Back to School Sewing

How did summer go by so fast?! It seems like we were just getting ready for lazy pool days and amusement park trips and now school is in full swing. There are so many great patterns for back to school but I got off lucky sewing wise this year.

My 8 year old only had one request, a new lunch bag made by me. After a quick trip to the fabric store he picked out his fabric and I made him a Luxie Lunchbag (of course).

My husband was a little jealous and my 8 year old was thrilled with the result.

If you've been here before you know my mad love for Luxie, and now my son gets to carry a mama made bag everyday to school.

I used PUL for the lining to ensure it's easy to wipe down (after 2 days of use I was glad I made that choice, kids are messy) and I left one side of the frame casing open so that I can slide out the frames and toss it in the wash when it gets really icky.

I got an embroidery machine last month for my birthday (more on that to come), and I added a bit of personalization on the bag for him.

I don't make backpacks for my son because a) he doesn't think it's cool, and b) I can't bear to spend 50 plus in materials and all that time when I can get him an LL Bean bag for 35 bucks that I won't be gutted when he inevitably drops it in a mud puddle or drags it down the sidewalk behind him (boys, amirite?).

Even though I didn't make him a bag for back to school, my sweet sitter requested a bag for her flamingo loving granddaughter. I had made the Sew Sweetness Edelweiss bag in the past, but this time I made the Cumberland backpack in the small size.

It was a little more involved than the Edelweiss but I like the polished look more.

For this bag I used a cute flamingo print and some glitter vinyl from the Sew Sweetness shop.

This pattern has a lot of options and the small size is perfect for a preschooler, as a backpack purse, a small kids overnight bag or just as a backpack for younger school kids. The large size is more of a typical backpack size and would be great for most school kids.

I like that the straps are padded with foam and it makes it a lot more polished and functional to carry.

The front pocket of the bag has flap pocket that can be secured with your choice of a magnetic snap or a turn lock. The zippered portion sews up really nicely and opens wide for your divided or internal zip pockets. It would be a perfect place to stash pencils, keys or headphones.

The lining has two finish options, turning or binding the lining in. I opted to bind mine, as with the foam the layers can get a bit thick and I feel like I get a better result with binding the seams on bags like this.

Typically when I bind my seams, I machine stitch the raw edge of the binding down then hand stitch the other side in for a neat finish. I know many of you guys are rolling your eyes about hand stitching but honestly it doesn't take long at all (especially you quilters who can bind a quilt with your eyes closed). I finished binding this bag in one episode of Twin Peaks.

I really enjoyed making this bag, and unlike a lot of backpack patterns I've come across this one is super functional for all ages, not just geared towards younger kids. This pattern that would easily transition into high school aged kids, if your kids will let you make them one that is.

What did you guys make for back to school this year? I'd love to see!

Bag Buzz 8/23/17

Welcome to the latest installment of the Bag Buzz! Read on to catch up on the latest pattern releases, new products, sales, tutorials and more!

*This post may contain affiliate links.

New Releases:

The Harlow Bag by Little Moo Designs:

The Range Backpack by Noodlehead:

Encore Clutch by Dog Under my Desk

Sublime bag by Sew Sweetness:

Essentials Tote by Hungry Hippie Sews

Santorini Tote by Hungry Hippie Sews

The Wild and Raw Pouch by Emkie Designs:

The Bodacious Bowler by Chris W Designs:

Giveaways and Contests:

Fat quarter bundle of Reef from Hawthorne Threads:

2018 On the Road Bag Challenge at By Annie:

Sales:

20% off of orders 60 USD or more at Connecting Threads:

New Products:

Iridescent Zipper pulls from Emmaline Bags (and psst….I hear there may be more lovelies being stocked in this finish)

Sew Alongs:

The Castell Day Bag Sew Along by Happy Okapi:

Tutorials:

Reverse Appliqué on cork tutorial from Sincerely Jen

Clear vinyl zippered case by Hungry Hippie Sews:

Adding a Zippered Panel to the Miss Maggie Handbag by Emmaline Bags

Luxie Sew Along Day 5

Welcome back! Today is our 5th and final day of the sew along. We will be making our lining and putting it all together, so you will have your completed Luxie at the end of the day, yay! Let's get sewing.

Assembling the Lining pieces:

If you find that your machine struggles to sew the PUL or vinyl, a walking foot can be super helpful. You can also use that annoying paper that comes with your interfacing between your presser foot and your fabric to help glide it along. 

First, we are going to sew the bottom edge of our lining pieces together. don't forget to leave about a 7' hole along the bottom seam for turning your bag (don't short yourself here on making sure the hole is large enough, there are a lot of layers to fit through the tuning hole. Remember PUL is a knit fabric essentially so you don't want to use too short a stitch length or your stitches might pop when you go to put your bag together. I like to use about a stitch lenth of 3 when contstructing the lining, maybe it's overkill but better safe than sorry. (later when you sew your exterior and lining together you won't have to worry about things shifting so much, but the stretching is especially true when you are turning your bag, so also be SUPER sure to securely back stitch at each stop and start).

We will attach the side pieces to our main lining panels the same way we did our exterior bag. I am not ashamed to admit I like clips, and a lot of them. I probably would put clips on my clips if I could. Remember, if you are using PUL you want your SHINY side as your right side. This way, your bag lining is wipeable. If you aren't concerned with wipeability feel free to use whatever side you like. 

Once we have stitched on the sides, your completed lining panel should look like this: 

Yay!! Now we are going to put everything together!

Attaching the lining to the exterior: 

Clip your lining to your exterior right sides together, aligning your side seams. 

Clip carefully, there are a lot of layers here you don't want to have shift around. Using a walking foot can be helpful here if you have one. 

Once you have stitched your lining to your exterior, it's time to turn your bag right side out. Using that hole you left in the bottom of your lining, gently coax your bag through. 

There are a lot of layers so sweet talk it, give it encouragment and don't be afraid to smush when needed. Smushing is a very important bag making skill. 

Woohoo! We have almost completed our bag, it looks like a real bag now! Before stitching your lining hole closed, I like to do one final look over to make sure that the bag was behaving in while we were sewing that last seam. I always check to make sure that it wasn't tricky and shifted around and that I have everything stitched as it should be around that top edge. Once you are sure that your bag has behaved, pull your lining back up and we need to close the hole that you left for turning: 

Now push your lining back down inside your bag. 

If you would like to, you can top stitch the top of your bag below the zipper casing. I don't find this worth the trouble, as I don't think it's necessary and as Janellle indicates in the pattern it's a pain to stitch through all those layers neatly and you are also adding more holes that make your lining less waterproof. 

Adding the frames: 

OUR LAST STEP!!! Still with us? This is the easiest part of the whole project. Remember the ends of your casing you left unstitched? This is where we are going to insert your frames. Just slide it on in, easing your casing around it as you go. Your frames should have caps on the end, leave those on because they will keep the ends of your frame from rubbing against your fabric. 

Push it through, moving your casing along as you go. 

Once you get the frame in, adjust as necessary. One side down:

Repeat for the other side and you are done! You have completed your Luxie and doesn't she look lovely????

Admire your fancy new bag and get ready to have the coolest lunch bag at work or school. Thanks for joining! Don't forget to share your completed bag to be eligible to win our giveaway!

Miss a day? No worries! Catch up with the previous days here:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Luxie Sew Along Day 4

Welcome Back! Today is a busy day! All of that pesky prep work is done and we are going to see our bag start to take shape!

By now you should a completed exterior zipper pocket, handles, and zipper casing. 

Ready? Let's sew!

Attaching the Handles:

Grab your completed handles and your exterior panels. 

This pattern has two different styles of handles to choose from. I opted for the short style. You may also notice I chose NOT to roll my handles, it's just a personal prefrence, I find rolled handles uncomfortable to carry. Follow the directions to measure and mark the placement for the handle style you choose and attach your handles as directed. 

Assembling the Exterior Panel:

We are going to attach or bottom panel to or exterior side peices to create one long exterior panel. Follow the directions in the pattern and you will end up with your completed panel looking like this:

Stablizing and Insulating the Main and Side pieces:

First, lets baste the side exterior pieces to the insulated fleece we cut to match those pieces. Using a scant SA sew around the outside edges of the side panels to baste the insulation to your side pieces.

Next we need to attach our foam to the large exterior panel (DO NOT ATTACH YOUR INSULATED FLEECE UNTIL AFTER YOU BASTE YOUR FOAM TO YOUR MAIN PIECE). 

Grab your 10" x 21.5" Piece of foam and center this to your exteior piece. The foam should have a 1/2' above and below to keep this out of your SA. Pin this in a few spots to keep it in place, then flip over and add some pins on the RS of the fabric and remove the pins you added on the WS of the fabric (you don't want to sew them up when we add the fleece in a a moment).

Now that we have our foam secured with some pins, grab your insulated fleece and place this on the WS of your exterior panel, with the foil side UP and the non foiled side against your fabric. Clip this in place all around the outside of the panel:

Sew along the outside edge using a scant SA to baste your fleece to the exterior panel. Your foam should be sandwiched between the fleece and your fabric panel. 

Attaching the Piping:

Like I had mentioned before, I am hopelessly lazy and I always use prepackaged piping. Feel free to make your own, or use the premade stuff with no judgment here. We are going to be attaching the piping to the side edges of our front panel. Before attaching the piping, I like to clip about a half inch of the cording out, just so it lays flat at the bottom of the seam. 

Just use your seam ripper to cut the last couple of stitches, then slide it past the cording inside. Then snip that last 3/8" off. It's not as necessary on this bag as we don't have to piece the ends together, but this can be super helpul on other patterns that you have to butt the ends of the piping together. 

Pin or clip your piping in place. You can also use DST, but I find that clips are my preference. 

Before stitching the piping down, I like to change out my bobbin thread to a color that I will easily see and will stand out from my basting stitches. This way, when I go to assemble the bag, I can make sure that I going to have a nice clean finish. If you follow the seam allowance properly, it will happen naturally but this gives me a little bit of extra security it will be nice and crisp. 

Pop on your piping foot, or your zipper foot if you don't have a piping foot. I picked up this adjustable piping/zipper foot on amazon for about 8 bucks and it is one of my favorite sewing tools. It's fabulous for zippers and piping. Stitch down your piping using a 3/8" SA.

Woohoo! Now we get to attach the sides. Unfortunately, I think this was the point my two year old got a hold of my phone, cause all my photos for the sides were deleted. The pattern is pretty clear here, make the marks as indicated and pin or clip your side panel at the bottom at at the top edges. Then make a few clips around the curve, careful not to clip past 1/4" from the edge (you don't want this clip near your stitching line). once you've clipped around your curves as directed in the pattern, your piece should ease very nicely around the bag. Here's a shot of the lining done in the same fashion (I do love my clips lol). 

Stitch your sides in place as directed in the pattern and your bag is starting to look like a grown up Luxie!

Adding the zipper casing:

This part seems to confuse some people, because it seems more complex than it is. You want your zipping casing RIGHT SIDE against the completed exterior of your bag. It almost seems contrary to what you want to do, but it is the right way to do it because your casing with flip UP on your exterior. See how the zipper is positioned against the exterior. Remember RIGHT SIDE FACING

Pin or clip around your bag as directed, making sure you position as indicated so we have room to install our frames. 

Once you have basted your zipper panel, you'll know you did it right if it pops up like this: 

You've now completed your exterior! Pat yourself on the back! Tomorow we will construct our lining and finish our bag! 

Catch up with the previous days here:

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1