Sewing With Nancy

From comments on my blog site I know that sewing bags and totes is one of most searched for sewing topic. I like to create bags myself the roomy Hobo Tote style being my current favorite. Often designed with interior seams this tote is an ideal palette to showcase a casual, coordinated fabric collection. Or, a tote can take a classic look by adding tailored touches and using a sophisticated color combo. "Hobo

Totes

Casual to Classic" that's what's coming up next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program

with Nancy Zieman is made possible by

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. A hobo tote is a generic term for bags and totes that are large and oversized. You'll find hobo tote patterns for bags and totes or templates. They'll have many different designs. They're big. They're usually colorful, with several different seams many times, interior seams for patterns or even for templates. Behind me, I have examples of some totes. This is what I was talking about earlier with using fabric combinations, fat quarters, perhaps just coordinates or groups together. The totes themselves, as I said, are big. You probably could put a purse within a bag. Use it for shopping, traveling, going to the gym. You can personalize it in one color, two fabric colors or just all one solid color. So, they're fun to work with. The techniques I'm going to show you today are not in making one specific type of hobo pattern but to make it from casual to classic, different styles. It's important to start with the basics of fabrics and how to work with the totes and make the fabrics beefy enough to hold perhaps your exercise clothes, or for shopping. If you're working with a coordinate collection many times, they're available in cottons. Cottons are lightweight. They certainly don't have enough substance for a traditional bag. So what we like to do is to interface. Add fusible interfacing to the fabric just a lightweight fusible. It gives it a little extra substance support and stability. You can cut out your patterns or trace your templates whatever you may be working with. I'm going to, for this program, use a template. On the interfacing side I've started already to trace the size that I have. This particular section is the lower portion of the tote. The next template I'm going to show you is the upper portion. It kind of looks almost like a dress top but that's the shape of this template. If you'd like to make it out of two colors of fabrics there is a green line that you place on the fold of the fabric and then do the tracing. Then you just cut out your pattern pieces. The sample that I'm working with right now is featuring different fabrics four different fabrics for the front. You can use the same four fabrics for the flip side. They've been interfaced. You'd sew them together, vertical seams, crosswise seams. You get the idea to make one big palette with fun fabrics. But if you look at this fabric, it just isn't going to cut it when it comes to carrying weight in your tote. You need a craft interfacing. We've used this on other Sewing with Nancy programs for bags and totes. You'll recognize it when you're in a fabric store. You don't fuse it on, you sew it on. It is a great interfacing to place again, in addition to that fusible. I like to cut this. Rather than having all the seams just cut it in one big piece. I trace the shape of the template on here. Whoa, just tracing straight would work out better! There we go. Rather than cutting it this size then I would overlap my other piece by 1/2". I'm just going to eyeball 1/2" since there are 1/4" seam allowances. I'll trace this. Then I would flip it and make a full size. In other words, eliminating the seam allowances from the middle. If your pattern has interior seam allowances eliminate them. Cut out the shapes so that you have a stability piece that holds all the fabrics together. Whatever pattern you're working with do shape it with a craft interfacing. Then, I'll show you on the two-color fabric after you've sewn the seams together then place it on that interfacing. We've added some trim over that seam just some fun trim. It could be ribbon. It could be bias tape. If you had four quadrants, you divide it into four just for some fun. When I build a bag I build it from the bottom up. Sewing the lower seam together, as I have here. Then I add base interfacing. This is a plastic for the bottom of bags. You can stitch it in place. You can't pin it. It would bend the pin, so you use double-sided basting tape. The hardest part is removing the paper from the tape. Then you can stick it down and trim. The template I'm working with has notations where feet can be placed. You can add those if you'd like. I'll show you that later in the program. Then you construct the bag. Adding the stability of the craft interfacing or the plastic bottom, will make this tote durable. Classic colors and the addition of belt loops make this version of the hobo tote very adaptable. A modified belt takes center stage in this look. Next, you can change the look in seconds by replacing the belt with a scarf. Here's how to create your very own quick-change hobo tote. When working with this style choose a pattern that has a horizontal seam. There are plenty of big tote bags. The template that I used, or this one as an example that has a seam where we can add the belt or scarf. This isn't a whole belt. It's a belt that has been cut and goes trough belt loops as you can see. It's attached with some hook and loop tape around the belt loop, so it's split into two. I'll release this section. Look for a belt that's woven because it's a little easier to sew than maybe a stiff leather belt. But maybe you have a belt from your closet that you're not wearing. The change is to start stringing a scarf through the back and the front. The belt just went through the front piece. I really like this look, from fall to spring. You can change the look just by the scarf that you put on this. I skipped some belt loops just to save some time. You get the general idea of what's happening here. I think this is a fun combination. Choose two fabrics that you have a lot in your wardrobe and you can make that quick change. The belt loops are the main feature that you have to add before you do a lot of sewing. We chose a strap technique working with a fusible strap that ends up being 5/8" wide. We fuse it to 1-1/4" strips of fabric then cut eight that are 5-1/2" in length. You press along the perforations. I think you get that idea. Press it crisply, make it so it's crisp. After you have the 5-1/2" lengths fold in half, meeting the short ends. To make those belt loops, simply stitch along both sides so that they're firm. Position them on the front and back of the top portion. You always want one in the center another one at the ends for the front meaning close to the side seams. Let me show you what I mean. You would like your belt loops to be 2-1/2" from the lower edge. I'm going to place the end belt loops 3/4" in, so 2-1/2" then one in the center. Then, equal distance, put another one. You're going to have five across the front. In the back, you only need three. You don't need the side seam ones. Sew across the top pieces just across the top of the belt loops. Then, to get a little extra give in the belt loops meet the edges to the edge of the belt loops and then baste across the bottom. It's just placing five in the front three in the back. Then sew the horizontal seam, attaching the belt loops. There you go. Now, to make the belt change. I'm going to place a belt across this area. You'd like the belt buckle to be in the center. After you have it in the center, measure 3". Where's my tape measure? There we go, or my gauge. Measure 3" from the edge, place a piece of tape and then zigzag. Zigzag across the belt. Do the same on the other end so that you're measuring an extra 3". I'm going to cut right after my zigzag. It takes a little courage to do that first cut. Perhaps you can see that I stitched hook and loop tape four inches apart. That's how it's going to attach to the belt. When it slips in, just like this it's going to wrap around or slip under the first two belt loops and then around the last one. You'd do the same to the other side and they meet together. You can have your belt loop as a change. With a scarf, it's going to loop all the way around. You have a quick change hobo tote. This tote is equally laid back and trendy. Using a reversible quilted cotton fabric, create a tote that measures up to the popular ready-made brands. Using reversible fabric the lining of your tote is omitted making this a speedy tote to stitch. You can use any of the hobo tote patterns or a big slouchy bag pattern for a quilted fabric. The quilted fabric is usually reversible or should be reversible for this project. They come in pretty colors. You can see our tote that we have here. There's a lot of differences. First of all, the lining is gone because it looks just as good on the inside as it does on the outside, and it's thick. The snaps that we normally have in the lining need to go another place. We have them in a little pocket with a stiffener in it a plastic stiffener so that you can easily keep your tote closed. The bag bottom is different. It's removable. It's not stitched into the bag. I'll show you how to create a pocket. I think you can figure that out but it's just a pocket for the bag bottom plastic. Then, since it's not lined. A lining would normally finish the bag. We just used some of the self fabric to finish the edges just to create a nice, bound edge. I can't possibly show you all the techniques of putting this together just the differences of working with a quilted fabric. This is the sample from earlier in the program where I showed you the craft interfacing and the bag bottom stitched to the lower portion of the bag. We're going to change that. Here you can see the quilted fabric. It's just sewn. The trim has been added. That was a little note to myself there! You can place feet on here, if you'd like. If you'd like to place feet, use some of that plastic that you'd use for the bag bottom. Cut it in little squares and attach that. Follow the instructions on the package for how to put the feet on. Place a layer of this under the disk so that it gives it more support. Here we go, we've got the feet and the disk you'll have to use-- Usually you use a little hammer to get that which I'm not going to do right now. But it shows you how you can give that bag some support even though you don't have the interfacing there. That's just a few tips. Seaming. You're going to seam. I like to use a serger. Here you can see that I'm serging using right sides together a wide four-thread overlock stitch. When you look inside the bag, you'll see some differences as I pointed out earlier, that snap. there's a hanging snap. The snap usually would go in the lining. We cut a piece of the bag-bottom craft interfacing about 1-1/2" by 2-1/2". It really doesn't matter. We made a little pocket for it. I cut a piece of fabric wider and doubled the length. I sewed the side seams and turned it right side out. Then you'd insert the plastic right into the middle so that you'd have this. Then, after that's inserted, which I'm not doing right now you'd just place a snap through all layers. Make two of these. One is placed in the center of one side and the center of the other side. It's caught in the seam. That will make it nice and secure. If you wondered where I got that fabric I used the quilted fabric, but separated it. You can use this for trim. Just cut whatever you'd like, and with your scissors clip the threads so you have double layers of fabric. My last tip when you're using quilted fabric. Edges that are usually finished with lining need some finishing. This edge has a binding on the edge. I simply cut bias strips of the quilted fabric. I separated the fabrics. A 1-1/2" strip was folded in half stitched to the edge with a 1/4" seam and wrapped around. The final stitching can be topstitched or machine stitched. So, with a double quilted fabric you can create a bag in an evening or two. If you're sporting a pair of the ever-so-popular sheepskin boots complete the look with a Hugg tote. The fabric looks like sheepskin, but it's faux and soft like a hug, hence the name. Using many of the same sewing techniques from the cotton quilted bag, make your own sheepskin tote in an evening or two. As I mentioned, you're going to eliminate the lining and use many of the same techniques I showed you earlier for the quilted bag when working with fabric that has a fleece on one side and a faux suede on the other. As we look at the detail of this very soft tote you'll notice, of course, the seaming. This is not trim this is obviously the reverse side or the inside of the fabric. To work with this, we're going to make a little change a change to the pattern pieces or in this instance, the template pieces if you have horizontal or interior seams. I have some of the fabric to show you the cutting technique. You're going to cut one layer at a time, not two layers. Why? It's so thick that if you cut two layers at a time it'll shift. You'll not have the same size pieces. We've traced a front and a reverse side of the front on the faux sheepskin. Tracing the tops. But to the horizontal and the vertical interior I added 3/8", if you can see the light pink lines. I flipped it over and did the same on this side. Wherever there was an interior seam I added 3/8" to make it 5/8". You'd trace out all your pattern pieces. With cutting, you're not going to cut through all the fabric like you normally would. But rather, cut through the backing which is the faux suede. I've started here. You'd cut on a flat surface. Guide your scissors along the suede not cutting through the sherpa. Otherwise, you're going to have a snowfall on your lap or on the floor. Just cut and then it separates. It's much easier that way, you don't have to vacuum as much. For sewing, you're going to meet wrong sides together. In this instance, sherpa sides together and pin. Notice how lofty it is. Because of this loft if you have a walking foot for your machine please attach that. It will feed the top and the bottom layer at a more even, consistent rate. The first stitch, with a 5/8" seam allowance is just a straight stitch. I've lengthened it to about 3.0 millimeters for the length. You can see the bulk, but it really doesn't shift as it did when I sewed the first time without the walking foot. You have just a straight stitch. I'll cut the threads. You're going to set your machine for a zigzag stitch. I'll just quickly go over here and set it for a zigzag. The width, I'm going to make it about 2 millimeters The length, about 2.5 millimeters I'll lengthen that, there we go. Now get out your seam ripper, stiletto, or awl because you're going to sew on the right side, the suede side at the very edge. To do this, you're just going to kind of guide the fabric. I have red thread in here. You can hardly see the red thread because it's buried in the nap. But you want to make sure that you catch the edge. That's why you need a blunt tool to help you do the stitching. It's fast, you don't press this. If you needed to steam away a wrinkle just do that, steam it. When I show you the seam you will see that it's been stitched down but you can't even see the stitching even though the thread is red. So for your Hugg tote, use the quilted techniques plus expose the seam for softness. Thinking about making a quilt design from oh, let's say the 1920s, but not sure which style was the most popular back then? Your research is just a click away. Over 50,000 quilts are catalogued for your browsing and researching enjoyment. Here to tell us about this convenient website is Amy Milne, representing the Quilt Index. She joins us via Skype. Welcome to Sewing with Nancy, Amy. Thank you, it's great to be here. When I heard about this index that had over 50,000 quilts I was so impressed. Give our viewers an overview of QuiltIndex.org. Sure, it's been a long time coming. The quilt index has been online for about ten years but was in research and development before that. As you probably know, most of the states or regions have done quilt documentation projects but all of those resources were sitting in filing cabinets and offices across the country. This project is an attempt to get all of those records in one place so it's sort of a one-stop shop for inspiration and research. So, if I were going to research a quilt project how would I go about it? There are a lot of ways to use the quilt index. A couple ways that I think are really helpful for someone just using it for the first time is to use the browse tool. Here's an example. If you go to the Quilt Index, which is quiltindex.org there are a couple menus across the top and one of them is "Browse." If you select "Browse" and then choose "Main" it will give you a lot of different options. One of the options that's really neat is to choose a style or a technique. One of the techniques that I chose was strips or bands. So if you choose that technique and go and look I think it returned something like 500 results so you know, which can be mind blowing. But you can view them as a grid so it's sort of nice to see them all together like a quilt themselves. Select one and see more about it either a basic view with just the basic information or a detailed view. Some of the quilts that you might find might have a specific pattern within that category. Another way you might browse might be to choose a pattern like a Roman Stripe. You could go to the browse category or browse menu and choose "Browse by Pattern." That will give you over 200 common patterns to explore. Those came from Barbara Brackman's book "Encyclopedia of Pieced Patterns." So if you choose the Roman Stripe you would get, I think you know, probably 100 or more records. It allows you to go in and select them. You can compare them, move them around on the page like you would with a scrapbook. It's so valuable because you can see ideas that really inspire, of course, your project. It's also a history lesson. Exactly, because of those quilts when you do a search, you're going to find that you are seeing quilts from several centuries. So it's fascinating. Tell us, from what areas of the country or world do you have quilts that are represented on Quilt Index. Well, from all over the United States. In fact, right now, we've just finished a project to internationalize or start to look at how we can internationalize. We've added quilts from Canada and from South Africa recently. Our next objective is to try to fill in the gaps so that we have quilts from all 50 states. This is such a wonderful resource. A style, period, even colors of quilts. You can browse by color so if you were going to make a blue quilt you could see color combinations. Yeah, in fact, one of my favorite searches I'm really interested in two-color quilts black and white quilts, black and red quilts. I did a search just recently, that if you search-- You can also use the "Search" menu so it's a little more refined. I chose search and then I used two fields. One of them was, I think, I'm going to look at my notes "predominant color." I chose a predominant color of black. Then I did "overall color," two colors. It returned, I think, 80 quilts and they were from almost every state, including Wisconsin from the DAR, from the Royal Alberta Museum. But they were stunning, stunning quilts from at least two centuries. Amy, this is an exciting site, exciting project. I know I'm going to go there. Thank you for being with us. Great, thanks for having me. Thank you for watching Sewing with Nancy for our program on "Hobo

Totes

Casual to Classic." I hope you've picked up some ideas. Go to nanzyzieman.com to watch the program again watch 52 shows online. Find out more at Nancy's Corner, including about our guest Amy. Thanks for joining us. Bye for now. Nancy has designed templates and written a book that can be used to create the totes featured in this program. The templates are $19.95, plus shipping and handling. The book is included free with purchase. To order this reference material, call 1-800-336-8373

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sewingwithnancy.com/2706. Order item BK2706 "Hobo

Totes

Casual to Classic" templates and free book. Credit card orders only. To pay by check or money order call the number on the screen for details.

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