I used a heavy weight iron on interfacing on both the the exterior fabric and the lining fabric. It gives it enough stiffness to keep the shape but it's still flexible.
Thanks everyone! I'm soo happy with this bag. I got two compliments from strangers yesterday. Woot! Great ego boost. hehe The cut out handles looks great but OMG the work that goes into them is crazy. At least for me. Hopefully I'll get faster as I make more.
Oh Pam!! It was worth every second of time you put into it! It's beautiful! I wish I had seen that fabric at Walmart so I had some in my stash too. Lucky you.
Thanks everyone. I've had two of the thre prints for 4 years but I only picked up the third on Saturday. I was pretty happy that I finally had a reason to use the other two.