Sewing for Boys:part 4

Well I have finished the biggest project so far which was to make a bag. I have to say I am quite pleased with it. The outside fabric was Bright Buds Ivory from the Amy Butler August Fields range, whilst the inner fabric was the same one I used for the doorstop. This was a much more complicated task with two layers of fabric and an inner polyester wadding.

The handle strips were similar to what we had done with the doorstop but I was using a different machine again. A rather old Brother, which didn't have a foot pedal, but a variable slider. This took a bit of getting used to, as well as the auto cutter feature, and I was a bit disappointed with some of my sewing on the handles. Pinning the outer fabric with the wadding I was very concious after my earlier efforts to make sure everything was accurate and that the correct sides were going together. Sewing with wadding in place was a new experience as I tried to make sure it didn't snag on the foot.

We also cut the corners of the base so that the bag had a bit more body to it and stayed up. I think if I was doing it again then I would of used a better interfacing to add some stability to the bag as even with the heavy weight fabric it is a little light. Then pulling back through the hole left in the lining it was turned inside out and pressed on the seam to finish it off. Overall I am very pleased with the bag, a few faults here and there but my stitching was much better.

Lessons Learnt

Advice from the shop was Measure twice and Stitch once.

Make sure you have enough thread on the bobbin!!

Next week we are starting on a project of our own so I am hunting through the books in the shop for patterns!!