Bag Makers - Please help!!
#12
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Thanks for the zipper foot idea too.
#13
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I would check out Sara Lawson's website - www.sewsweetness.com - she has excellent bag patterns - she has two books out and has published a couple of free patterns on the web too - she is an excellent handbag teacher. I learned by making bags from her patterns. Also, check out videos on youtube - you can see almost any technique that you need on there - I have learned everything on the internet - I had no sewing experience and am self taught - I think you did a wonderful job just winging it.
#15
Debbie Shore has some of the best bag tutorials I've found. She is on YouTube. She has one where the zipper is inserted like you want it. It's called a zippered lines tote bag. Here other bags are great as well. If you go to YouTube and search for her lots will come up. She uses a stripe material for the bag with the zippered top. She left a part out of the video and has a link when you reach that point for the missing part.
#16
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Thanks citruscounyquilter. That was an excellent video! I loved her accent too.
Here's one issue. Her bag was just fabric, no batting. What I made was a purse for myself and I like a really structured purse, one that stands on it's own like a little soldier. So I use felt as my batting. I wonder if I will be able to successfully turn the bag inside out with a stiff batting like that?? Otherwise, her method made perfect sense and seemed very easy to make.
Edited to add - Sorry! I replied before she was totally done. The last bit she did was sew a seam at the very top. That's the part that gave me such trouble. It seemed pretty easy for her. Maybe because her zipper was a bit lower in the bag then mine was, because she attached the zipper down in the lining, not the top of the bag. I'll study the video more. It's possible I can adapt just that part of her method to my bag and not even worry about turning it inside out. Maybe if I just have the zipper a little lower in the bag....(thinking aloud here)
Here's one issue. Her bag was just fabric, no batting. What I made was a purse for myself and I like a really structured purse, one that stands on it's own like a little soldier. So I use felt as my batting. I wonder if I will be able to successfully turn the bag inside out with a stiff batting like that?? Otherwise, her method made perfect sense and seemed very easy to make.
Edited to add - Sorry! I replied before she was totally done. The last bit she did was sew a seam at the very top. That's the part that gave me such trouble. It seemed pretty easy for her. Maybe because her zipper was a bit lower in the bag then mine was, because she attached the zipper down in the lining, not the top of the bag. I'll study the video more. It's possible I can adapt just that part of her method to my bag and not even worry about turning it inside out. Maybe if I just have the zipper a little lower in the bag....(thinking aloud here)
Last edited by KenmoreGal2; 02-26-2016 at 06:30 AM.
#17
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Someone else suggested to sew the lining seam together on the inside after it has been turned right side out. That's a good idea, making the seam as close to the edge as you can get it without falling off.
I would do that with a very small zig-zag stitch. Do it very slowly with one stitch on the fabric and the next stitch off the fabric. After that has been sewn, a little tug will make the seam open up almost as if it were stitched flat.
I would do that with a very small zig-zag stitch. Do it very slowly with one stitch on the fabric and the next stitch off the fabric. After that has been sewn, a little tug will make the seam open up almost as if it were stitched flat.
#20
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You don't have to hand sew the opening you leave in the lining for turning - you can usually pull it to the outside of the purse, pinch a small seam in it and sew it together that way - it's so small it doesn't really show, and it's usually either in a side seam or bottom region - where no one but you would see it anyway.
Another way to do it is to pinch the seam together and then sew from the outside - kind of like a stitch in the ditch sort of thing.
Another way to do it is to pinch the seam together and then sew from the outside - kind of like a stitch in the ditch sort of thing.
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