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Monday, March 17, 2014

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.





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
 


54 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting this series! I've just recently conquered my fear of zippers and made my first zippered pouches. This is a bag I definitely want to make and with your walk throughs, I feel like I could do that!

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  2. My exterior piece is not matching up with the bottom of my interior lining. My exterior is cut 13.5" x 9.75". My interior lining is about 1/2 inch longer on each end. Do I just top stitch around and cut that excess off? OR Do I need to cut a bigger exterior piece to exactly match the bottom of my interior lining?

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    Replies
    1. Kelli, go ahead and trim your lining as instructed in the pattern. You did it correctly-it's supposed to be bigger!

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  3. Thank you so much for all your wonderful photos and instructions. I went from the pattern to your blog posts throughout the whole process of making my sweet zippered bag and you made every step clearer and easier to understand. Thank you soooo much.

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  4. What a discovery this sew along is!! After going through your photos and instructions, I'm off to purchase the pattern and can't wait to start this project. Thank you so much for providing such great visual detail...I really think I can do this!

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  5. I have wanted to make this for a while but heard very mixed reviews of the pattern. Thank you for your detailed step by step instruction! I am off to sew down the zipper tabs and will be done with the first of many!

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  6. Thanks for the great tutorial!

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  7. I want to say a very big "THANK YOU".

    Without your great help, I think I wouldn't have finished this project !!

    My first bag is for a birthday friend ... The second will be a selfish sewing !!

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  8. I just bought this pattern and read through it thinking WHAT!!! I am so glad I found your sew along it has help immensely (does a happy dance). I will be digging through my stash for the fabric first thing tomorrow, yay.

    Thank you :-)

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  9. Great tutorial, although I didn't find it till after I made the bags. Would have saved me some unsewing. But love the bag and plan to make more.

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  10. Thanks for this tutorial, Heather! I don't think I could have done it without you. It sure is cute...already working on two more.

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  11. Wish I had seen your gloriously detailed steps before I made one of these! You are da bomb for posting these photos. Anyone hesitating to try this pattern should go right ahead, now. The finished product is great, and these directions will make it a breeze to finish!

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  12. Thank you, Heather! Can't wait to make my first bag. Your photos and tips help me to make sense of the pattern. =)

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  13. Just made this bag! Your tutorial really helped out so very much, if it wasn't for this tutorial I would have pitched the pattern! Thank you :)

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  14. You actually do the zipper tab differently than how the pattern has it. Your way is the way I do them, so I'm not complaining!!

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  15. Over the past few days I've used your tutorial to make this bag. I just need to add the binding and I'll post on Instagram and tag you. You did a fabulous job writing this tutorial and making the instructions so clear and simple! Thank you :)

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  16. Thank you so much! My pieces which have been cut out for a very long time are now, thanks to you, a bag!! My first four zippers, too. I appreciate all of the time you spent on this. I am off to plan my next bag. :)

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  17. Hola necesitaria que alguien me dijese los tamaños que tengo que cortar de cada tela. No s´e ingles aunque entiendo algo leyendo pero las medidas ni idea. Por favor si puede alguien mandarmelas en cm. se lo agradecere muchisimo.De antemano le doy las gracia y la enhorabuena por la explicacion del patron. Thank you

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    Replies
    1. Es necesario que adquiera el patrón a seguir, junto con la cosa mucho . Usted puede comprar un modelo en nuestra tienda Etsy , Quilt Barn Idaho. Gracias !

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  18. I just put the final stitches in my Sew Together bag and want to thank you for your fantastic sew-a-long. The instructions on the pattern are rather basic, and even though I'm an experienced sewer, your photos and extra instructions made sewing this bag a complete pleasure, rather than a brain-taxing challenge! Thanks again, you did a great job and made me and a lot of others very happy! :)

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  19. A big thank you for doing this tutorial. There were parts of the pattern that were hard to understand but with your photos it was a breeze.

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  20. Thank you for these instructions! I bought the pattern a couple of weeks ago and am making some for my daughter in laws and older grandchildren. It took me a while to make the first one, but I think they will get easier as I go along. I did the zippers at 1/4" as well which left quite a bit of them showing, but since I got some nice bright colored zippers, it's a nice feature! :)

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  21. Thank you, thank you for this very clear tutorial of a pattern that seemed confusing. As an experienced quilter and sew its, I really appreciated how easy you made this. Love my bag. Now I'll make several more for gifts.

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  22. What a lovely tutorial!! Thank you!!
    Have a great day!
    Hugs, Hennie

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  23. Thank you for the tutorial! I'm just sewing the binding on, and noticed it sort of indents on one side where the three pockets are. I don't know what I did. Has anyone else had this problem? Could it be caused by not matching the lining and outer fabric correctly? I thought I did?!

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  24. Thank you so much for this tutuorial, I could not have made the bag with only the pattern I bought from Craftsy.

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  25. Thanks a lot for this tutorial! I don't know, if I could finish the bag without you!
    I love the pattern and I can't stop sewing it. Know I've done my third in 2 weeks....

    Greetings and hugs from Bavaria/Germany!
    Marlies

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  26. I just want to thank you so much for doing this tutorial! Pictures really help to have a visual along with the description. I know it is a lot more work for the people making the tutorials and patterns and it's important for you to know how much it is appreciated! I love this bag! I'm looking forward to making many more!

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  27. This is such a wonderful tutorial! I bought this pattern to use as a knitting/crochet notions bag, and perhaps to hold a small projects (socks, gloves or hat) in progress. But I'm an extreme beginner at sewing, and when I looked at the pattern I didn't it find it easy to follow at all.

    Now, with your incredibly detailed tutorial and all your lovely photos, I believe I can actually make one of these! Thank you so, so much!!

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  28. This is such a wonderful tutorial! I bought this pattern to use as a knitting/crochet notions bag, and perhaps to hold a small projects (socks, gloves or hat) in progress. But I'm an extreme beginner at sewing, and when I looked at the pattern I didn't it find it easy to follow at all.

    Now, with your incredibly detailed tutorial and all your lovely photos, I believe I can actually make one of these! Thank you so, so much!!

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  29. This zipper TAB is going to be the death of me. I know I can create my own, but I'm confident now (I've now made 4, soon to be 8) of these darling bags! But, the zipper tab directions in my pattern (which doesn't actually work) and how you show it down here are very different.

    Just wondering if anyone else has experienced the same struggle?

    Thanks! Katie

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    Replies
    1. I came on here to see if there was a better explanation of the zipper tab, but unfortunately this sew along was not helpful with that step. Did you ever figure it out?

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  30. I am SO thankful for your excellent tutorial. It is very well written and the pictures are worth a thousand words.
    I hope this will be available for a super long time as I would like to make more and still need my instructor!

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  31. Great instructions! I am glad my neighbor told me about your wonderful website.

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  32. I am so excited to find this tutorial. THANK you for taking the time to explain and ILLUSTRATE all the steps. I know it was a lot of work, but we appreciate your gift of teaching. I NEED to make this into a fanny pack style purse, because I can not tolerate a purse with any real weight on my new shoulder replacements... God bless you. Will follow your work to your new blogs..

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  33. There is no way you could finish this bag without your generous tutorial - thank you SO much - it is still being discovered! ; )

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  34. what a cute bag and thanks for the awesome tutorial; my daughter has been wanting a small bag for her school gadgets and this will look great with the "Dr. Who" material she picked out

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  35. what a cute bag and thanks for the awesome tutorial; this will work great for my daughters school gadgets and perfect with the "Dr. Who" material she picked out for it - I can see her buddies wanting one :-0

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  36. I bought the pattern at the Perth Quilt and Craft Fair....have just finished my bag and couldn't have done it without your great tutorial. Also posted on Flickr :-)

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  37. I bought this pattern a couple of months ago and so glad to find your tutorial. The lack of pictures in the pattern was a real problem for me.....I am almost finished with the first bag and already planning to make a few more. Thank you for posting pictures !!

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  38. Thank you so much for this tutorial, almost done with step 5, couldn't have done it without you. The pictures made everything so clear.

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  39. I'm close to finishing my first bag and am so grateful for your tutorial with all the pictures. I think I would have given up on the bag without them or a class to walk me through the steps.

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  40. Thanks for the tutorial the pictures really help. Starting step 5. Made for my daughter's birthday!!!

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  41. Without your tutorial I couldn't have made this bag. THANK YOU so much!!

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    Replies
    1. Where can I find the previous tutorials pleas

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  42. Thank you very much for the beauitiful bag I have just finish sewing love from Tove Gyldensted Denmark

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  43. I bought the pattern, I want to know where can I find day 1 - 4 tutorial with pictures!!!!

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  44. Excellent tutorial ... thank you so much.

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  45. I admire what you have done here. I like the part where you say you are doing this to give back but I would assume by all the comments that this is working for you as well.
    italian leather bags

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  46. I just found this project & am bummed because it is Day 5. Where do I find the sreps from the beginning? If the pattern is needed where do I purchase it?

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  47. I've had this bag for years!!! I never felt confident to start. So glad I stumbled on your sew-along. I will, now, finally get my money's worth. You've made everything so clear and saved my day!!!! Thank you so very much.

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  48. Awesome tutorial, couldn't make sense of the pattern even though I'm an experienced sewer. You kept me sane thanks.

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