Bag #1: Bag for Life

I chose this as my first bag for this year’s challenge because I often call in at a supermarket on the way home from work and begrudge paying 5p for a plastic bag.  This is small enough to fold up in my handbag but big enough to hold a few groceries.  I chose long handles because I prefer a shoulder bag, but the handles could easily be shortened for a hand held version.  I used a plain fabric for one side of the bag and a patterned fabric for the other side, the handles and the appliqué design which I supplemented with scraps of other fabric from my stash.

I could have attached a pocket/pouch either in the middle of the patterned side or at the top edge or made a separate pouch to put the bag in.  I bought a metre of this fabric so there is plenty left if I decide to add this at a later stage.

Skills used in this project:

·         French seam

·         Needle turn appliqué

·         Suffolk puff

Step 1: Cutting out

For the bag, cut out the following:

18 ½” x 15” (1 plain and 1 patterned)

30” x 4” (2 patterned for the handles)

30” x 2” (2 medium iron-on interfacing for the handles)

For the appliqué flower, cut out:

5 petals (same patterned fabric as bag)

1 flower stem                                       }

2 leaves                                               }  Scraps of any suitable fabric

1 circle for the centre of the flower      }

Step 2: Needle turn appliqué

The plain side of the bag needs something to liven it up.  I decided to add an appliqué flower as I thought this would work well with the patterned fabric I used for the bag.  I decided how large I wanted the flower to be and then drew the stem, leaf and flower on a piece of paper.  I made sure my drawings were the actual size I wanted the parts to be when completed.  You could do this for any drawing of your choice e.g. animal, car, boat, etc.

Transfer your designs onto freezer paper and then cut them out.  Freezer paper is available from most craft stores – I got mine from Hobbycraft. 

Chose the fabrics you want to use and then iron the freezer paper pattern pieces onto the right side of the fabric with the waxy side against the fabric.  This makes the freezer paper stick temporarily to the fabric but it can easily be removed leaving no residue. 

Cut the fabric about ⅛ “- ¼” larger than the freezer paper template and pin the pieces to the plain side of the bag with the freezer paper still attached to the fabric.  The freezer paper is there as a guide to the finished size of the appliqué.

Turn the fabric under using very small stitches which just catch the edge of the fabric to form a narrow hem, sewing it to the plain side of the bag and following the line of the freezer paper. 

Once the stem has been sewn all round, remove the freezer paper, then sew on the leaves and finally the petals. Press.

The centre of the flower is a Suffolk puff (also known as a yo-yo).  Cut a circle of a fabric twice the desired finished size plus ¼ “.  Turn over a ¼” hem using a large running stitch all the way round in a matching thread. Pull the thread to gather the circle with the hem on the inside and shape it so that it forms a ‘shower cap’ shape.  Sew a couple of stitches on the inside to fix the shape. Attach it to the bag by sewing all round the outside edge of the puff. 

Step 3: Sewing the bag

I used a French seam to sew the back and front of the bag together because it adds strength and looks more ‘finished’.

Put the two bag pieces together WRONG sides together and sew a narrow hem – about ¼” around the sides and bottom (but not the top) and then trim it back nearer to the line of sewing so that no whiskers of fabric show through the final seam.  Press.

Turn the bag right sides in and press again (making sure that the corners are fully turned out) before sewing the side and bottom seams again using a slightly wider seam (⅜”) which encases the original seam, hiding the raw edges. Press.

Step 4: Making the handles

Fold the handles and interfacing in half along the entire length to find the middle and then iron the interfacing to the patterned fabric (shiny side of interfacing to wrong side of fabric) matching the fold line. 

 Fold the sides of the fabric in towards the centre (over the interfacing) and press them so that the fabric looks like bias binding with the interfacing hidden inside. 

To finish the handles fold them in half along the original fold line and sew down both long sides of each handle to encase the interfacing.  You only need to sew down one side as the other side is a fold, but the symmetry of two lines of stitches looks more professional.

Step 5: Finishing the top of the bag and attaching the handles

With the wrong sides out, fold the top of the bag over to the outside to form a 1” hem and sew all round the hem   Press.

Turn the hem over again by another inch and pin in place to hold.  Pin the handles to the top of the bag by placing them under the hem and pushing them up so that the end of the handle is placed against the fold of the hem.  They will be upside down at this stage and hang down towards the bottom of the bag.  Measure 3 ½ “ from the edge of the bag – that is where the outside edge of the handle will go and do the same for the other end of the handle by measuring from the other edge, making sure that the handle isn’t twisted. Sew around the hem, sewing over the handles as you go. Press.  Flip the handles up so that they are facing the right way and sew a cross to hold each handle in place. 

In this project I learnt:

               

 

• Not to choose fabric for needle turn appliqué based solely on the colour of the fabric.  I should have considered how quickly the fabric frays.  The stem was a nightmare to sew because the fabric frayed as soon as I looked at it. The other fabrics were lovely to work with.
• The stitches need to be very small and close together for needle turn appliqué.  I started off doing stitches that were too big and too far apart.  They looked much better as got used to the technique.
• French seams look very professional and are so easy to do – I don’t know why I haven’t used them in other projects.
• Suffolk puffs are an effective way to add texture and interest and look much more complicated than they really are.
• You can never press too often - I should remember to do it at every stage because it looks really crumpled in the photos.