The bag I’m making for my May project of the month is a much harder sewing project than I thought. Despite my extensive bag-making experience, I’m finding this pattern tricky. Practicing first has taught me something about the pattern, the materials, and the techniques involved.
The trickiest thing about the pattern is dealing with the seam allowance. I’m used to 1/4-inch seam allowance for quilting, so you’d think 3/8-inch would be easy for me. But the thick materials and multiple layers are hard to handle. In order to get an accurate seam allowance (something that is critical since I am pattern-matching my fabrics), I started drawing the seam line on the back of each piece. It helped, but I’m considering increasing the seam allowance to at least 1/2 inch (which will mean adjusting the pattern and then testing it).
The material giving me the most headaches is the webbing used for the handles. The webbing from my stash was thick and stiff, so folding it over and sewing through two layers of it is nearly impossible. I also discovered that the webbing can be melted by my iron if I’m not careful.
As someone who often rushes to get something done, I was dismayed to discover that it’s well worth the time to change to the proper sewing machine foot and to matching thread. Making these changes frequently feels unnecessary, but it’s not. Fortunately, the practice bag enabled me to identify the right foot for each step (I wrote them right on the pattern instructions!) Impatient Me had thought I could stick with the narrow zipper foot all the time, only to discover the traction I get with a wider foot is needed for other steps. So switching back and forth is worth it.
Despite my so-so success with my pattern-matching so far, the practice bag has taught me about that as well. The cutting order for the bag exterior pieces matters, only I didn’t realize it until I made my sample. Also, the flexibility of the fabric makes it hard to get a precise match. I don’t know if it’s my cutting or the way the fabric was printed, but the images on my samples don’t line up without a lot of tweaking. I’m hoping my woven fabric will match more easily.
I’m still hoping to cut into the Oscha fabric before the month is out, but I’m not sure I will. The one thing I have yet to gain from this practice bag is confidence! I don’t want to spend the time and materials making a million practice bags. The question is, how much more will I have to do before I’m willing to take the leap?
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