My Sew Along Bag

I was following along with all of your during Heather's Sew Together Sewalong. I don't think I would have taken on this project with some sewalong help. I am so glad I made it. I think I will be making a few more for gifts this year.

I used my hoarded Katie Jump Rope scraps and made them in to a hexagon cluster for the front of the bag.

And the inside. I made a few mistakes, only noticeable if I pointed them out. My next bag will be much better. I already have fabric choices for it running through my head.

Thanks Heather for the Sewalong! You can still follow along and make your Sew Together Bag. Here is a link to purchase the pattern.

Here is Day 1. The Sewalong is divided in to 5 Parts and has a lot of pictures to help you follow the pattern.

Don't forget to post your pictures in our Flickr group. We want to see what you made!

Sewalong Day 5 - Final Post!

Sew Together Sewalong

Day 5 - the Final Day!

Are you ready to finish this bag?  Today we will complete the final steps and your bag will be done.

We saved the outside until last.  I think the best reason for this is so you can use your scraps to "Quilt As You Go" and make an adorable scrappy outside.

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There are a couple of great suggestions in your pattern for fun tutorials to make darling outside panels.  This one is done with Tara Rebman's Quilt As You Go method.  She teaches a great class on Craftsy.  If you link to Craftsy from our button on our website, thequiltbarn.com, you get a $5 gift certificate for Free when you purchase the class!  Another fun suggestion is Ticker Tape - Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts (one of my favorite blogs) does a fantastic tutorial on Sew Mama Sew's blog HERE.  It's also adorable to sew a whole bunch of selvages together for the outside of your bag.  Let your creativity run wild!

Make your outside and trim according to your pattern.  Place your outside panel wrong side up and place your project on top as shown:

 

 Pin on all 4 sides.  Top stitch all the way around.  Trim off any excess.

Iron your binding strips in half lengthwise:

Place a short binding strip down the side of your bag as shown:

Take a test stitch.  This is to see if you will be able to wrap your binding around and cover your original stitch.  Use a 1/4" seam allowance and stitch about an inch:

This is how the other side will look:

Wrap the binding around and make sure it will cover your stitching:

I like mine to extend just barely past the stitching (about 1/16").  If it doesn't quite cover your stitches, unpick it and use a smaller seam allowance.  If it extends more than 1/8" beyond your stitching, take a deeper seam allowance.  Find the happy spot where if you stitch along the edge of the binding, the front will look like this:

And the back will look like this:

Stitch the binding down each side:

Wrap the binding around to the outside of the bag and stitch it down:

Next, find the center of your long zipper and the center of the top of your bag:

Matching the centers, pin the zipper face up as shown:

Place a long binding strip on top of the zipper as shown:

Beginning at the very end, stitch the binding along the long raw edge.  Use the technique above to make sure it will wrap around nicely.

Wrap the binding around to the outside of the bag and stitch it down:

The inside of the bag will look like this - Note: using a bobbin that matches your zipper helps hide your stitching!

Now bring the other end up and line up the sides.  Pin the zipper to the other end as shown:

Repeat on the other side and pin the zipper down the entire top of the bag.

Place the last long binding strip on top of the zipper:

Stitch the entire length of the binding:

Wrap binding around to the outside and stitch it down:

Your bag now looks like this:

Last, but not least, we will add zipper tabs and stitch the ends down to form handles!  Press your zipper tabs as directed in your pattern:

 

Stitch across the end of your zipper near the top, about 1/2 inch from where the pull stops.  This will help hold it together while you place your zipper tab.

Place the zipper tab over the front of the zipper end as shown:

The back will look like this:

Place 2 anchor pins in the back like this:

I like to snip the corners off before I fold the zipper tab over to secure it:

Fold the zipper tab over and secure with 2 more pins:

  

Stitch all the way around, sewing across the zipper a couple of times to secure it:

Pivot with your needle down to turn the corners.  If its bulky and gets stuck, use an awl or your seam ripper to help the fabric along.

 How cute is that?

Repeat on the other zipper end.  Using a bobbin that matches your binding, stitch your zipper pulls down to the center of the bottom of your bag as shown:

If your bobbin matches your binding, the back will look like this and your stitches will hardly show!

Repeat on the other side and TA-DA!  You have finished your

 Sew Together Bag!

Now take a picture and post the dang thing everywhere!

Don't forget to post your picture to our Flickr Group and Instagram with #sewtogethersewalong

Thank you so much for sewing along with us!  We hope you enjoyed it as much as we have.  Thanks again to Michelle @sewdemented and Jennie @kungfucowgirl (Zipitzippers) for their huge part in making this sewalong a success!

Hope you continue to follow our blog and follow us on Instagram @quiltbarn

Heather
 

Sewalong Day 4

Sew Together Bag Sewalong 

  Day 4

Today we will attach our side panels.  Your 2 side panels should have pins in them from Day 1.  One at a time, fold the side panel at each pin with the inside lining on the inside of the fold.  Press a crease at each pin mark.  Starting with the center crease, fold your side panel around the center pocket as shown:

 

Line up the unfinished bottom of your side panel with the stitching line at the bottom of the center zipper pocket.

 

Starting at the bottom (stitched line), sew up the side panel toward the zipper.  Backstitch at the top!

 

It will look like this:

Repeat for each zipper pocket, lining the edge up with the crease lines.

When you sew these sides, you will have to be careful to make sure you're project is positioned so that you don't sew something that shouldn't be sewn!

Repeat, stitching each side panel to the pocket from bottom to top.

 Your first side should look like this:

Now, lay your project flat as shown:

 

Fold each zipper pocket upward at an angle as shown, to help your project lie flat and keep it out of the way while you sew the sides to the lining.

Pin the side panel to the lining as shown:

Stitch down the side panel with a scant 1/4" seam allowance.

Repeat for the other side.

Here is where we stop for today!  Good job everyone!  I love seeing your progress on Flickr, Instagram, and enjoy reading your comments on the blog!  I want to send an extra thanks out to Michelle @sewdemented for graciously allowing me to publish this sewalong to go with her amazing pattern.  Also, a big thanks to Jennie @kungfucowgirl (Zipit Zippers) for the discount - who doesn't love to save $$?  Send them some IG love and thank them, too!

Until tomorrow...

Heather