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| A Route 66 patch... |
Near the end of my post last week about the Route 66 Ollie Bag, I mentioned that the remaining scraps would also be recycled.
As I collected the leftover pieces of tapestry a couple of days after I completed the bag, I saw multiple instances of the Route 66 sign on them and decided to make a patch.
Guess what I did with it? Yep, I sewed it onto the flap of the bag...
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| Sorry St. Louis, but Route 66 should be the focus of this flap... |
Much as I took the trouble to fussy cut the flap (best I could), the print on that particular area of the tapestry is just rather blah. No offence to anyone with a connection to St. Louis, but having that city's name displayed across the flap would not have been my preference had I had any leeway in fabric allocation.
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| No mistaking the fabric now... |
I believe the bag is now truly identifiable as a Route 66 themed bag.
It was my plan all along to make a zippered pouch out of the remaining material. I didn't add pockets to the inside for that reason. Ultimately, I made two pouches: one to put inside the bag and one for the exterior pocket.
Here's the first one.
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| Just your basic pouch... |
Nothing out of the ordinary about it apart from using the Boundless fabric to extend the size of the exterior panels and for the lining.
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| The print on the tapestry is essentially the same on both sides... |
With this pouch, I used up the last of the tapestry remnants that featured the Route 66 sign.
For the second pouch, I wanted it to be tethered to the bag in some way. For that, I needed some bias binding.
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| Custom made bias binding... |
I took a 12" x 12" square of the Boundless fabric and made some continuous binding using the method I wrote about here.
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| A simple matching zippered pouch... |
This second pouch actually reuses the pocket piece from the side of the original Route 66 bag.
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| Back view of pouch... |
The binding was extended to allow attachment to a clasp, which will enable it to be attached to the bag in various ways.
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| View of interior... |
Zippered pouches can be so run of the mill that I'm always wanting to try something different with them. I like how this one turned out.
After making the pouches, I saw that the largest remaining scrap was interfaced. There was enough to make a matching lip balm carrier.
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| A matching lip balm carrier! |
My original tutorial calls for non-fraying material, and this tapestry is anything but. However, since it was interfaced, it held together better than the fabric by itself.
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| Back view... |
Some zig-zagging around the edges — in fact, I had to join two pieces together to make a bottom seam since the scrap wasn't long enough — before the folding and final stitching was enough to make it work.
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| I need my lip balm to be easily accessible... |
If you've never seen my lip balm carriers before, I urge you to check out this post and try one out. It's a cheap (pennies to make) and fast (five minutes) project!
Finally...
Do you sew up the inside lining of your bag immediately after you've flipped your project right side out? I usually don't. (In fact, I have in the past discovered that I'm carrying a bag that hasn't yet been closed up!) I like to test out the bag before sewing up that turning gap, in case it needs some additional stabilizer to avoid a saggy bottom.
This was the case here, as I found that the wide base of this bag lost its shape once I put some heavier items inside. (You can actually see this in a couple of the photos from my original post.)
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| Adding support to the bottom of the bag... |
So in went a 4" x 7.5" piece of Peltex. I then stuffed a towel into the bag to fill it out so that I could put a hot iron to the bottom. The fusing is not super important because the Peltex is not likely to shift around, but some adherence is better than none.
Now all is good!
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| The matching Route 66 set! |
Not bad for a week's effort, huh? I'd been in a bit of a sewing slump before this, suffering an unexpected failure on a simple project. Fortunately, those are the sort of moments that often send me back to my what have I not finished pile.
I'm glad it happened.
Oh, and I still have a few more scrappy pieces of this tapestry that will be put to further use. Stay tuned.
You had me at firmed up bottom! LOL
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of inserting the stabilizer and then the towel trick. I'll remember that. Thanks for sharing.
kakingsbury at verizon dot net
Yay I can comment now. It was one setting that was off. Your Route 66 bag would be perfect where I live! Good for you using up as much fabric as possible too.
ReplyDeleteFour items from the one original bag - great going!!!
ReplyDelete