Making a Travel Bag Part 1

Well this was the first week of the Sew For a Cause: Suede Says Red Bag Sew Along.  I had a lot to do this week, but I did get started on the bag.

I made 6 yards of piping and 6 yards of white 1/2 inch double fold bias tape. I sewed the white webbing on top of the blue webbing for the handles of the bag.  I did get all the pattern pieces cut out, and I stitched the zippers into the front double pleated pocket(three times I might add!).

I have to admit that I had to take the zippers out twice.  I made the mistake of using expandable zippers.  It is a product that has 3 yards of zipper tape and you just cut off what you need and add the zipper pull ( the pulls come with the product and attaching them is a story in itself!) .  I believe this type of zipper will do fine for the zipper around the bag because the ends  will be well hidden, but not so good for the front.  Even though it means taking them out for the third time, I may just do that, and use regular 9 inch zippers.  They are made where you can turn the ends under and these zippers by the yard are made solid.

I am not at all happy with the way they look.  It means I will fall a little behind, but I think it will be worth it and I will be able to catch up pretty quick.  I just don't like the unfinished edges showing like they do.

You really can't see the problem very well in these pictures, but take my word for it, this type of zipper does not create  a polished look for this kind of an application.


I will just have to keep playing with it and see if I can find a way to create a zipper finish that I can accept, but I will  go ahead and order my zippers!

Any ideas or suggestions, if so please comment and let me know!

 See ya soon!

 Happy Sewing!

Ready to Rock It with Suede!

Well the "Suede, Sew For A Cause"  Sew Along will begin on Tuesday, and I have been busy getting my supplies organized. This pattern calls for both bias tape and piping and I will be making both of them. For the Piping I will be using Wrap and Fuse Piping made by Clover and designed by Nancy Zieman of  Nancy's Notions and Sewing With Nancy .

It is really very easy and makes beautiful piping.  You cut a bias strip of fabric 1 and 3/8 inches wide and simply wrap the fabric around the Wrap and Press.  The directions are on the back of the package and are very simple to follow.

The product is simply cording wrapped with fusible web, but the process is much easier then wrapping and sewing the fabric around normal piping cording.

After wrapping the fabric around the Wrap and Fuse, simply press with your iron along the seam allowance using a low to medium setting and No steam.

As you can see from the photos, it turns out great!

Home made bias tape:

You can purchase a Bias Tape Maker from Simplicity. It is really pretty neat, it presses and folds the fabric for you. I actually do own one of these little gems, but I find it is almost as easy to just do it myself. This pattern calls for 1/2 inch double folded bias tape. To make your own start with a bias strip of fabric 1 and 3/4 inches wide. Press that in half.

In this case,  press with a setting as warm as the fabric can handle, and  use lots of steam. After  pressing the entire strip in half,  fold each side in and meet them in the middle (actually, I leave a very small space and do not let them touch in the middle). Press well and fold each side in again, this time I fold and press one side slightly larger then the other. This assures that a little bit of a lip will be formed and when you place the slightly larger side on the under side or wrong side of your fabric, it is sure to be caught in the stitching while stitching it down from the right side of the fabric.

See, easy as pie! I am now ready to start sewing! Let the fun begin! There is still time to join if you would like to make this great travel bag! You can request to join here.  Hope to see you there!

Happy Sewing!

Getting Ready For The Suede Says Red Sew Along

Sew For a Cause

Well I have my pattern.  I think the customer service at Simplicity is excellent, I ordered my pattern on Sunday and it was in my mailbox on Tuesday.  Now that is service with a smile!

I ordered my fabric from Nancy's Notions on Thursday and hope it will be here soon. I really love the fabric I ordered. The pattern calls for prequilted double- faced fabric and although my choice is a little on the pricey side, I used a discount I received through ASG and that helped a lot!

I also bought the the mesh fabric from Nancy's Notions, I bought white and think I will do the handles and zippers in white also.

I still have to shop for the hardware, but I am raring to go! There is still plenty of time to join up and participate in the sew along.  If you are interested click here.


Don't miss out on all the fun!  Hope to see you there!


Nancy's Notions

ASG ( American Sewing Guild)

Simplicity

Happy Sewing!

New Sew-A-Long Coming Up!~

I will be participating in another Simplicity Sew A Long on Facebook. It will begin on January 24th. I know I have complained about some of the patterns that are offered by Simplicity, but this is a travel bag designed by Suede so I have high hopes that this will be a great pattern and a great sew a long.  Also some of the proceeds from the sale of the pattern will be going to charity.  I think that is very cool!

Simplicity will be doing things a little different this time, they will be offering video tutorials.  I think this will be a huge improvement!  This bag offers some techniques that I have never had the opportunity to do and videos will be a nice way to learn.  I always do better with a visual tutorial.  The written word just don't cut it sometimes!

Here is a link to the  Simplicity page featuring the bag that will be made and a picture is shown below.

The next photo really shows the size better, as you can see it is a very roomy bag and I think it will be a lot of fun to create a travel bag!(Look out beach, here we come!)

As I said before a percentage of the proceeds from the cost of the pattern will be going to charity. Keep A Child Alive is a charity that provides treatment, love and support for families affected with AIDS in Africa. You can go to  Keep A Child Alive to read more about this great charity!

If you would be interesting in joining the Sew A Long, you can click here and request to join (upper right hand side of the page).  Remember it will begin on January 24th and you will need time to order your pattern, so join us today!  Hope to see you there!

If you are not interested in joining, I hope you will follow along as I learn a few new tricks and hopefully create a great travel bag!

See you soon!

Happy Sewing,
Glo