Earlier in the week, whilset still feeling relatively well, I made myself have a go at making a cross body bag, sized for my phone.
I watched a Craftsy lesson ("Zip It Up: Easy Techniques for Zippered Bags" with Joan Hawley)
on it, which was very helpful. I brought my sewing machine downstairs
to the kitchen, which was a first. It threw DH a bit, he's used to
seeing the overlocker downstairs, but he's never seen my sewing machine
there. I did explain that it was just while I was having a go at making a bag.
After the video, I remembered that I had bought Dog Under My Desk's "Zip and Go" bag pattern some time ago, which is for a similar bag to Joan Hawley's bag, but has the benefit of a second zipped pocket (rather than an open pocket).
I decided to use that instead, but bearing Joan Hawleys's excellent tips in mind.
I gathered my fabrics, zips, interfacing. I got out the table-top ironing board, fired up the iron, and got started. I took time with my cutting, interfacing, pressing and sewing. I followed each step carefully, and I found the pattern instructions easy to follow. I was amazed at how well I'd managed to pattern match around the two zips. It was all going so well..... until I got to the final bit of sewing, before turning the bag through,
Fail.
I looked at what I'd done, I looked at the pictures, and I just couldn't work it out. I unpicked the last bit I'd done, and went back to the last step I had been able to follow.
It's my fault, I have terrible diagram dyslexia. When I am first learning how to do something, I need pictures and diagrams to be accurate, I was thrown because the bag in the picture no longer looked like my bag. I realised that they had obviously gone back to take these particular pictures after a later step. I know this because the bag in the pics had had the zip ends trimmed off, but the zip trimming was a later step.
We were at the stage where the pics just showed layers of lining, which was all white. My linings were all white. Without the zips hanging out of the sides on the bag in the pic, I couldn't work out which was top and bottom, nor which was front and back, . . It was a particularly complicated couple
of steps, and I just couldn't orientate myself and the bag to work out
what I was sewing to what. I unpicked the bit I'd got wrong, and then I
put the whole bag down and walked away so that I could look at it with fresh eyes later.
I came back to it the following day, (the day of the bad night), and looked at it without the instructions. I had a go at turned it through, and I could see that it was going to need a double turn through. Luckily, I've previously made complicated bags that I've made on the embroidery machine, and I'm used to having to turn a bag twice.
I had a go at turning it (still with part of it unsewn), which results in an inside out bag, and then pulling it through the zip area so the bag is right sides out. It looked OK - but wasn't yet useable because I hadn't done the last couple of bits of stitching.
I marked the back of the unsewn ends with chalk to indicate which piece was which, and then reversed the two turns to put me back where I started. I could then better work out where I should have stitched. In the end, the bag was too small anyway, so I didn't bother to finish it.
I was happy that I'd been able to work it out, and I'm counting that as a definite win.
I measured and cut all the pieces for a bigger version, and I interfaced them all, and pressed them, and put them to one side ready to sew up the next day.
Then I had my bad night,
and they (and the iron) have been sitting on the table-top ironing board
waiting for my attention. DH has been very kind in not commenting on how everything is encroaching at the moment.
As soon as my back has improved sufficiently, I'll have another go.
