Dallas Duffel

Finally I’ve finished! 😅

I’m a little bit ashamed at how long it has taken me to finish my Dallas Duffel bags. I started them over 2 years ago! But I did make both the small and medium sizes. So they were bound to take time. Anyway I’m just so happy to have them finished!

The Dallas Duffel bag is a sewing pattern by Swoon. You get the measurements and pattern pieces for three different sizes. It’s always great when you’ve got options to choose from. Swoon have a great selection of bag patterns which are well worth checking out. I’ve made quite a few in the past including the Brooklyn Traveler and Handbag, Dollie and Denver Backpack. 

One thing I would say about Swoon patterns (including their free ones) is that they contain detailed written instructions. But they are quite light when it comes to drawn graphics/pictures. So if you are a visual learner you might find them more difficult. 

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This pattern is aimed at intermediate bagmakers. I think this is quite accurate as there are some tricky steps involved. For example the addition of the piping around the ends of the duffel – although you could leave this out if you wanted. Attaching the ends to the body of the bag was quite fiddly as well. I also found the final assembly quite difficult.

The finally assembly of this bag is one I’ve never come across before. It uses the ‘drop in’ lining method instead of the ‘pull through and turn out’ (or birthing) method. This is not my favourite way to assemble a bag because you usually have to bind the raw edges. But this pattern doesn’t use binding and instead asks you to attach the exterior and lining by topstitching along the zipper. It’s very hard to get into the corners and to make sure the exterior, lining and zipper are perfectly aligned.

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I absolutely love the exterior fabric but realised part way through that it might not have been the best choice for duffel bags. So I decided to add some bag feet to the bottom to try protect the fabric. I added six feet to the small bag and eight to the medium. I figured the feet will also help keep the bottom stabiliser in place.

When adding the feet I measured out where I wanted them placed onto the stabiliser. Punched the holes out from the stabiliser and ironed it onto the fabric. I then used these as a guide for making holes in the fabric for the feet. 

This method works perfectly if you have screw in feet (like me). If you are using the feet with 2 prongs than you will need to do it differently. Of course I completely forgot about the straps going all the way to the bottom. 🤦‍♀️ I managed to get away with it for the small but the medium not so much.

Another addition I made was to add some slip pockets to the lining at both ends. For a pocket addict like me 2 zipper pockets just weren’t enough. I also added some rivets to the slip pockets to stop them from sagging and to the straps for extra strength.

Overall I love the end result! Although I made a few errors with my hardware additions – I think I’ve managed to get away with it. The Dallas Duffel pattern certainly challenged me and I learnt a few new techniques. Such as installing vertical zippers and a new drop-in lining method. I’m so happy to have them completed so I can use them on my next trip!

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