I’m not going to lie, these are not my best work. The side seams were really difficult with the pleats, and I ended up getting best results by gluing first and then sewing.

Sadly, the blue one looks like it came into contact with some heat which melted the yellow Piping and damaged the cork a little, and this was only visible AFTER the lining was sewn in, and I had no more piping to take it out and fix it

Alex had to help me get the handles in on the other bag too because it was so thick that the screws weren’t reaching their destination!

Anyway lesson learned – the full size Stargazer is much more fun to sew, even if it does require making handles.

It’s a Finish along finish though!