Plastic Bag

A little inspired, I have actually started Alexander's teachers bag. We are making a carry all style bag with plastic coating. The construction is very similar to the tutorial here at Skip to my Lou.

I cut out two pieces of the main blue fabric at 39cm x 52cm. I cut the same sized pieces out in lightweight clear plastic. I buy this on a roll at spotlight and its labelled as table plastic- very handy. I wanted to decorate the bag so I did all of this first.I cut the strips of the "paris" fabric and using strips of vlisofix (i didn't have enough to cover the whole area, which would have been my preference) I stuck it to the blue dots. I used the vlisofix like double sided tape. I then zig zaged the edges to prevent fraying.

Then I covered this area with pink and blue ric rac. I decided to decorate both sides. Now its time to sew up the bag. I sandwich the plastic inside the two pieces of bag and pin it carefully. Then sew down the two long edges and along the bottom of the bag. I plan to line this one but it is not essential. If you are not lining the bag you will need to zig zag or overlock the edges to prevent fraying.

Then to create a base, I pull out a triangle from the edge of the bag. I do this by lining up the seams along the base and the sides for about 4 cm, then sew along them. If this is confusing refer to skip to my Lou instructions as they are more comprehensive. I sew along here twice for added stability. Do the same for both sides. The trickiest bit is actually turning the plastic coated bag in the right way. I haven't finished this bag because I don't know what I am going to do for the straps. What I did do was whip up another one for me! This one is the left overs from the curtains I made for the twins room from Ikea fabric. The straps are each 76 cm long and I have not covered these in plastic.

I will give you an update on the blue bag, but I will use a walking foot as the top is really hard to sew when the plastic is on top of the machine. It is ok to use a normal foot when the fabric is on top and bottom. Stayed tuned!