A handmade Duffel bag from a pattern at Creative Awl.
This one was a personal gift to Family. While the overall product looks nice at the end, I would rate this pattern by Creative awl aS Unusable and would never recommend It or sell it as a commission.
There were significant problems with the pattern. Including inability to print correctly. even though I went with a professional printer, the PDF and other files were wrong, and I had to make adjustments to get it to print right. THere were several incorrectly sized pieces even after making adjustments (incorrect punch holes, hardware BoM, ZIpper SizE, and incorrectly labeled pattern pieces).
If you are using this pattern, there are some videos on the inaccuracies, and comments on Youtube about it. I would recommend against using their leather recommendation. SOme of their stitch lines have structural issues and would be failure points for the duffel bag. At the very least, you should line the bag, especially if you plan on trying to dye the leather. The untreated leather with dye feels like a bleed point for a customer. I would also probably recommend lining the bag, as that would help a bit with dye bleed. Or even just using a finish.
My biggest issue with this pattern is the duffel bag’s main compartment flap. While looking at the pics, I just didn’t even think about it, but the flap makes the entire design unusable. It’s not well designed. Even with a full bag, The Flap will NOT cover the contents safely, and it always gets messed up when carrying. the strap points and buckle points create stress in a way that any movement just also moves the cover. No amount of extra belt holes, Strap fixing, etc Will fix it.
The design should’ve just been Zipper based. That’s a huge amount of extra work for a zipper here, though, with Reinforcement etc.
Not to mention, the guided tutorial has several mistakes. So, for those who are beginners will end up wasting leather or redoing sections.
My overall advice would be to avoid Creative awl patterns (this isn’t the first pattern I’ve done with major design issues). At the very least, watch the tutorial videos before and read the comments about concerns.
