Thursday 29 March 2012

Bag of Horrors . . . Part One

Well I never.
                          
Vogue 8568 - View C
I really did not think I would get this finished but am not one to have UFO's (unfinished objects) here there and everywhere, so I plodded on; doing a little something to this bag whenever I felt a trickle of creativity seeping through my bones.

I had made view B of this pattern a while back in a funky curtain fabric and really enjoyed the process, a few hiccups here and there but not to the magnitude of this version. I decided to tackle View C as it looked a little more challenging then view B. I was up for a little challenge, only a little one, mind. 

Pocket Tab
All seemed to be trickling by fine until I had to do the tab on the pocket, which involved  sew-in interfacing and lining. Yes I didn't realise at the time but the tartan fabric was stretch. Oh yes I was having all kinds of fun sewing the faux leather and this stretch together.  This may be a piece of cake to the experienced but to me it was like being slapped in the face with a wet fish . . .  every ten seconds.

Due to the faux leather being heavier than the lining when you turned it right side out you had the lining peeping around the fabric, I think they refer to it as Turn of Cloth in the US. I did not know about this phenomenom and was baffled as to why this was happening I even cut the lining slightly smaller and the damn thing kept happening. Only when I screamed for help on one of the forums I learned what it was. By this time I was brandishing a sawn off shotgun aimed point blank at the tabs.


I sewed the lining to itself to eliminate this. I know there are ways to counter this by the way you cut and pin the fabrics together but they say not to use pins on faux leather because of the large permanent holes. I tried doing it with the bendy hair clips I was using but it was too much of a chore when trying to sew as I wasn't using a Walking or Teflon foot and at times had to gently pull the faux leather through. I did reduce the pressure of the foot and that helped a bit in manoevering the fabric.

I  wasn't happy with the end result of the tab, it looked  puny and shapeless and my topstitching stunk. I continued to re-do, slash, re-do and slash, since faux leather left large holes, so I had to start the whole  process. I was like a woman deranged, and with each frenzied seam unpicking, I was morphing into a female Norman Bates.


Yes Norman I had the very same look in my eyes.

At one point I decided to alter the shape of the tab by cutting off the short narrow end. In my mind this was going to look funkier and hip. In reality after completing the usual time consuming steps, that considerably altered the shape of the tab, this was not the case. It looked like a TONGUE. I kid you not.

I threw the towel in at this point and decided to make the executive decision of omitting the tab from the pocket, leaving the snap as a design feature, and to be honest I wasn't too thrilled about having a tab on the pocket anyway and thought the bag tab heavy with the four to be attached to the top half of the bag. So who knows why I kept cutting out and re-doing the tabs like a woman possessed. Only a psychoanalyst would know the answer to that one. 


To be continued . . .




5 comments:

  1. I know that feeling!!

    Keep on at it mate! Hahahaha

    Sounds great! A step learning curve, but you're learning none the less :-)

    X

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Bundana. Can't wait to put it to bed. I look at it with trepidation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Tina! Thanks for ur comment. Haha, those damn pattern measurements... But I know my waist is "thick" compare to the rest cos when I buy fitted dressed I can never zip up! Lol! Buhhhh there's nothin i can do about it, I can't lose 5cm or get a bigger booty and boobs lol!!!

    U must finish ur bag, I'm expecting to see it blogged:) blogging keeps me motivated too... and urs and others kind comments keep me going :)

    What dress are u thinking of making?
    U should make a bombshell dress

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nah I couldn't make the bombshell dress, too old for that lol. Besides the Bronte sisters are far too big for that type of dress. Leave that to you youngsters. Mine will just be regular dresses nothing too exciting lol. Hey where's your image gone or are you logged in on a different network.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I absoultely understand your feeling, I have been there several times and sometimes you just let it sit and you can always go back when the light bulb strikes again...Thanks for stopping by my blog, now I found yours too

    ReplyDelete

Say Ya Piece . . .

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...