Sew Alongs

Hi everyone,

We're ready to get sewing, woo! Today I'm going to show you an alternative method of making the handles and strap for The Nappy bag based on a technique Liz taught me.

If you haven't already cut your handles and straps, then I'd recommend you read today's post before you do...I'm going off plan! If you've already cut the strap and handles then I recommend you join us when it comes to the folding.

It is helpful to make sure you steam press (aka iron) your fabric before making your straps if you haven't pre-washed it. It can shrink a touch in the process.

I like to give my fabric a good spritz of spray starch, sometimes called 'Easy Iron' to get an easy, crisp strap. I don't cut my strap fabric, I work with it as a whole and cut later.

Hi everyone,

It's time to start sewing our back pockets for our Nappy bag sew along!

But first....let's change things up a bit and do a pocket upgrade! I don't know about you, but I love extra pockets. Those big back and front slip pockets on the Nappy bag are crying out for more pockets inside...so I've added a couple of slip pockets.

This is for making one in the front slip pocket and one in the back slip pocket.

Optional exterior hidden slip pockets    
11" W x 12" H (28cm x 30cm)              

Cut 2 outer or lining (cottons are best)
Cut 2 medium weight interfacing

Fuse the interfacing to the cotton and then fold in half to form a 11" x 6" (28cm x 15cm) rectangle. Sew around all three edges leaving a turning gap in the bottom.

Hi lovelies,

Now in our Sew Along of the Nappy Bag we're onto the base gusset which will join together with the zipped gusset to form the one gusset. This post is picture heavy!

I spent many, many, many hours developing this gusset method. I wanted to be able to create bags with a zipped gusset like this that didn't require hand stitching the lining to the zip, or applying binding to exposed seams. I hate both hand stitching and binding as many of you already know.

It took me days to work this out and I nearly pulled my hair out, however Sara from Sew Sweetness encouraged me to keep going (she probably doesn't remember this!) and ta-da, the method was born.

Although I can't claim it's unique and original, as I'm sure there's nothing unique and original in the world of sewing any more, I don't know of any other bag pattern designer who used this method before me. So folks, hopefully those of you who hate hand stitching and binding too can appreciate the time that went into the research and development, just remember, you saw it here first!

Right, to business, first of all before we can sew our gussets we need to make sure they've got everything that they need. For the base gusset that's side tabs (F) and elastic side pockets (L).

If you're quilting your heavy stabiliser to your base gusset, go ahead and make sure that's done before you do the rest of the steps in this post.

I'm using triangular rings for the sew along, a truly innovative bit of bag making kit!