BEHIND THE SEAMS
Sew Over It
Alma Fournier-Carballo shows us how to dive into the world of sewing bags
Alma Fournier-Carballo
Once you know how to use a sewing machine, there is no limit to what you can create. Homewares and furnishings such as cushion covers are a great place to start, and when you take the plunge into dressmaking, the possibilities are truly endless. At Sew Over It, we specialise in clothing patterns, mainly womenswear, focusing on getting the right fit and creating clothes that feel and look great. But every now and then, we like to add a great accessory to our pattern collection to give you something a little bit different.
We use them every day, and yet bags are looked at with some trepidation when it comes to making your own. Some of the techniques and fabrics used to sew a bag can be quite different from what you might be used to if you mostly sew clothes, but with our patterns and online classes, we like to demystify the whole process. If you can sew a dress, you can definitely sew a bag!
Our bag patterns vary in level of difficulty but none of them are too tricky, because we design them with dressmaking sewists in mind. It’s important to start with the right kind of fabric. We all love a viscose that drapes beautifully when it comes to making clothes, but for bag-making you’ll need to leave those drapey fabrics aside and have a look at sturdier cloth like canvas, thick cotton twill, Panama fabric, and denim. Quilting cottons are a great option to use for bag linings. They are easy to sew and readily available in countless designs, so you can add a personal touch to your bag. For some bags you will also need to use a thick interfacing like Decovil to iron onto the outer fabric and give it even more structure.