Sewing: Tutorial Part 1: Fancy Zippered Bag

As bragged about mentioned in the previous post, this tutorial will make this zippered pouch, except for the shape, materials, and some extra pockets. But it's totally the same thing. But not. Because it's picture-heavy, I'll split this tutorial into two parts.

Materials:

• Fabric (I used a teal polyester silk-looking stuff)
• Lining (simple white muslin for me)
• Thread to match BOTH materials
• 7" zipper
• Button
• Piping, about 34" (because it looks neat and I like green)

Here's what you need!

Step 1: Sketch
I started with a drawing to clear my head of the original and what I wanted:

Basically the same, but not

Instead of square, I want a pointed top that folds over the front and buttons closed. And inside, I want the one main pocket plus two smaller ones, made from a folded section of lining. The outer dimensions, once the top's folded over, will be the same. Because of the 7" zipper, the approximate final dimensions are 7" wide by 6" tall.

Step 2: Cut fabric
The easiest way for me to cut the triangular parts of the fabric was to cut rectangular bits, then shape the pertinent ones into points. All pieces are 8.5" wide. For the "top," cut 5.5" tall pieces of lining and fabric. For the "bottom," cut 6" tall pieces of lining and fabric. For the "back," cut 10" tall piece of fabric only; the lining piece must be 22" (NOT a typo -- check out that first picture in this post).

Take all of the fabric and lining pieces that are not 6" tall. They need the points shaped. Measure 2" down each side and cut to the middle like so:

This is the "top" lining. There are three more pieces to trim this way

Step 3: Sew the extra pockets
Geez, it's hard to photograph white-on-white. Basically, take the super long lining piece, and fold a 6" accordion at the bottom (the piece should now be the same size as the "fabric back" piece). This way, there's some added stability to the pocket and you don't have to hide any additional fabric ends.

Fold the back lining accordion-style like this

With lining-colored thread, sew straight up the middle of the new fold (in this picture, it would be from the right-hand side to toward the left) to anchor and divide the pocket into two. Actually, I sewed from the straight edge to the top of the fold and back down for more reinforcement (and hiding thread ends). I suppose you don't have to sew at all and can make a giant second pocket, or could offset it to make a small and large one. You could even go crazy and use even longer lengths of lining for multiple pockets. The sewn-pocket picture didn't turn out at all. Put this lovely thing aside for now.

Step 4: Sew bottom to zipper
Take your still-rectangular "bottom" pieces and zipper. On your table, make a sandwich as follows: fabric face up, zipper face down, and lining face down.

See the right order?

Pin together, matching the top edges. Use the fabric-colored thread (and a zipper-foot on your machine, if you have one), and sew, but ONLY between the zipper stops. Don't go past the stops! Yes, there's weird unsecured stuff at each end. Trust me, it works.

Turn the material pieces out (wrong sides should now be together), press, and top-stitch along the zipper (again, only between the stops).

Nice topstitching!

Step 5: Sew top to zipper
Layer your "top" sandwich as follows: lining face-up, zipper face-up (use the unsewn edge), fabric face-down.

Different order! Watch out!

Stitch along the zipper, but only between the zipper stops. Flip the fabric pieces out, press, and top-stitch along the zipper.

Hooray! Finished pouch front!

More to come in Part 2...

Sewing: Fancy Zippered Bag

I have a dainty red pouch, about3" by 3.5", that I use when I travel for my jewelry. Since it's small, it fits nicely in my purse, so that when the airline loses my luggage, I won't freak out about a few things. Also, it zips closed and keeps my things inside instead of scattering earrings everywhere. Very handy.

Hooray for red and yellow!

The problem lies in today's fashion for larger, chunky necklaces and stuff. They don't fit in the pouch very well, and get very tangled in themselves, and my earrings may as well be part of the necklaces they've impaled during the flight.

I need a larger pouch!

There are a ton of sewing tutorials on making bags, with or without linings, zippers on the top or top or face, drawstrings, even tetrahedrals. However, this tutorial has a lovely way of making a zippered pouch with a detached inner lining. I just like the idea that no pesky seams will show inside or out, plus my stuff won't get tangled or lost in the fraying bits. But merely following those instructions would just be too easy.

The general construction of my new pouch is basically the same as that tutorial. However, I changed the shape of the bag to look like my old one, added some piping and a button closure, and two extra pockets on the inside. That's right, I have a three-pocket bag to keep my earrings from the necklaces! AND, it's shiny!

Red and yellow, meet teal and green!

Tutorial in a separate post...

Sewing: red fleece, part 2

Here's what happens when I get an idea in my head:

I'd seen a picture of a lobster-ifide infant in a kettle, and thought it was hilarious. Go on, judge me. There's a surprising number of lobster costumes online (go on, search for it.. you'll be surprised!), and decided that I couldn't justify the price, and I wanted a project anyway. I realized that the costume was basically a bag with sleeves and a hood. McCall's 5963 served as a great basic pattern. I changed the shape of the bunting to add the lobster tail, and made tubes of fabric for the little legs and antennae, and attached claws on the folded hand-parts, and attached the chest piece with velcro. A little topstitching for ridges on the exoskeleton.

Hmm, that sounds like a lot. Actually, it wasn't as hard as I thought. Fleece is pretty forgiving, doesn't need edge-finishing, and the whole costume was not form-fitting, so measurements didn't have to be that particular.

The biggest problem is that the lovely lined (i.e. double-layered) fleece is really, really warm. If we lived in the upper-Midwest where I grew up, I'd be okay taking him around the neighborhood in the big soup kettle. But we don't. So I have to unzip my little crustacean for the evening. He's okay with that.

Sewing: red fleece

Hmmm... what's this?

Has she lost her mind? Piles of red fleece and orange thread?? By the way, did you know that fleece sheds like crazy? Yes, I should have guessed that my fleece jacket, which shed like crazy for a while would not shed as much as actually cutting pieces of fleece. Well, more incentive to vacuum later.

It's not for me. Okay, it's sorta for me, in that I think I will get a kick out of the results. I know this goes against the advice from the Selfish Seamstress, but I'm still a novice in both the sewing and selfish sewing.

Gardening: tomatoes!

Summer is awesome!

that.is.all.

Gardening: The artificially-enhanced growing muscle

After last year's bounty, I must admit that my expectations for this year were pretty low (it's so much easier to exceed low expectations).

However, something unexpected occurred: the advent of a solarium / greenhouse. What's the difference between a solarium and a greenhouse? According to dictionary.com, a greenhouse is therapeutic for plants, and a solarium is therapeutic for people. So when I sit out there with my tomato plants and read a book, I guess it's a greenium or a solariouse. Take your pick.

Wait. Was that "tomato plants"?

Yes, yes, there are

Two of the five plants are only six feet tall. "Only" because I had to chop off the tops because they were pressed against the ceiling and/or they were collapsing under their own weight. They are all staked, but the stakes' 4.5 feet aren't providing a lot of support for the tops of the plants. You know, the tops, where a lot of the tomatoes grow:

This particular string of cherry tomatoes has 23 budding fruits, which will make a lovely orange salad for me later (unless I eat them one by one as they ripen, which is a distinct possibility). Still working out how to determine when the green zebra tomates are ripe... hmm...

Sewing (sorta): domesticity

Yes, it's been far too long for the two people who actually read this. I know you've been dying for updates. Ha ha.

Since January (the last entry here), there's been a lot going on in TheRealLife. Here's part of what I managed to sew since then:

Now, you might say, "Gee, those look like lovely curtains from Pier 1. Did you get a new job??" And I'll say, "Noooooo, look closely!" And you'll squint and say, "But I don't see a difference!" I'll pay you the money later.

And the reality is, they werer purchased from said retailer... but I hemmed them! I also lined them with blackout fabric for this east-facing window. This had the unintended effect of giving the curtains a nice heft that the original polyester didn't possess.

I also blacked-out a few other windows and sewed some squares to cover other windows, but they're not as exciting-looking. There's one set of windows that's being covered by fabric and bulldog binder clips. Hey, don't knock the working jerry-rigged solution!