Friday 27 May 2016

Sewalong mayhem

Why oh why don't I think before I do things???

Full of bag sewing enthusiasm after Bag Camp , I decided that it was my civic duty to keep the new bag makers from camp sewing........as if they need me egging them on. I think most will continue the baggers journey with or without my encouragement.......
So what do I do??? without much of an idea I decided to do a sew along..........Sounds easy? well that's what I thought too. I have to say I have a new respect for the art of creating the instructions on sewing patterns now...
So........a sew along........ whats it all about? .........photos of every stage of the making process, lots of encouragement and ideas, tips and generally helpful comments. To add to the experience I wanted to make it a learning forum too, so added a double welt zipper pocket to the pattern.
So what bag are we doing........my faithful friend the hobo by sewing patterns by Mrs H
pattern available here......https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/246657812/the-reversible-hobo-bag-pdf-sewing?ref=shop_home_active_19

Just in case I fall flat on my face and my supreme confidence lets me down I keep it small.........just the ladies who came to camp.......I'm using them as guinea pigs..........they don't mind they say.
I offer some options to customise the pattern a bit and the ladies seem keen so I go for it....

two bags, two lots of fabric, pockets galore, overlays......all sorts of things.
I HAD NO IDEA IT WOULD TAKE THAT LONG!

I can make a hobo from start to finish in about 3 hours....its a bag quick sew, but when your taking photos every step of the way, having to keep charging your phone, it takes hours.
I realised my ironing board cover wasn't overly photogenic, so nipped to Sainsbury's where all they have is a lurid Barbie pink effort with tropical flower on.......it will have to do. I cant share my torn grubby looking ironing board with the world....



Its amazing how many processes there are in sewing a bag. so many things you don't really think about but you need to explain. I'm rarely lost for words, but finding the right words to describe some of these things is almost impossible. In theory, the people participating should be able to create the bag using the pattern, all I'm doing is giving a few more ideas and explaining in my words what I'm doing. So if I need help with the words I can crib from the pattern. Not so with the pocket. I do my welt pockets the way I feel comfortable doing them and just try to break it down into manageable portions........It's really hard to describe something you can do with your eyes shut in words that everyone will understand........

''you take the thingy and tuck it into the whatsit wrong sides together, then pull the oojemyflip over the doodah...........''

You get the picture? finding the right words is really hard to do.
Photos..........hundreds of them..........loaded onto the computer and sorted into order.......the ones of my feet or the wall deleted, a couple of short videos of the bits I just couldn't describe......
my three hour hobo is no more, in all seven hours to make the first one, stop start stop start.........redo take more photos...........open wine...........drink wine.......
no less than 200 photos later..........lol


40 posts........2 videos...........
and my lovely ladies have created hobo bags to be proud of......yes just 6..........but I couldn't have been more delighted that my instructions worked and the bags speak for themselves......


Encouraged by the success of this event I decided to go bigger......this time I asked the lovely Liz at Moments ( http://liz-moments.blogspot.co.uk/) if I could do her beautiful Fine and Dandy pattern......pattern available here...https://www.craftsy.com/pattern/sewing/accessory/fine--dandy-pouch/193508?rceId=1464378130754~pufq8ddb...... ...and we decided to do my hacked version of the pattern so people could make something 'off piste' from the original pattern.......when its a small group of ladies you know, its fine if you make a mess of it, when its open to anyone its a whole new ball game. I don't want to look a fool, not do I want to let Liz down. you might think once burned twice shy, but oh no........straight back in there and off we go again. this time it was so much easier, although for a small pouch there are an awful lot of processes to get through to get a finished pouch.
My ladies didn't let me down, at the end of the week we had no less than 13 beautiful fine and dandy sewing pouches.
When it was all done, I felt almost as though I'd given birth......exhausted.....relieved it had all gone well.........in need of a stiff drink...........and very very proud of what had been produced.
When one of the ladies from the Fine and Dandy sew along posted her pouch on Facebook, she commented that it had been like having her own personal tutor...............those words alone made me decide that this wouldn't be the last time I do this, it was fun..........and a huge learning experience.......
Watch this space for details of the next one ..........lol



3 comments:

  1. Fantastic work. Now open another bottle of wine and relax. Look forward to your next sewalong. Even if I can't take part its always fun to follow.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic work. Now open another bottle of wine and relax. Look forward to your next sewalong. Even if I can't take part its always fun to follow.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes that was me! I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in your 'hack' Christine and it was like having my own personal tutor since you were just there - at the other end of a fb message. Thank you so much for doing this. More?

    ReplyDelete