why waste the inch on each seam of usable pocket space? Why not just do a bag lining with proper pockets?

5. The instructions are too brief.  I am not one for over-explaining, but they are hard to understand.  The diagrams aren't marked with right side up and down, and the two versions of the bag are marked by the colors of the example bags rather than their redeeming features (i.e. just call one version a single exterior pocket bag and the other version a double exterior pocket bag instead of "green" and "purple").


6. The handles have exposed seams.  They are tucked under and serged or zig-zagged, but still-- I want to make a polished bag.  The roughness looks bad.

The construction method of the top zipper area was actually pretty cool: they have you put in the zipper, hidden between the exterior and interior layers, then cut the whole panel to size.

I also found how they have you use the medium interfacing on the pockets to be unusual.  To make the pockets, they have you fold a large piece in half long-ways.  Then a piece of interfacing is ironed onto the fold, with about 2 inches on each side.  This adds a nice amount of crispness to the edge.

I ended up trying to "save" the inner look of the bag by covering all my seams with fold-over elastic (FOE) I happened to have in the same color.  Before I did this, my inner lining was fraying like crazy-- even through my zig-zags.   I couldn't imagine using the bag and getting yellow fuzz every time.

So (no surprise here), if you are considering this bag, I'd say give it a skip.

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