Bag #41: Christmas Sack

As all crafters know, Christmas makes begin in July when the shops start to fill with festive supplies.  So, by now, most sewists will have completed many of their projects and gifts.  After all, who has the time in December?

I had most of the hessian left over from last week’s bag and wanted to make a Christmas gift sack.  This is a small one just big enough for a pet or adult; it would leave a child very disappointed.

You could keep it completely plain or add an appropriate appliqué design for the recipient including personalising it with their name. Mine is for my cat, so I added a cat face and the words 'Santa Paws'.  I used acrylic felt which I bonded to the hessian and then sewed, but if you were short of time and didn’t want to sew, you could buy self-adhesive felt which would save on the sewing time.  I haven’t tried it myself so I don’t know if it would stick to hessian.  I wouldn’t sew through it because I don’t think the adhesive is safe for sewing machines, but if anyone knows otherwise, please let me know.

I used French seams to avoid raw edges inside.  This was really good quality, sturdy hessian, but the edges began to unravel while I worked on the free motion embroidery, so I would recommend sewing a straight line of stitches all round, close to the edge, just to hold it together while working on it.  They will then be hidden in the seam allowance.

Thanks to Tilly Rose for the helpful tips she kindly gave me on free motion embroidery when I spoke to her at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally, London last weekend. It may not look it, but it’s a vast improvement on my previous attempts!

Usually I would make a channel for the drawstring to go through but I thought the hessian would look more interesting if I made eyelets from it.  If you don’t like this look, you could make the top hem longer so that it includes a channel on the inside or add a colourful sew-on channel on the outside.

You will need 20”/half a metre of hessian and that will leave you with enough to spare to make last week’s bottle gift bag out of the leftovers.

The finished size is 16”/40.5 cm high x 10”/25 cm wide x 4”/10 cm deep when loosely filled with goodies.

Skill level: Easy if you buy self adhesive felt.

I used a stitch length of 3 throughout as the hessian was slightly bulkier than my usual cotton and ½”/12mm seams for the same reason.  . Hessian doesn’t have a right or wrong side, so where I refer to the right side, it’s just whatever side you have chosen as the outside of the bag.

I have included metric and imperial measurements but they are not exactly interchangeable, so you should stick to either one or the other.

Skills used in this project:

• Machine appliqué

• Free motion embroidery

• Sewing eyelets

• French seams

Step 1: Cutting out

Cut out the following:

14” x 21”/35.5 cm x 53 cm Sack front and back (cut 2 hessian)

39½”/ 1 m Drawstring  (mine was ½”/12 mm wide)

Felt for appliqué 

Heat n bond (or other similar product e.g. bondaweb) unless using self-adhesive felt

Embellishments (I also used a ribbon for the bow)

Step 2: Applying the image

If using self-adhesive felt, draw your image, cut it out and stick it onto the hessian.

If using plain felt, follow these instructions:

Decide on the image you want on your sack. I drew a basic outline, but you could print an image from your computer (subject to any copyright restrictions). As you will be attaching it to the back of your appliqué pieces, the image would normally need to be reversed.  However, as felt doesn’t have a right or wrong side, it isn’t necessary here. (I didn't work this out until afterwards and painstakingly reversed my images!!)

Trace the image onto the paper side of heat n bond and cut out roughly (no need to cut out exactly at this stage).

Iron onto felt (with other fabrics, iron onto wrong side).

Cut out accurately following the traced line.

Peel off backing and arrange the image so that you are happy with it.  Iron the sticky side of the felt (it has a slight sheen) onto the hessian.

Sew round using free motion embroidery. I used a contrasting thread as a feature but I wasn’t very good at it and all my mistakes show! Using a co-ordinating thread is more subtle and mistakes don’t show as much but it means you have to keep changing the thread if you have a multi-coloured design.

Add any embellishments. Delicate embellishments are best added once the bag has been finished. I added a ribbon which I sewed on after the bag was finished as I didn’t want it damaged during the assembly process.

Step 3: Making the eyelets

Make 4 eyelets on each side of the bag, starting 5”/12.5 cm from the top.

Measure the tape and make them twice the width of the drawstring.  My drawstring was ½”/12mm wide, so I made them 1”/2.5 cm square.  This can be done using free motion embroidery or normal stitching.  I used free motion embroidery on the front and normal stitching on the back.  They don’t look much different but the free motion embroidery was much quicker and easier.  I used a dark thread to make a feature of the stitches.

 

Cut out the inside of the eyelets just inside the stitching line.

Step 4: Assembling the bag

As you can see, I forgot to cut out the eyelets,
but remembered before the bag was fully assembled.

To make the French seams, with wrong sides together, sew a ½”/12 mm seam around the sides and bottom, leaving a gap next to the eyelets on each side (same size gap as the eyelets). Press.

Turn inside out so that the right sides are now together.  Sew a slightly wider seam around the sides and bottom to completely encase the raw edges, again leaving a gap next to the eyelets.  I trimmed the raw edges slightly to make sure that they would fall within the seam allowance.  Press.

Now for the top hem.  This is quite a deep hem so that it won’t be visible when the bag is in use. Turn the end under by ½/12mm (so that the raw edge is hidden) and then fold over again so that you have a 2”/5 cm hem.  Sew all round close to the bottom of the hem. Press.

Turn right side out.  Press.

Thread drawstring through eyelets and tie a knot at each end.

Fill with presents for that extra special person/pet.  It will look great under the Christmas tree when December arrives.

In this project I learnt:

• This bag would be really dull without the appliqué. I wasn’t sure whether the felt could cope with a hot iron, so I started off using a medium iron but the heat n bond didn’t stick.  I put a piece of plain cotton fabric over the felt when ironing on hot and it was fine.  I read afterwards that you should iron from the wrong side of the main fabric when using thicker appliqué.  It pays to read the instructions!  I drew my own images and printed the letters using Word Art.  My drawing wasn’t very good so I probably should have printed an image too!

• I’m not very good at free motion embroidery, but there’s only one way to get better and that’s practise. I took on board the advice Tilly gave me and I could definitely see an improvement by the end, so my next attempt should be better.  The problem is that I leave long gaps between my attempts and forget everything I’ve learnt.  I’m going to try to do a little every day in future to improve my confidence and skill.

• I really like this style of eyelet.  It goes well with the rustic feel and look of the hessian.  I wasn’t sure if they would be strong enough, so I tried it out first on a scrap of fabric and was really impressed with how sturdy it was.  I used free motion embroidery for the eyelets on the front of the bag and a normal stitch on the back.  The free motion embroidery actually looked slightly neater and was much quicker.

• I tried out French seams at the start of this year and have used them several times since.  It is such an easy way of creating a neat, professional looking seam in an unlined bag. They also give the bag extra strength for heavier gifts.  I wasn’t sure whether they would be too bulky when using hessian, but no, they were fine when pressed.

Bag #27: Duffel Bag

I wanted to make an old fashioned duffel bag this week.  You hardly ever see them now but they used to be really popular – in old films, sailors used to carry them.  I have seen bags labelled as duffel bags but they are really just holdalls, not the real thing.  What I like about duffel bags is that they look great whether you are carrying a lot in them or a small amount as the bag can expand or contract due to its shape and versatile closure.

I had a duffel bag as a teenaged which I loved.  It had a drawstring channel for the cord which also served as the strap.  However, a cord strap is really uncomfortable when carrying a heavy bag – it cuts into your shoulder – so that was a no no. Duffel bags aren’t usually lined, nor do they usually have wadding or foam.  This is a luxury version!

As a homage to its sailor origins, I decided to use a seaside fabric.  I shall probably use when I go to the beach (weather permitting) this summer which makes it doubly appropriate.

I wanted a firm base which retained its circular shape but softer sides.  To create this, I used bag foam for the base and a low loft wadding for the sides.  When using the contrast fabric, I wanted a stabiliser which would give the fabric a bit more strength without bulk so I used a medium interfacing. 

Usually, if I want to fuse the interfacing/foam/wadding, I buy a fusible version, but I decided to try using some non-fusible products but fuse them using a spray on fabric glue.  This worked well if you ignore my mistake at the start when I used a spray designed for paper by mistake.  The cans all look so similar!!  Luckily I realised in time or I could have damaged my sewing machine.  I tried both permanent and temporary glues and they both did what it said on the tin, so I was very pleased with them.  It also enabled me to use up some existing fabrics from my stash rather than spend more on new interfacing.

The eyelets need to be slightly bigger than the rope/cord.  I chose 12mm cotton rope and 14mm eyelets, but smaller ones would work just as well.  The seaside fabric is an upholstery cotton.  I used a plain cream cotton for the lining and the contrast fabric was a linen look cotton.

I needed a yard/metre of the outer fabric and lining, but only about half a metre of the contrast fabric.  I also had enough fabric left over for make another small bag – a mini duffel would be fun to make.

I had to rack my brains to remember how to work out the circumference of a circle.  Believe me, school maths lessons were a very long time ago. In the end, Mr Google helped. Anyway, you multiply the diameter (the distance across the circle at the widest point) by 3.14 (π).

The finished size is 19” high by 12” wide (approx. 48 cm x 30 cm)

I used my normal stitch length (2.5) throughout but increased it to 3 for topstitching. Most of the sewing was done using my normal stitch foot but I used the zip foot to get close to the piping cord when sewing around the circle.

I have included metric and imperial measurements but they are not exactly interchangeable, so you should stick to either one or the other.

Skills used in this project:

• Using eyelets

• Using a range of stabilisers to create different effects

• Using fabric glue to make fusible fabric

Step 1: Cutting out

Cut out the following:

12”/30cm diameter Circular base (cut 1 outer fabric, 1 lining, 1 bag foam)

18” x 38¼” /46cm x 95.5 cm Side panel (cut 1 outer fabric, 1 lining, 1 medium        interfacing/wadding – the 18”/46cm is the height, if using a directional fabric)

4½” x 38 ¼”/ 11.5cm x 95.5 cm Eyelet panel (1 contrast fabric, 1 medium interfacing)

4½” x 5”/ 11.5 cm x 12 cm Cord holder (1 contrast fabric, 1 medium interfacing)

8” x 30”/ 20cm x 76 cm Strap (1 contrast fabric, 1 medium interfacing)

¾”/ 18mm bias binding to match lining (cut at 45º from selvedge of fabric)

2” x 39”/ 5 cm x 48 cm bias strip of contrast fabric to cover piping cord 

38”/95 cm length of ¼”/6mm piping cord

60”/ 150 cm length of ½”/12 mm Cotton rope

8 x ⅝”/14 mm Eyelets

Step 2: Making the piping

Join any short strips of bias cut fabric by overlapping them at right angles, sewing diagonally across.  Trim these seams and press them open.

Fold the bias strip of contrast fabric over the piping cord so that the raw edges meet.  At the start, fold the end under and leave a gap of about ½” or just over 1 cm before the piping cord begins.  Do not sew along this part of the piping yet.  Using a zip foot, sew close to the piping along the rest of the piping cord.  

I usually cut the fabric back along the whole length so that it measures about ¼”/ 6mm from the piping and this will match the seam allowance, but this is not essential.

Step 3: Attaching the piping to the base

Prepare the circular base by fusing the wrong side of the outer fabric to one side of the base and the wrong side of the lining to the other side of the base.  This will make a sandwich with the foam in the middle and the right sides of both fabric facing out.  If not using fusible foam, use spray on fabric glue for adhesion.

Pin the piping to the outer fabric side of the base with the raw edges of the piping matching the raw edges of the base.  When the piping is pinned all the way round, insert the end into the gap left at the beginning, trimming to size so that there is no gap in the cord.  Sew all the way round.

  

Step 4: Making/Attaching the strap

  

Attach the interfacing to the wrong side of the contrast fabric.  Fold in half lengthways so that the interfacing is on the inside and press, then fold the edges in lengthways so that it looks like bias binding.  Press.  Topstitch along the long open side close to the edge and then along the other long side.  

Sew one end of the strap to the right side of the base with the raw edge at the end of the strap facing out.  This goes over the piping. 

Step 5: Making/attaching the sides

Attach the wadding to the wrong side of the outer fabric side panel.  With right sides together, sew the shorter sides together. 

With right sides together, sew the shorter sides of the lining together.

Place the lining inside the outer fabric side panel, wrong sides together, matching the side seam.  Pin to hold them together.

Pin so that the bottom edge (one of the long edges of the side panel) is attached to the right side of the base (the outer fabric side) over the piping.  The lining and outer fabric of the side panel are attached to the base at the same time with a single row of stitching.  Sew all round.

Step 6: Neatening the internal seams

Trim the edge of the foam base all the way round to reduce bulk.

 

Using bias binding, attach one side of the binding to one side of the base’s raw edge all the way round as shown in the photo.  Fold the binding over the raw edge and sew the other side in place all the way round.

I made my own bias binding by cutting strips of fabric at 45º and then pulling them through a bias binding tool.

   

Step 7: Making the eyelet panel

Attach the interfacing to the wrong side of the eyelet panel. 

Join the side seams (the short sides) right sides together.

Place the eyelet panel over the top of the side panel, right sides together, side seams matching.  Sew all round to attach and press so that the seam is closed and facing towards the top of the eyelet panel.

Fold the top of the eyelet panel under by ¼”/ 6mm and press.

Fold the top of the eyelet panel in half all the way round so that it turns in towards the lining.  

Pin it so that it just overlaps the join with the side panel and hides the seam. 

Top stitch all the way round the top and bottom edges of the eyelet panel.

Step 8: Attaching the strap holder

Decide how long you want the strap.  Cut off any remaining fabric.  This will be used for the strap holder. It needs to be just a little longer than the strap is wide to allow for room to sew it in place.  Trim as necessary. 

Position it just below the eyelet panel above where the strap is attached to the base of the bag (see image at the start of this post). It needs to be positioned horizontally with the raw edges at the sides turned under.  Make sure that there is sufficient room for the strap to pass through.  Sew down each side to attach.  

Pass the strap through the strap holder before progressing to the next step.

Step 9: Attaching the other end of the strap

Turn the raw edge of the strap under and, making sure that it is not twisted, sew near to the top of the bag on the side opposite where the other end is attached. Sewing a line of stitches in a box/rectangular shape will ensure added strength.

Step 10: Inserting the eyelets

Decide where the 8 eyelets will go on the eyelet panel and mark the position.  I chose the position of the first one and folded the top of the bag in half to find the opposite position, then in half again to find where the next 2 should go and the final 4 were half way between each of these marks.

Attach the eyelets according to the instructions on the pack.  This will involve making a hole and then sandwiching the fabric between the two parts of the eyelet which is then gently banged into place.

Thread the rope through the eyelets.

Step 11: Making the cord holder

  

Attach the interfacing to wrong side of the contrast fabric. Fold the fabric, right sides together so that the slightly shorter sides meet.  Sew along a short side and long side to join. Pull half the fabric through the open side so the wrong sides are now together.  This forms a sleeve to hold the ends of the rope in place. Turn the remaining raw edges in towards the wrong side of the fabric.  Hand sew to close the seam. Sew a line of stitches down the centre from the top of the sleeve to the bottom.  Thread the ends of the rope through and knot them.

   

In this project I learnt:

• I have used eyelets before on several occasions but they still make me nervous.  In fact, I bought 50 eyelets even though I only needed 8 and I designed this bag with a separate eyelet panel so that, if anything went wrong, I could just replace the whole panel.  Perhaps I was overcautious because it all went smoothly.  I had a practise on some scraps of fabric before moving onto the bag itself.  I have a tendency to rush the last few stages in bag making because I get impatient for the finished bag.  With this task, I took my time and luckily the eyelets all went on easily.

• I don’t think I have ever used such a wide range of stabilisers to create different effects.  I knew exactly what I wanted and searched through my stash to find the most suited for the job.  Bag foam is always best for a firm yet padded shape. Wadding or fleece gives a soft but fluid shape.  I had a double sided fusible wadding which I bought by mistake thinking it was only fusible on one side.  I don’t have much need for it, so I was pleased to be able to use most of it up.  Once the sides were attached, I pressed them and the wadding welded to the outer and lining.  I found a black sew-in interfacing which I had picked up in a sale somewhere.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, but in practice I usually use pale colours so the black is rarely used.  It was medium weight which was just what I needed and the black worked well behind the dark blue contrast fabric.  At the start of the year, I wouldn’t have understood the different uses of all of these, so this project is helping me to become a better sewist.  It is also making me try different techniques which I’m really enjoying.

• I have never used spray on fabric glue to make fusible interfacings/wadding because I usually buy what I need for a project.  This glue enables me to use up what I already have.  It’s quite expensive but worth every penny.  I have both temporary and permanent and used both in this bag.  I used the permanent to attach the bag foam to the outer and lining fabrics.  I actually had some fusible foam but decided to try this and use up a left over bit of foam.  It did the job well (after the first attempt when I used a non-fabric adhesive spray by mistake).  I used temporary adhesive with the black interfacing because it was being sewn in and just needed to be held in place during assembly.  They both worked well, but I’m going to move my fabric glues to a different cupboard so that I will never again mix up fabric and card glue.  Just the thought of the potential damage to my lovely sewing machine brings me out in a cold sweat!