Oh! So that's how it's done! Hmm. If that's the case, for heavy-duty bags, I think it'll be better to sew an extra strip of cloth along the seams! :D Good! Because my planned tote-bag-which-might-never-happen would need to be one of those heavy-duty things.
Lol, yeah, I figured that ironing WORKS WONDERS, if I had to make a non-reversible bag with that hem. XDDD Talking about cheating, my grandaunt came over today together with my grandma and aunt (grandaunt is a sewing fanatic too!) and I took out the bags to show her, and she checked them over, and said I PASSED. XDDD But she found a cheat on one of my bags, because the seam wasn't very neat. Lol!
Did you pad the recycled dress bag? It's got a real good shape, but if you stuffed it, it would be heavier, no? Especially it's made of denim with the dress material as a cover, no? My sister wants me to make something like this as well for her, so I'm looking for ideas on how to match the cloth, and all. Limited cloth pieces here, but I'm really tempted to use linen for it, because it's a pretty strong material, and resistant to fraying. The other material I'm thinking of is canvas, but... I'm not sure if my Brother machine can handle the canvas. >__< Also, what to make it look pretty with. Lol!
Actually you can do so from the start for heavy duty bags yes, but for my case it's really because my patterning skills are still not up to scratch. >_< I must have made the dimensions a little wrong.
I'm actually very very very lazy about ironing, because at home the iron is downstairs, so usually I work with pre-ironed stuff and for hemming I fold it down and crease it and use pins. I use tons of pins. My experience is that if I get lazy and don't pin, I tend to get weird sewing. Heh.
Wow!! that's great! Actually I think most of my stuff probably won't pass with your grandmother... Heh heh... I have tons of messy seams in my bags. That I hide. ^_^
I didn't pad the recycled dress bag. It's interfaced only, and keeps it's shape pretty well because the dress material is pretty thick. Actually it's not really made from denim, the inner lining is mostly pink linen, only the top part is made from denim and dress material. Not enough denim material to make a lining! Denim is expensive!
For matching of cloth, I think the best way is really to put the cloth together before you sew it and eye whether the colour works. You have to be careful about the texture of the cloth vs the feel of the bag you're aiming for. I think I have too many japanese zakka books and magazines, so over time my taste in matching comes from there. Buying a lot of Japanese cloth helps too, makes me more attuned to what kind of cloth is quite near to zakka cloth.
Canvas should be fine bah, but watch out because this bag has pleats! If you use a thick canvas your machine might not be able to handle the pleated area and die. Linen is always a good material to work with (I love it!), and it's good for the outer layer of a bag too, as well as the inner. It wears down very smooth too, so yeah, I love using it in bags. What you can do is to use some neutral coloured linen for the bottom part (what I call the shell) and then if you have some cute flowery cloth, to either use it on the inside of the handle or the rectangular hem area, like how for my bag I mix and matched dress material and denim.
>___< My patterning is actually worse. For example, the beige linen tote? I actually screwed up the dimensions somewhere between the beige and the purple cloths, and had to recut it to a smaller size. =___= Which probably also explains the creasing bit near the top. Lol.
Same thing here. I crease it, pin it down with a ton of pins, and then sew. XD Have to admit, I'm REALLY tempted to buy an iron and put it upstairs in my room.
At least you managed to hide them, sometimes, I can't! ;____; And then I'm really tempted to go remove the whole thing, and do it again. =__=
Oh! So only the top is made from denim! I thought the whole bag was made from denim! I also managed to find cheap denim from Chinatown. :D But I didn't buy it the last time I was there. Sometimes, the wash isn't all that nice, though.
When I do that, it works, but then, when I get round to assembling it, it gets a little... How to say? It doesn't look the way I want it to turn out. D: I think this is the kind of thing you pick up as you sew more, and look at more things? >__<
Ou! I bought this size 16 needle for denim, but canvas is still alot much thicker than denim, especially at the pleating, so I might have to go back to the Singer machine. That one is a treasure! It can sew ALMOST anything! I've been using linen for the outer layer, and cotton for the inner, but I might reverse the order, because I think linen is stronger than cotton, no? So maybe for the heavy-duty bag, I'm going to use linen inside, and then cotton outside.
Oh yes! Since we're on the topic of linen, does linen run? Because I'm thinking of making a dress with the green linen, but I'm thinking of using a white contrast lace, or white cotton as the belt? So if it runs, I'm so screwed. >___
Hmm to be perfectly honest I don't know what to use on the outside or the inside... I tend to want to use linen on the inside because it's strong and the inside is sometimes the more important layer construction wise, but at the same time the outside is where you get the most stress in terms of contact with the floor or the table and stuff. That's why I make reversible linen totes I guess, can't decide. ^_^
Linen DOES run, it's not pleather or something, but if you go at it with a pinking shear it stays unrunny for quite some time. *goes check her white linen dress* Yup. There are some hems I just pinked it and it's still quite okay. Not totally unrunny, but doesn't fray like mad. ^_^
Hmm, I thought the inside was the part where your hand was going to be rubbing against the material most, so I tend to want to use smoother materials inside. Lol! But you're right, inside is definitely the most important part construction-wise, given that it's the part that going to be holding most of the stress.
What's a pinking shear? I was intending to make a dress from the Female magazine, from green linen, and white cotton, and white lace, but I've got to make sure it doesn't run (white will DEFINITELY be stained, so no go if it's stain-able). D:
I tend to use smooth materials on the inside for bags too, since it's often cheaper and I really can't use the thinner cottons for outside material anyhows. But having a durable lining is important too. ^_^
Pinking shear... the type that cuts cloth in a zigzag fashion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinking_shears Keeps some cloth from unravelling. I know that dress! I made mine out of white and purple linen before! ^_^ I'm not so much worried about staining the white, more of the fact that linen tends to be very wrinkled all the time. ^_^
Unfortunately, the material I use on the inside are the patterned types, and they're often more expensive than the outter material. >__<; But I agree, durable lining is more important.
Oh! So THAT'S a pinking shear! Yeah, it should keep some material from unravelling, but I find the zig-zag stitch on the Brother machine works on that as well! Also, that dress is actually 2 dresses, right? I have this crazy idea: Make a packet of 4, and you can mix and match 4 different dresses, LMAO! XDDD Ok, I should just keep my mouth shut. ¬.¬ XD
I'm thinking of a thin white cotton, and a green linen, or hot pink linen. Most likely, it's green, because I don't think I have that much pink linen. Come to think about it, I haven't measured out the green one too. =___=
Lol, yeah, I figured that ironing WORKS WONDERS, if I had to make a non-reversible bag with that hem. XDDD Talking about cheating, my grandaunt came over today together with my grandma and aunt (grandaunt is a sewing fanatic too!) and I took out the bags to show her, and she checked them over, and said I PASSED. XDDD But she found a cheat on one of my bags, because the seam wasn't very neat. Lol!
Did you pad the recycled dress bag? It's got a real good shape, but if you stuffed it, it would be heavier, no? Especially it's made of denim with the dress material as a cover, no? My sister wants me to make something like this as well for her, so I'm looking for ideas on how to match the cloth, and all. Limited cloth pieces here, but I'm really tempted to use linen for it, because it's a pretty strong material, and resistant to fraying. The other material I'm thinking of is canvas, but... I'm not sure if my Brother machine can handle the canvas. >__< Also, what to make it look pretty with. Lol!
Ou! I was worrying if it got through or not. >___
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I'm actually very very very lazy about ironing, because at home the iron is downstairs, so usually I work with pre-ironed stuff and for hemming I fold it down and crease it and use pins. I use tons of pins. My experience is that if I get lazy and don't pin, I tend to get weird sewing. Heh.
Wow!! that's great! Actually I think most of my stuff probably won't pass with your grandmother... Heh heh... I have tons of messy seams in my bags. That I hide. ^_^
I didn't pad the recycled dress bag. It's interfaced only, and keeps it's shape pretty well because the dress material is pretty thick. Actually it's not really made from denim, the inner lining is mostly pink linen, only the top part is made from denim and dress material. Not enough denim material to make a lining! Denim is expensive!
For matching of cloth, I think the best way is really to put the cloth together before you sew it and eye whether the colour works. You have to be careful about the texture of the cloth vs the feel of the bag you're aiming for. I think I have too many japanese zakka books and magazines, so over time my taste in matching comes from there. Buying a lot of Japanese cloth helps too, makes me more attuned to what kind of cloth is quite near to zakka cloth.
Canvas should be fine bah, but watch out because this bag has pleats! If you use a thick canvas your machine might not be able to handle the pleated area and die. Linen is always a good material to work with (I love it!), and it's good for the outer layer of a bag too, as well as the inner. It wears down very smooth too, so yeah, I love using it in bags. What you can do is to use some neutral coloured linen for the bottom part (what I call the shell) and then if you have some cute flowery cloth, to either use it on the inside of the handle or the rectangular hem area, like how for my bag I mix and matched dress material and denim.
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Same thing here. I crease it, pin it down with a ton of pins, and then sew. XD Have to admit, I'm REALLY tempted to buy an iron and put it upstairs in my room.
At least you managed to hide them, sometimes, I can't! ;____; And then I'm really tempted to go remove the whole thing, and do it again. =__=
Oh! So only the top is made from denim! I thought the whole bag was made from denim! I also managed to find cheap denim from Chinatown. :D But I didn't buy it the last time I was there. Sometimes, the wash isn't all that nice, though.
When I do that, it works, but then, when I get round to assembling it, it gets a little... How to say? It doesn't look the way I want it to turn out. D: I think this is the kind of thing you pick up as you sew more, and look at more things? >__<
Ou! I bought this size 16 needle for denim, but canvas is still alot much thicker than denim, especially at the pleating, so I might have to go back to the Singer machine. That one is a treasure! It can sew ALMOST anything! I've been using linen for the outer layer, and cotton for the inner, but I might reverse the order, because I think linen is stronger than cotton, no? So maybe for the heavy-duty bag, I'm going to use linen inside, and then cotton outside.
Oh yes! Since we're on the topic of linen, does linen run? Because I'm thinking of making a dress with the green linen, but I'm thinking of using a white contrast lace, or white cotton as the belt? So if it runs, I'm so screwed. >___
Reply
Linen DOES run, it's not pleather or something, but if you go at it with a pinking shear it stays unrunny for quite some time. *goes check her white linen dress* Yup. There are some hems I just pinked it and it's still quite okay. Not totally unrunny, but doesn't fray like mad. ^_^
Reply
What's a pinking shear? I was intending to make a dress from the Female magazine, from green linen, and white cotton, and white lace, but I've got to make sure it doesn't run (white will DEFINITELY be stained, so no go if it's stain-able). D:
Reply
Pinking shear... the type that cuts cloth in a zigzag fashion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinking_shears
Keeps some cloth from unravelling. I know that dress! I made mine out of white and purple linen before! ^_^ I'm not so much worried about staining the white, more of the fact that linen tends to be very wrinkled all the time. ^_^
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Oh! So THAT'S a pinking shear! Yeah, it should keep some material from unravelling, but I find the zig-zag stitch on the Brother machine works on that as well! Also, that dress is actually 2 dresses, right? I have this crazy idea: Make a packet of 4, and you can mix and match 4 different dresses, LMAO! XDDD Ok, I should just keep my mouth shut. ¬.¬ XD
I'm thinking of a thin white cotton, and a green linen, or hot pink linen. Most likely, it's green, because I don't think I have that much pink linen. Come to think about it, I haven't measured out the green one too. =___=
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