Here's the bag I just finished this evening. I had fun playing around with a few of the fun stitches on the new sewing machine, and of course made things more difficult than they needed to be.
Jeannette does a lot of traveling to visit family & asked for a pocket on the outside of her bag so that she could keep her boarding pass handy. But, she also wanted it secure, so she wanted a button or some other closure on the outside pocket. Originally I was going to do a button, but didn't want to tackle the button hole just yet (hindsight - it might have been easier than my alternate!) so picked up some magnetic snaps when I was out this morning. Because I was also doing some decorative stitching across the top of the pockets, I had to do my stitching, then figure out how to get the top of the pocket rolled over to cover the back of the snap. I could have just folded over & sewn the top of the pocket & then added the snap, but I wanted the back of the snap hidden (and therefore more secure, and, you know, not visible on the front of the pocket!), so I had to put it on before doing the final fold over & sew. So I figured out where it was all going to go, then did my decorative stitching without making the final fold (I wish I had been smart enough to take pictures as I went along). Then I put on the snap, and figured I would just put the snap high enough that I would be able to do a straight stitch below it to hold the fold down. Unfortunately, I didn't think it would look good to have the decorative stitch, then another straight stitch below it, especially since none of the other pockets had it that way. My solution? Why, teach myself a blind hem, of course! It took me a bit to figure it out, even with the instructions in my machine manual, especially because I was skipping the basting step. Probably not too smart for my first time, and it shows since it's not perfect, but it's not too shabby. I think if I had been using red thread instead of white, it wouldn't be very visible at all. I'm happy with the over-all effect of the snap, but not entirely happy with the execution. I think the next time I use a snap (another woman at work wants one with the same outer pocket), I'll just skip the decorative stitching & use a straight stitch below the snap. You can choose a snap or fancy stitching, but you can't have it all!
All in all, I love the way this one came out. I had originally been saving the red/orange floral for my own bag, but Jeannette really loved it, and I decided I wanted a blue floral with orange polka dot lining, so it all works out.
Jeannette does a lot of traveling to visit family & asked for a pocket on the outside of her bag so that she could keep her boarding pass handy. But, she also wanted it secure, so she wanted a button or some other closure on the outside pocket. Originally I was going to do a button, but didn't want to tackle the button hole just yet (hindsight - it might have been easier than my alternate!) so picked up some magnetic snaps when I was out this morning. Because I was also doing some decorative stitching across the top of the pockets, I had to do my stitching, then figure out how to get the top of the pocket rolled over to cover the back of the snap. I could have just folded over & sewn the top of the pocket & then added the snap, but I wanted the back of the snap hidden (and therefore more secure, and, you know, not visible on the front of the pocket!), so I had to put it on before doing the final fold over & sew. So I figured out where it was all going to go, then did my decorative stitching without making the final fold (I wish I had been smart enough to take pictures as I went along). Then I put on the snap, and figured I would just put the snap high enough that I would be able to do a straight stitch below it to hold the fold down. Unfortunately, I didn't think it would look good to have the decorative stitch, then another straight stitch below it, especially since none of the other pockets had it that way. My solution? Why, teach myself a blind hem, of course! It took me a bit to figure it out, even with the instructions in my machine manual, especially because I was skipping the basting step. Probably not too smart for my first time, and it shows since it's not perfect, but it's not too shabby. I think if I had been using red thread instead of white, it wouldn't be very visible at all. I'm happy with the over-all effect of the snap, but not entirely happy with the execution. I think the next time I use a snap (another woman at work wants one with the same outer pocket), I'll just skip the decorative stitching & use a straight stitch below the snap. You can choose a snap or fancy stitching, but you can't have it all!
All in all, I love the way this one came out. I had originally been saving the red/orange floral for my own bag, but Jeannette really loved it, and I decided I wanted a blue floral with orange polka dot lining, so it all works out.
Here's my not-so-pretty blind hem & the decorative trim. Not perfect, but not too shabby for my first time.
Inside
Outside
(I'm having some major issues with Blogger tonight [Google Chrome issue?], so I can't get the pictures to move around into a decent order....kinda discombobulated because of that. Sorry!)
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments, I appreciate each & every one I get. I do try to respond to most (if not all) comments, but that's hard to do if you don't have an e-mail in your profile! :)