Thursday, July 31, 2008

'Template Plastic' Bag Base Tutorial



As promised, I'll be posting up a heap of tutorials this month, trying to cut down the bandwidth/downloads from my website. I can't promise one EVERY DAY, but I'll definitely try to keep them flowing throughout August.


This one is a SUPER EASY way to add a sturdy TEMPLATE PLASTIC base to any two-piece bag with a boxed corner. It'll work an any of my BEGINNERS patterns, as well as the Hobo, Sling, City Bag, Evening Bag, Dress Bag, Beach bag and any pattern that uses a similar base structure. Template plastic is cheap and cheerful, simple to use and creates a resilient, washable base for fabric bags (...and yes, we sell it!!)
HOW TO....

1. Measure the base seams of your bag. Measure the long seam running through the centre of the base, and the two short “boxed corner” seams. Subtract 6mm off each of these measurements.

2. Cut a piece of template plastic as long and as wide as the final measurement, above. Round off the corners of the rectangle to take away the sharp points.
3. Cut a piece of calico about 3cm (or two seam allowances) longer than the template plastic, and wide enough to wrap around the width of the plastic and have a seam allowance down the full length.
4. a)Fold the calico in half, lengthwise, and seam down the long raw edges.

b) Clip the corners of the seam allowances5. Press the seam open and slide the template plastic inside, with the seam running down the centre of the plastic. 6. With the bag inside-out, place the plastic in the calico flat across the base seam of the bag. Line up the seam allowances of the boxed corner seams with the ends of the calico tube. You may choose to pin them together.

7. Sew the ends of the calico tube to the seam allowances of the bag, and VOILA! BAG BASE!!


You'll see how Sharon has used this tutorial on my Make-Up Purse kit over here...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice Nikki! By the way, the purse is cut out, pocket sewn onto the lining, rouleau handle made, fast-to-fuse fused (have you noticed that I haven't followed the instructions in order? But I promise you that I am reading them thoroughly) and I really hope to get it assembled and ready for sewing to the frame in Stella's sleep tomorrow. See, no pressure! I'm LOVING making this bag!

laura said...

After using your method the first time, I knew I was hooked. I will use that concept in a lot more of my bags, it's so ingenius but so easy!

Katherine said...

Great tutorial, Nikki! This is going to be a fanatastic month knowing that there's month awesome tutorials coming from you. Thanks for sharing!

Connie said...

After reading this the first time, I've been doing it ever since on my quilted tote bag bottoms. I added you to my tutorials on my blog too. Thanks for the inspiration.

Wemi said...

Hey Nicole.

Thanks for the instructions.
I was just wondering if you knew the type of flexible plastic that would be needed to create clutch purses such as this

http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=19551&storeId=12556&categoryId=128449&parent_category_rn=130031&productId=1677317&langId=-1

Thanks

Berita Online said...

Great nikki!Thanks for sharing:)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this, my bag inserts were shifting around between bag and lining like loose change, no idea how to anchor them.