Sew Messy

This project was one of the more challenging of my sewing career (going on 40 years now), but I was able to get it out the door in a short time frame, and my friend is finding it very useful, so it’s a win all around.

So here’s the story of the walker bag:

 

My friend Tricia posted on Facebook that she was struggling to carry items while using a walker.  I remembered seeing a walker bag pattern in a pattern book the last time I was at the fabric store, so a quick trip to the Googles, and I had found this pattern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I even offered to make it for her, and she excitedly took me up on my offer.  I had the PERFECT fabric for this techie girl, Mod Geek Eyeglasses Atmosphere Grey . I sent her the link and she quickly gave her approval.  We were off!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My friend Sheri graciously picked up the pattern for me at Joann’s, using a 40% off coupon, getting the pattern for 9.60.  Better than the online sale that Simplicity was currently having.  I thought I had several yards of the fabric, but when I pulled it out of my stash, I only had one yard!  When I got the pattern, I read the back and realized it called for 1 and 1/8th yards.  Doh! First fail.

Second fail realization came shortly after.  I looked at the “recommended fabric” and was shocked to find “Double-Faced Pre-Quilted Fabric” as the fabric choice.  Grrr.  The nerdy fabric didn’t meet that requirement either.

 

Now.  At this point I SHOULD have gone back to my friend and pointed her to Fabric.com’s dizzying array of Pre-Quilted fabrics (I love the owls).  But I was determined to make this happen for her.  Instead I found a semi-matching nerdy fabric, Science Fair Formulas Grey, which I would use for a backing, and grabbed some cotton batting from the stash to MAKE some quilted fabric.  I cut the backing to a yard, and ironed it, then laid it on top of the Eyeglasses fabric.  Oddly, it wasn’t as wide (was a yard long, but wasn’t 44-45 inches wide!).  It was only about 42.5 inches wide!  Oh well, I thought, won’t be an issue.  I use basting spray and made a quilt sandwich with the fabrics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cut out the pattern pieces and ironed them, and then looked at the layout for cutting.

 

Hmmmm…

The major piece used all assumed 45 inches of the width of the fabric.

Gah!!!!

 

Now.  At THIS point I should have stopped, gone back to my friend and said, “Hey, can you pick out some different fabric from Fabric.com?”  But NO.

Stubbornly, I instead PIECED another 3 inches onto the backing fabric, just wide enough for the front/back pattern piece.  This upset me terribly.  I wonder if anyone notices it when they see the bag now, but honestly at the time, I was on the verge of tears over having to do this.

 

But, we make do, right?!?! And I did.

 

I cut out the rest of the pattern pieces and fabric from my impromptu quilt (which I didn’t quilt, as my husband’s Poe quilt is still on the long arm and I was too lazy to run it through the DM – instead I’m relying on the basting spray and a hopeful idea that it won’t need to be washed frequently), and read the instructions step 1.

(I left the picture of this on my camera, I’ll add it tonight)

Um.  WTH?  I had no idea what it meant.  First I’m to sew the bottom and sides of the side tab, then center the long seam, then sew across the bottom again?  In the picture it looks perfectly flat, but in real life, it’s physically impossible.

 

 

 

Here’s a pic of the side and bottom sewn:

Did they make a mistake on the instructions?  It looks like a horrible mess.  I was once again on the verge of tears.  I walked away from it twice, thinking I clearly couldn’t read instructions properly.  I examined the diagram.  No, it was clearly telling me to sew the bottom, shift the seam then sew the bottom again. Which DOES NOT WORK.

Then I struggled to turn the damn thing right side out.

There were 7 total tabs that needed this treatment, so in the  end I scrapped the pattern instructions and just “did my own thing.”  I didn’t sew the bottom ¼” seam, and instead sewed across the bottom after centering the lengthwise seam.  This made really nicely squared tabs, unlike the previous attempt. Here’s a pic of comparing the two:

Having tried one other way of doing the tabs, there was another wonky one, but the rest came out ok

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the pattern went ok.  It was tough sewing several layers of the quilted tabs, Velcro, and the back, or the pockets with their gussets made it three-dimensional and hard to manage under the presser foot.  I should have engaged the Feed thingie (technical term) on my Pfaff, but honestly I forgot about it until the very end, when it snagged the bias tape and caught my attention.

 

Here’s a collection of pictures of the sewing progress: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final problem I encountered with this pattern and the construction was with adding the bias tape binding.  The directions indicated if you put the wider side underneath, then you simply sewed through all the layers and magically it would catch the bottom.  Well, that really didn’t work when the fabric you are encasing was SEVERAL thicknesses of the “quilt.”  It slipped and in several places I went back and whip-stitched the bias tape into place rather than re-sew the seams and junk up the front.  The exception I made was to re-inforce the tabs with an extra row of stitches.  This was to A) capture the underside of bias tape in many cases and B) give extra strength to the seam.

Here’s the final two pictures, one of the bag in use

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Photo Credit, Tricia Owen)

Other Craft Projects:

• Birthing Gown for my Daughter
• Ok, one more then I’m going to bed – Binding the Catepillar Quilt
• Mouse Wrist Rest
• Really struggling with the quilting…
• Well Blankie
• Sheri’s Portrait Dress Butterick B5930
• Car trash bag
• Tutorial on “All in One” cloth diapers
• Kids lounge pants Galore! Simplicity New Look 6237
• A Tale Of Two Pants