Still Boxing

 Rob was impressed with the pouches in the last post, but when he saw the totally stiff pouch, he wanted the "Men at Work" pouch to be just like that. I had some more fabric, but not much. I had also been looking at other fabrics in my stash to make into pouches. I wanted to give OklaRoots Ultimate Boxy Pouch a try. This one uses a piece of vinyl for the bottom (and lower sides) of the outer. There's no bottom seam in the outer bag (but there is in the inner bag). This would mean it would be great on a bathroom counter, where it's often wet!

I have a strip of this white stretch woven with fancy ladies walking dogs. It was originally from a ring sling I had made when Megan was a baby (2005-2006). I loved that sling though I would have to adjust it fairly often. I had this vinyl in the stash, I probably bought it from the clearance bin. I'm pretty sure I used it to make a tote bag that folds up into a wallet (it's not really a wallet, it just zips shut and looks like a square wallet). I did not have enough of the fancy fabric to make it the same size as the box in the video (13.5" long, I had only about 11"). I kept all the other measurements the same, which make some things difficult.

It seems there might be an error in the dimensions given. The short outer pieces of cotton are supposed to be 4.5", but in the video, her two outer top pieces don't totally cover the vinyl piece, which is strange because the vinyl should have been 9". On mine, there wasn't this gap. This made the lining pieces too small, so in the next one, I made them 9" and it was much easier to sew. 

The inside of the first bag was a white eyelet fabric that I had used for a sling in around 2007. That one was a gift.

I also followed the instructions to make an inside mesh pocket. However, in the True Tracy Way, this did not go as intended either. My pouch was not as wide (long), so I wasn't sure how big to make the pocket so the edges would be in the side seams like the tutorial. I didn't have the rigid mesh, so I used tulle. I used the wrong fabric when I made the bottom strip. Things did not go well when I sewed it. Let's just leave it at that. The stiff fabric, the box corners being a bit big for the size of the bag, the inner bag being a smidge too small; it all added up into a difficult sew.

For Rob's new pouch, I was able to just squeeze out the pieces in the remaining fabric. Inside, I used blue broadcloth. I didn't want black, but this was too close to black. I didn't want to go too light and have it look gross after the first trip either. The zipper on this one was another vintage zipper.

The bottom piece for Rob's bag, is from the trimmed off pieces from when we put up drapes this spring. There were black black-out panels, with a subtle texture. Ironing on the interface though, there was some bubbling and weirdness happening. The drapes have a plasticky backside, to be light blocking. 

Wider zipper tabs make sewing them in easier and are less noticeable if they aren't totally straight with the zipper LOL.

I bought two zipper grab bags from Fabcycle.shop, to make more. I put them in the shopping cart, $20. Then shipping showed at $17! I messaged them, and they said they could do lettermail if it was under 500gr, which it would be. So it ended up being $5 for shipping. They arrived, but I've been so busy, I haven't opened it yet! 

Then Megan and I went thrifting and I got even more vintage zippers!

These two zippers have the same colour code, but the teeth are different colours!

Look at these old snaps, and the price! Adorable!

And get a load of these needle prices!! Fabricland sells them for over $11 now, I believe! 

This was also in the bag, but I haven't checked it out much. They're a guide to help you sew curves at 1/4". My plate doesn't have a 1/4" measurement, so I use the edge of the feed dogs, which isn't actually 1/4". So maybe these will help (there's instructions for how to do it for straight sewing too). I love sewing grab bags at thrift stores!

Boxy Pouches

 I get many emails each week from sewing pattern companies and blogs. One had a link to a pattern for an easy box pouch. I took a look at it and noticed the inside seams were exposed. I knew there had to be a better pattern out there, and I went down the dark rabbit hole of pouch patterns! OMG. So many tutorials out there. Here are some links:

https://youtu.be/Yr_A8Zfbq9w this is the one I primarily used. It's good, though not the ultimate. She shows stitching from the seam line, like Ikat Bag, but when doing the side seams, the top stitching end is exposed. 

http://www.ikatbag.com/2016/01/zip-bag-chapter-4-faced-zippers-darted.html this is very technical post, no video. 

https://youtu.be/w9kZMTNoF58 this one was really good! I highly recommend it. I did have some issues with the sides and getting the "over the zipper" seam to match with the side seams. Not sure I'd do it this way again, but maybe if you're a very accurate cutter and sewist. My pieces had.... issues. LOL.

https://youtu.be/N5Akv6LjVaw this is for tiny pouches, but they're so cute!

https://youtu.be/BJQT-UWls_Q These are a little more complex, but the basics are still the same

I have become obsessed with the last two's channel, OklaRoots! 

I started with the first link above, using her measurements in the video. I really thought it would be bigger, and I certainly have the fabric to make bigger versions! 

I bought the fabrics from Fabcycle  and they were quilt cottons, but I was expecting a garment fabric. It's the dark, turquoise/teal pouch, with structure. I didn't use the fleece interfacing, I used a stiff sew on interfacing, but I have iron on fusible web, so I applied that and then ironed on the interfacing. 

This shows how you stop the top stitching at 1/2" from the side edge, but the side seams were sewn at 3/8" seam allowance, so there's a little gap there. I also did my first line of top stitching on the pull tab too far from the open edge, so I had to do another line closer to the edge. Because I trimmed my zipper too soon, it was hard to sew that bit. 

I did slip stitch the lining closed. It's not hard to do and is just that little bit nicer.

Being interfaced with the stiff iron on stuff, makes this pouch quite structured. However, being small, that did make it harder to sew the darts. Since the seams are closer together, that also gives structure, and it probably didn't need quite that stiff of interfacing. So keep this in mind when working with smaller sizes.

I then made the "Men at Work" bag, but I didn't interface the whole outside piece. I made it up to sewing the side seams, and pressed it with the bottom seam lining up with the zipper. I interfaced just that flat portion, and accidentally used a lighter interfacing. I thought it would good having the upper part squishy, so it can be compressed in luggage. The stiffer one, I worry that squishing it will make the interfacing wrinkle and lose structure. At first, Rob liked it, but then he saw the stiff one and said he thought that was better. I used the large size measurements from the web post, not the video.  11"x14".

 The inside fabric is some sort of brocade, not cotton, that I've had more than 13 years (I date things from before or after our move to our current house LOL. I had used it to try to make a blazer sort of jacket, and have quite a bit left. It's hefty, but has no structure and pretty much no ironability). 

The butterfly one, I used the third link above, but the same measurements as the Men at Work bag (11"x14"). I did the same thing for the interfacing. I had trouble getting the side seams to connect. Not sure why it's done this way. Ikat Bag says to be sure to "assign the zipper" to one layer only. The end result of both ways is slightly different, but I don't see a benefit to either way. They were both fine. 

You can see where the interfacing ends; this one definitely had the stiff sewn in one (I used fusible web to make it fusible). I also trimmed it so it wasn't in the seam allowances. 

After this, I found the tutorials for using one piece (like vinyl) to create the bottom section, and another piece for the sides. That's great for giving it stability too, or using a waterproof material because you know it's going on a wet bathroom counter LOL. I'll be doing one like that next.

The zippers were all from my stash, the first two were definitely old, and metal. 

What I learned...don't trim the zipper too soon. Wait till after sewing the side seams. 

Mark where you'll be cutting the corners out, and when you sew the side seams, start at those marks, backstitching. If you just sew up the sides, then cut the corners, the side seams will start to unravel. You can go back and reinforce these before boxing the darts, but why not just do it from the start? Some patterns do have you cut the darts when you're cutting the fabric out, which does solve this, but makes cutting the fabric a bit slower. 

The little tabs are essential for helping open the zipper. Don't make them too narrow though; it was hard to align with the zipper exactly. 

Have fun with these! I'm going to make more. They don't take a lot of fabric, but have a big wow factor, and really don't take long at all!