The Koos Bag, Part Three

I started the actual sewing of the Koos bag today. I have to admit, I've only referenced the pattern once and that was in regards to the zipper installation. Here's why. This is a great pattern with great directions. But on my bag I wanted to use some fabric that would not take the heat very well. So piecing together the top, bottom, and side and fusing them all after that to fusible fleece was out of the question. So I chose to do a sort of "foundation piecing." Here you see a scrap of cotton with the fleece all fused on. I always remove the seam allowances on fleece and interfacing when I make bags. There is just too much bulk otherwise.

Just as in paper pieceing, the first piece is sewn down to the foundation. The next piece is layed on top as you see above and stitched to the base and first piece. After stitching, the seams are cut back and graded and the second piece is flipped over. Now I have a big circle. You can see the green fabric came up short but another piece will be overlayed on top of it and it won't show.



I also stitched and flipped the bias edge, turning it under on the leftover side and topstitching it. It came out ripply but so evenly ripply that it looks intentional as you will see later. I actually like it as it really makes the fabric shine.

And if that wasn't enough bling, I decided on adding some brushed gold sequins, a trim I have had for years and now it's time had come. I did several samples of stitching on the sequins, some with contrast thread, some matching thread, and some monofilament. The smoke colored monofilament won
. First I got a plate out of the cupboard to use to mark a nice curve. This wasn't as easy as it sounds. This trim had to bypass the zipper installation and the four buttonholes for the straps but eventually I found the sweet spot. I drew that on with the plate and then ran a line of Wonder Tape along the line. Wonder Tape is a double sided tape that is great to position trims, zips, and all sorts of things, a must for any sewing room. All I had to do now was line up the sequins over the Wonder Tape. You can't see it in this pic but it is really important to leave about an inch of Wonder tape hanging off the edge. Stick the last few sequins to it and this extra will help hold the tape without unraveling until you are ready to stitch the seams.

Here's a closeup and you can see the monofilament is virtually unnoticeable. The sequins will be picked out of the seam allowance when it is sewn to the sides. In the meantime the extra tape and sequins will help hold it all together. To stitch the sequins I used a 6.0 wide zigzag, a 2.5 length, and the monofilament thread. I think they came out pretty good and it's not a brazen scream of bling so I'm happy. Next in line is to install the zipper and the strap buttonholes. They are really cool. The zipper has an interesting method where the seams of the zipper facing are "wrapped" with the facing fabric. More to come. I WILL follow directions for that step! So far this has been a lot of fun. It feels really good to get back to my sewing. All painting was completed yesterday and now we just wait for our floor to arrive.

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You may remember last spring our four footed friends decimated the hostas. They are back lately every day around lunchtime. Caught the little stinker getting a few last bites in before winter! At this point she is welcome to them..........Bunny