Blue Calla Iris Sewalong Day 3

Welcome back and thanks for joining us for the final day of the Iris Sewalong.  Here’s a recap:

• Day 1  – Fabric, interfacing, and hardware selection and gathering. Printing of pattern, and cutting and fusing fabric and interfacing.
• Day 2 – We begin sewing the bag.
• Day 3 (that’s today!) – Final assembly and completion of bag.

Line up the bottom edges of the assembled exterior panels. Stitch in place.

Fold seams open and topstitch.

Bring panels right sides together again and clip or pin in place and sew along each side, starting at corner of top band and ending at bottom corner, leaving notch unsewn. Pay special attention to where the top band meets the main panel, try to match those up on each side.

To sew the boxed corners, match a side seam with a bottom seam and fold notched corner, creating a straight line, clip in place and sew. Repeat for other corner.

Turn exterior bag right side out.

Take strap connectors and fold in half, inserting a D ring (or O-ring, as I’m using), then baste in place centered at each side seam.

Just as you did on the exterior, place lining top band right sides together on lining main panel, matching wide edge. Stitch in place. I like to press my pieces in half to make a crease and match the creases so my pieces line up nicely. Press seam allowance up toward the top of the bag and topstitch the seam.

Create the slip pocket by folding pocket piece in half right sides together to form a long folded piece, stitch raw edges together, turn tube right side out, press and topstitch the seam you just made, leaving the folded edge pressed crisply.

Place the slip pocket piece, folded edge at the bottom on the right side of a lining panel, about 1″ above the corner notch. I used a marker and ruler to create a line so my pocket goes on straight, pin and sew in place along folded edge. Flip over with wrong side up and baste pocket along edge of lining, then trim excess pocket piece. Sew dividing lines in slip pocket as desired.

For the zippered pocket, place one pocket piece right side down on remaining lining panel, just below top band and pin in place. Draw a rectangle starting about 1″ below the top of the piece, and centred. The pattern calls for 8″ wide and 3/8″ high, but you can adjust per your zipper. I use a #5 zipper, so I make my rectangle 1/2″ high. Sew along your rectangle, then add the center lines and corner triangle as in the pattern and cut along the lines you just drew, being very careful in the corners to get as close as possible without cutting your stitching.

Pull the pocket through to the back and press the hole open so you can’t see the pocket from the right side of the lining. You may choose to use wonder tape here. Now place the zipper carefully centered over the hole, teeth side down and secure. I use scotch tape and a bit of wonder tape. The scotch tape easily pulls out after stitching. Flip over and make sure the zipper is centered. From the right side of the lining, sew around the hole to secure the zipper. Place the remaining zipper pocket piece right sides together with the piece you’ve sewn on and clip or pin along all 4 sides and sew in place.

Assemble lining pieces by matching up right sides together and sewing along sides and bottom, leaving a turning hole at the bottom, about 5″. I actually prefer to switch to a basting stitch instead of lifting my needle; I still backstitch before and after the turning gap. Sew the boxed corners the same way as the exterior.

To install the magnetic snap for the top closure of the bag, I like to bring the side seams of the bag together in order to find my centers of the top bands. Use clips or pins to hold the seams together while you mark centers. Install the magnetic snap, each half of the snap approximately 1.5″ below the centers, including adding pieces of scrap backing to reinforce the snap.

Place exterior bag inside lining bag, right sides together. Match up side seams and centers, then clip or pin in between, including top of bag.

Sew all around the top, around all the curves and corners.

Trim seam allowance and clip corners, but make sure you leave the seam allowance over the turning gap inact. Remove basting stitch at turning gap if you used a basting stitch, and start pulling the bag right side out through the gap. Go slow and you’ll get there eventually!

Once you’ve turned the bag right side out, use a chop stick or similar tool to push out the corners along the top of the bag so they’re as sharp as possible. Tuck in the seam allowance at the turning gap, press and sew shut (some people choose to do this by hand with a ladder stitch).

Press along the top of the bag in preparation of topstitching. After pressing, I also use wonder clips to really help hold my seams straight and in place.

Almost done! Now we just have to sew the straps.

For my O-rings, I decided to hold them in place with rivets. Whether you’re sewing or using rivets, the process is about the same. Place one ring in a fold of a strap and have the strap fold in toward the inside of the bag about 1.75″ down from folded edge – refer to the pattern for more pictures of this step. Sew a rectangle to secure, or use 2 rivets in line. Repeat for remaining rings. To secure my shoulder straps I stitched 2 parallel lines. Make sure your straps aren’t twisted, and that the front strap ends up the same length as the back strap. If you chose to leave off the adjustable  strap, you’re done!

To sew the adjustable strap, pass one end of the strap through the middle bar of the slide, fold end over and sew in place about 1-2″ along the strap. Then take free end of strap and pass it through a swivel clip and then back over the center of the slide and out the other end, then attach remaining swivel clip and sew in place at end of strap by folding edge and stitching parallel lines or box.

Attach adjustable strap with swivel clips to side rings and you’re finished!

Enter your completed bag for a chance to win 2 patterns of your choice from Blue Calla and a $25 Gift Certificate to Funky Monkey Fabrics! To enter, post a picture of your completed bag on Instagram with #HappyOkapiBlueCallaSAL
or you can send me a picture of your bag through my contact page. You’ll have until November 8 to complete your bag and enter it. The winner will be randomly selected. Be sure to follow my facebook page for updates.