Welcome to Reader Tutorial week here at Sew Sweetness! Each day this week will feature a wonderful step-by-step sewing tutorial from one of my readers. Today’s guest post is from Kim at Kim’s Crafts!
I want to thank Sara for letting me do this! I love her blog and making her bags! I hope you enjoy my tutorial! If you have any problems or questions, let me know.
Not so Big Messenger bag
pieces
fabric:
mine the opposite way it was folded on the bolt and lined up the edges evenly).
Ensure that the edge is straight and then cut 2 6inch strips. This will give you
a total of 88 inches for the strap. If you would like a longer strap, cut an
additional strip.
after I did the strap cuts since I knew I had a long straight edge
interfacing to each piece. Every piece will have interfacing except for the
handle strips.
panels
The zipper pocket
way of doing this. The tutorial I use for doing this is located here (http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/how-to-sew-a-zipper.html). There are a
couple of changes for this bag. Finger press one of the interior panels in half
and then measure down 3 inches- this is where your zipper will go. You will
also notice that our pocket measurement is smaller because our bag is smaller. The top mark is where the snap will go. The second one is for the zipper. For width I use a ¼ inch. The first one I did was a ½ inch and it was too big.
This is where you will be inserting the snap.
prongs. These should fall above and below the mark you made 2 inches down.
interfacing.
or fleece.
then put on one of the scrap pieces onto the back of the fabric.
that the prongs lay flat (may need a small hammer for this). Repeat for the
other panel.
bottom/side piece
be where you will start attaching the panels.
3h. Starting at the mark, start pinning the bottom piece along the
side panel, right sides together. When you make it to the curve, curve the
bottom piece around it as you pin it.
a 1/4inch seam.
Exterior Panels
4a. Repeat step 3g, 3h, and 3i for the exterior panels
Connecting the
Exterior and Interior
5a. There are a couple of ways to do this. The way I chose may not
be the best for everyone but I like it! Insert your interior into the exterior,
so it looks like the bag will look. (sorry for the horrible picture)
than the rest of the edges of the bag so we need to trim them to make them even
with the rest of the bag. I drew lines across and trimmed them.
5c. Now, starting at the orange sides, fold the lining and
exterior down about ¼ inch towards their wrong sides, and pin together. Be sure
to match up the seams at the edge of the orange. Once both orange sections are
done, to this the rest of the bag.
5d. Once the entire top is pinned down, sew along the top with a
1/8 inch seam, making sure that both edges are being sewn. This completes the
body of the bag!
6a. Now it is time to go back to those handles. Now is the time to
decide how long you want them to be. If you remember, we have about 88 inches
in length to use. You will need to trim the selvage off of each end and then
sew the 2 lengths together and press the seam down (minus any length you cut
off).
1/4inch seam. Repeat on the other side.
bar on the buckle.
With my zipper foot, I sewed it as close as I could. I went back
over the seam a few times to make it stronger. Then I trimmed the excess edge.
slip a D ring over the end and just let it flop around.
6h. With the same end, you are going to thread it thru the buckle.
It will go under the outer bar on the side where the seam is showing, over the
middle bar, and under the bar on the opposite side (be sure your strap isn’t
twisted). Pull some length thru the buckle.
6i. Now take the other D ring. On the flat edge, you are going to
pin the free end of the strap. Going back to the zipper foot, you are going to
attach it to the D ring. I sewed mine back and forth a few times and then I
trimmed the edge. Then rotate the D ring so that the strap is attached on the
round side and the straight side is free.
used some of the strap that I cut off. Because of this, the pieces that I am
using are 6in by 3 in. Fold in half so that it is 6in by 1.5 in and sew the
long side and one end with a ¼ inch seam. Leave the other end open so that you
can turn it inside out. Press well.
These are the pieces that you are going to use to attach the D rings
to the bag. Finger press one orange side so that you can see where the middle
is.
Thread one of these thru the first D ring.
Line up the middle of
the D ring with the crease you made. Pin to the bag just under the D ring. There should be about a
2inch strip hanging down from the ring. The end on top should also be the end
that is sewn closed. You can see that the back of the strip is longer than the
front. We will take care of this in a minute.
back and forth a couple of times.
Now is the time when we are going to trim off the excess on this
piece that is hanging down. Trim it so it is just shorter than the front piece.
Sew close to the bottom of this piece, making sure that you are
sewing down the back piece. Sew back and forth a couple of times.
oh wow many thanks love it I have to make one
Hugs
Susan
Cute wee bags, love the owl print
Terrific bag and tutorial! Thank you!
oh wow, i think i am going to try this tonight! thank you!
Thanks for the tutorial.. I made your bag and blogged about it with a link back to your site over at canaryquilts(dot)com. THANKS!
Thanks for the great tutorial, Going to make one this weekend.
love it
Any tips for adding a zippered top?