Sewing With Nancy

This time on Sewing with Nancy we begin right where we left off after the first program of "Handbags 2 Designer Knockoffs." Eileen Roche returns with her unique approach to creating handbags using an embroidery machine to make a bag look professionally produced. Eileen, over the years you've changed my mind about machine embroidery. It's both fashionable, plus it has function. It has changed through the years. During our first show of this series, we detailed how to embroider accents and placement for grommets and how corners of the bags are easily transformed with the help of embroidery. Now it's time to put the bags together with more designer tips and techniques. "Handbags 2 Designer Knockoffs" that's what's coming up next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program

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Baby Lock, a complete line of sewing, quilting and embroidery machines and sergers. Baby Lock, for the love of sewing. Madeira, specializing in embroidery, quilting and special-effect threads because creativity is never black and white. Koala Studios fine sewing furniture custom-built in America. Clover, makers of sewing, knitting quilting and embroidery products for over 25 years. Experience the Clover difference. Amazing Designs and Klass needles. During the first program of "Handbags 2 Designer Knockoffs" we did some of the functional plus the pretty embroidery. The pretty embroidery not only decorates the bag but it adds the grommet placement for the straps. It also handles the tricky corners of the bag. That's the difficult part, I think, of making a handbag. Then we showed you how to attach the lining. Now it's time to talk about straps. If you are wondering what we did in the first program

you can go to

nancyzieman.com and watch the first part of the program or watch it on DVD. But the straps are next. Easy, but you need some straps with substance. We've used a strap interfacing, perforated. Cut a two-inch strip of fabric. Fuse the perforated interfacing on it and then press along the perforations as we've done on this sample. You have these raw edges. Eileen, one way to finish it is to work with grosgrain ribbon. Grosgrain ribbon is excellent because the edges are already finished and you just topstitch it down, right into place. The bag that Eileen just showed you has comparable fabric for trim. We used a 3/4" bias tape maker. Cut a 1-1/2" width of fabric thread it through the opening, then as it comes out you catch it with the tip of your iron to press the fold to the center. As you might guess then you just overlay and topstitch. That's all there is to it. You do have to make those straps eight inches longer than a regular bag because it has to loop through the grommets. As long as you remember that, you're in great shape. Exactly, and everything is written in the book that accompanies the program plus of course, the embroidery designs. There's another functional designer tip and that is zipper closure. Sometimes a snap is not really secure enough to finish off the top of the bag. So, Nancy developed this great technique on adding a facing to the zipper tape itself and that facing lets the zipper kind of nestle down into the bag, staying out of harm's way. You could add this to a bag that you have. You don't have to embroider it. This is a technique that you can add to any tote or bag. The width of that bag is important. It's 15" wide, finished. So you're going to cut two facings four inches narrower than the width of the bag no matter what size bag you have. This is 11" by 4". I've added some fusible interfacing just maybe about three inches. You fold it in half, meeting the long ends folding it in half. Sew just a 1/4" seam at each corner. You're going to do this on both of the facing pieces and then turn it right side out. That's what I have here. I have a folded edge and a raw edge. The zipper, since you want it longer than your bag width. This is about a 16" zipper. I just would fold under the extra zipper tape that I have here. Then I'm going to put this down on the table and align the folded edge next to the zipper teeth. You might see on one side, I've topstitched it down. The lower section has been topstitched. At the end, I have a little sleeve that I'm going to add. I have an 18" zipper, I'm going to shorten it. Let's show our guests what we have on this end. We have a little extra sleeve or a little extra tab, it looks nice. You can figure out how to do that. Then, the top needs some binding. You can use your favorite technique of binding. We have binding started in this area. On my sample, that only has one half finished I'm just going to show you what you do. The raw edges are met to the raw edges of the bag and pinned. Then, you have the binding partially started on this side. I would just wrap. Baste it together first, the facing. Then wrap this around and topstitch or hand stitch. Eileen, if you look at the finished bag you can see, again, that that's nestled inside. You have a closure that has an extra tail and keeps your contents safe. Who wouldn't love to carry one of these feminine clutches? Big enough to fit a cell phone, small wallet and tissues. If you have a large embroidery hoop let the machine do all the pattern making for you. If not, you can easily stitch the design and then use a template to create the bag shape. What a great idea. We take a close-up look at this great clutch. You see the pretty part on the outside which we'll get to next, with a little ribbon detail. But the inside has equal interest. You can add a label. You can add a monogram. The beauty of it is is that the shape of the pattern is also an embroidery. That's what I have on my screen right now. You can see on the screen that I have the embroidery design. It's two outlines with a few little notches. As I stitch this I'm just stitching on a hooped fabric some lining fabric. You can add interfacing or stabilizer, if you'd like. It stitches the shapes, fast and easy. You can make your fabric a little bit larger so you can get two in one area. Rehoop it, and just stitch another one. As this is going around, I'm going to show you one that has already been stitched. It has been stitched with a little bit more than an outline. But right now, pay attention to the outline and the notches. The notches are right into the embroidery. Now, the pretty part. The label is going to happen next. Eileen, this is where you shine. I'm going to stop this. I almost stitched one whole outline. You're going to do the personalization. I've imported my label design which is included in this collection. I went into the built-in alphabet in the machine and added "nz" in lower case, because it's kind of a fun and trendy style right now. I'll move that monogram over into the label itself. I need to rotate it. Then I'll scootch it right underneath those pretty little flowers. I'm going to make sure that it's within that satin frame. Now, I'll touch "sewing." Since I've already stitched my outline I can advance through the designs so that I am at the placement guide for the label. I'll go ahead and stitch that. Next, I'll add my appliqu fabric. It's really nice that we have a placement line so we know where to put the appliqu. I've guessed in the past. The beautiful part about this clutch outline is, you know, the outside line is where you cut it out and the inside line is where you actually stitch the lining together. All of the hard work is done for you. You don't even have to measure. So, we'll let this tack down. After that, I'll remove the hoop from the machine and trim that excess appliqu fabric out of harm's way. We can watch it stitch the pretty design. Whenever you're trimming appliqu it's best to have the scissors right against the topstitch thread. You do want to get close. You want to hold that appliqu fabric. It's much easier to do this on a flat surface maybe away from the sewing foot. It's a little hard to get in here but I think our viewers get the overall picture. And you beveled your scissors. You laid it flat. After you do the trimming you just let it do the stitching. You may want to change threads. You're just going to do it one color right now. Right. It shows you the idea. Often in appliqu, we add an interfacing to the back. But this time, this is an area that's not going to get a lot of use. It doesn't need that extra security. This would be a great gift for prom, for bridesmaids for bridal wear. Well, not bridal wear, but for a wedding party. It can stitch very quickly. If you add the lace on the outer side it takes a little bit more time but decorative fabric works, too. As that is stitching I'm just going to show you, again, what we have. Eileen is stitching around the outer edge of the label. She would then change threads to do the remaining few stitches and you have a pretty lining. You're going to cut out along the outer edge of a second embroidery, as well. Then the lining will be prepared. The next part is to stitch the bag. We're going to stitch an outline, again and then the pretty part, the lace design. Eileen will show you how to add the ribbon. Eileen took time to reset her sewing machine and load fabric for the stitching of the outer clutch. Eileen, the outer clutch and the lining have a commonality. That's the outline that is stitched twice. One is the cut line and the inside line is where you actually sew the clutch together. Right now, I'm at color number two which is the beautiful lace. It does take quite a bit of time to stitch. It's 29 minutes, worth every stitch. We're going to go ahead and start it. When we come back we'll show our viewers how to add the ribbon in the center. It's a design element right in the embroidery design. As this is stitching we're working with a linen fabric almost an upholstery weight linen. In the first program, we detailed the type of fabrics. and then consider adding an interfacing to that maybe or even a lightweight batting. So, it will stitch and stitch. Since our show is only a half an hour show we are going to let the machine stitch. When we come back, it'll be nearing the end of this pretty lace pattern. My design has just about stitched the lace part which is so beautiful. Our next color is going to be the outline of that ribbon placement guide. Off we go. So you have function and you have a pretty stitch all in one. That's what I love about embroidery. You know, the preciseness of the digital file ensures that you're going to get consistent and perfect results every single time which is something I can't do at the sewing machine, Nancy. I know you can, but I sure can't. Not necessarily. Once that's tied off I can place this ribbon right in that outline. You want to make sure that it's centered. Notice I have tape that's over the ribbon holding it down. Again, this is something that you might want to do take the hoop off the machine so you can stand up over it and get a really good look. That's just office tape. It is, you can stitch right through it and just tear it off. You want to make sure that you get the end of the tape away from the presser foot because if it's not down securely, you could catch it and that could make a bit of a mess. But you know, stitching through it is not a problem at all. Also, you have the tape longer than the bag outline. I do, almost. We'll find out right now. Oh, it just made it. Lucky for me. The ribbon is longer, too so that you can have a handle on it. Now it's just tacking it down which is kind of fun to watch. Later on, when you actually sew the clutch together keep that ribbon long because you do want to capture it in the seam allowance of the clutch itself. Now, it will just do a decorative stitch down the middle. It's like a small, tiny French knot or polka dot, if you will. It just adds a really pretty decorative element. You have a lot of dots in the lace design so it's just a great design to complete it. But it's also enjoyable to watch. It is, and you know, Nancy this is such a great gift idea. I know many people on my gift list who will probably be getting one of these little clutch bags. You probably noticed earlier that the clutch had "nz" on it. That was a gift from Eileen to me. If you don't have a large jumbo hoop you could also just stitch the embroidery. It's a file, like this. Just the pretty part and the design. This is what's stitching right now in Eileen's hoop. There's a template, so you can trace this out or trace around this to get it centered. You can see that little notch. You'd line it up with the ribbon and it would just be trace and cut. After we watch this stitch and do the final stitching you will find out how we're going to assemble the lining and the outer clutch and insert it into the frame so you can give it away as a gift. Now it's time to do a little cutting. You've stitched two linings and two outer clutches. You have a cutting line and a sewing line. You can see, simply cut on the outer line. We'll do that for the front and the back and the lining. Now it's time to sew your lining together. Yes, the lining and all pattern pieces in this instance have little notches stitched right into the embroidery. You're going to stitch just this lower seam. It's just about a little over an inch or 1-1/2" long. If you'd like, you can put a dowel in here and do a little finger pressing or you can use the tip of your iron and press that little seam. It's a great way to get into tiny corners. This clutch is going to be turned right side out so you'll need an opening. Eileen, you designed it to happen here. It has two notches on the lining pattern or design. One here and one here. You don't stitch between those two notches. You stitch from the corner to the notch. Then, stack the seams. Stack the side seam and the lower seam one on top of the other. You'll stitch across the corner. When you do that, presto, we have it here you'll get a perfect boxed out seam. Nancy, we used the black thread here so that it would clearly be viewable on television. But at home, you may want to use the same color thread. Then you'd do the same for your beautiful outside bag the same boxed out corners but you'd have a closed lower edge. Even though I haven't stitched that one seam make believe I did. You tuck one inside of the other. Right sides together. And you'd sew along the top. For those of you who are Sewing with Nancy viewers you know that I like to do wrapped corners. You can wrap the corner and sew down to the point down to the point. This is what has happened on this little sample. It's been sewn all the way around the edges. The wrapped corner makes it just a little bit easier to right side the whole clutch. It's so rewarding when you turn it right side out, it kind of blooms. It's just beautiful. You know what, while I work on this why don't you show the viewers what it looks like. Once it's turned, you'll press all edges and then topstitch or edgestitch right along the edge because you're going to insert that into this metal frame. The metal frame is fairly narrow so you have to press that fabric down. I like to clip and hold back half of the clutch. Then I will get some glue. I use a fabric glue, a permanent fabric glue. I run a bead inside the frame, the whole length of the frame. Lay it on a flat surface and then just slide that top into the frame itself. This takes a little wiggling around but when the glue is in there it actually grips the fabric and makes it really simple to do. Nancy, I'll work on this while you tell them about the masterpiece that follows. Sure, and we're not really using glue as you might surmise because we're on an angled table. Just follow the directions, and it works out very well. During this two-part series, we showed you two handbags. In the beginning, we did a little creative construction, designer techniques of putting it together and also a clutch. But then, the masters program, which you'll find in the book that accompanies the program is to add a scalloped edge pocket along the edge. It's stunning. It has some of the same elements as the beautiful clutch does. You can see the same design this time, put in a different manner. It's a great way of incorporating function and fashion in bags, using an embroidery machine. Eileen, it's always a pleasure to have you on Sewing with Nancy. I love coming here, every time, Nancy. Thanks for having me. I hope that you'll enjoy making designer knockoff handbags. Known as the zipper lady, our Nancy's Corner guest was recently acknowledged by the volunteer organization, Clothes for Kids, for her dedication to keeping children warm during the winter. Replacing zippers in coats is no easy task. I was inspired by this story. I know you will be, too. I'd like you to welcome Mary Kolb who is the Zipper Lady. Mary, when I read your story and that you have repaired hundreds of zippers I knew you had to be a guest on Sewing with Nancy. Thank you for having me. Tell me when you started to repair zippers. In the year 2000. Since then, the number is pretty astounding. Tell the viewers. I've done it in 1300 coats for Clothes for Kids. That's remarkable, 1300 coats kept kids warm kept jackets out of landfills. I admire your dedication. Thank you. What we thought we'd do is share with you some of Mary's tips because we're not going to replace the whole zipper. Sometimes you do that. But sometimes it's just as easy as replacing the glider. Right, many times, people will say "I need a new zipper" and they don't really need a new zipper. They need to save their parts and it can maybe be fixed much easier that way. That's key, save the parts. Because in this zipper this coat came to you without the zipper glider. Right. Even though we're not working on a hard surface we'll kind of show you what Mary did. Mary, you have your nice little pad that you made. You put it on your table. Let's do this side. Then you've got your tackle box full of supplies. You did a little chiseling. Right, I break this top stop on that side. Be sure you always do it on the female side. Where the glider inserts. Where it's going to go Just chisel that off. Right, pull it off with a pliers. Then, I happen to have-- I order my supplies from a company and put on the new glider. This takes just a few minutes. We're just going to get it started at the top. We practiced this, I know it works. There we go. And presto. As Mary is zipping it I want to show you that in her tackle box, she has all kinds of stops. Right, I can't add a plastic top but I can add a metal one. Then the coat is fixed. A good lesson to all of us is that when you get a coat and it has the parts and it has a little accessory on it what do you do with that? I remove that because I feel it pulls the glider apart. If you notice on this one. I'll hold it for you. This has been pulled apart. People will come and say that their zipper is broke. No, you simply pulled that apart and you can, as a Band-Aid to have the coat for the day, or whatever just close this about 1/32", very little because you don't want to break that neck off inside. That needs to be-- There's a little prong in there and that needs to be closed a little so that the zipper teeth can close. If that's too wide, people say well, it opens from the bottom. That's why it opens from the bottom. We've all had that. If I had that on a metal zipper now and closed it like that, it would be fine. But what I try to teach people to do and should we do it on this coat? Sure. Try to teach the children when they're closing their coat to run their thumbnail up this way so they're putting the pressure on the top or down like this, not out like this. Of course, when they have that extra decoration on there they're so apt to pull like that and you're pulling this bottom apart. That's why it does that. So, Mary's hint is to grasp the tab and pull upward or push downward. Don't pull straight out. You may have a metal zipper. You have taken off that you have some kind of makeshift pliers. You put a felt section in there so that you could easily remove the top stops. What a great hint. We're not going to go through replacing a zipper but this happens to everyone. Boy, what a great way that you have honored children by fixing their coats. Thank you for being with us and keep up 100 coats a year! I will try. Thank you, Mary. I hope you've enjoyed this program that I've done with Mary as well as Eileen Roche on "Handbags 2 Designer Knockoffs." All things Sewing with Nancy

you can find at our website

nancyzieman.com. Watch 52 shows, find out about our Nancy's Corner guests. Most of all, thank you for joining me. Bye for now. Nancy and Eileen Roche have written a book entitled "Handbags 2 Designer Knockoffs" that includes instructions, designer techniques and a CD including embroideries for the bags featured in this two-part series. To order the book, call 1-800-336-8373 or visit our website at sewingwithnancy.com/2716. Order Item Number BK2716 "Handbags 2 Designer Knockoffs." To pay by check or money order call the number on the screen for details.

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