Sew News Portside Travel Set Sew Along Week 2
We love the Grainline Studio Portside Travel Set. And, Rhonda as usual does a stunning interpretation of it. You will see our cover here with the beautiful set. The set that she is making just for this sew along is equally gorgeous.
The Grainline Studio Portside Travel Set is fun to make and one of those projects that will give the sewist a tremendous sense of accomplishment. As we talked about in our last post, fabric choices are almost limitless. For the sew along, I have decided to use a distressed leather and a great coordinating print from Amy Butler.
Rather than jump right into the duffle bag, let’s start with the easiest project in the set, the pouch. The pouch is made up of just 3 rectangles and 1 zipper.
Unless you are using a heavier weight material, I suggest interfacing the pattern pieces for the pouch. A fusible cotton will work best.
Once the 3 rectangles of the pouch have been interfaced, press under a 1/2″ seam, allowance on the 2 rectangles that make up the front of the pouch.
Position the 2 rectangles over the zipper. The seam allowances for the pouch are 1/2″, so the ends of the zipper will be longer than the pouch.
The teeth of the zipper should be right along the edge of the folded edges of the pouch. Stitch the zipper in place.
Place the zippered front over the back of the pouch.
Before sewing the front to the back, be sure to unzip the zipper at least to the middle.If you don’t, you will not be able to turn the pouch to the right side.
Once all 4 sides of the pouch have been sewn, clip the corners.
Before turning the pouch to the right side, you may serge the seams and give them a nicer finished look.
To make it a little easier to pull the zipper open and closed, there is a pattern included for a zipper pull or you may just tie a piece of ribbon to the zipper.
The Dopp Bag:
Let’s begin with the lining of the dopp bag. Once you have worked through the lining, the actual bag will be a breeze!
Since I made my bag out of leather, the main body of the bag was not interfaced, but I interfaced the lining to give the dopp bag the body that it needs.
Once all of the lining pieces have been interfaced, press under a 1/2″ seam allowance on the center pattern pieces.
There are 2 end pieces that the 2 center strips are sewn to.
Sew the center strips to the end pieces with a 1/2″ seam allowance, and then edge stitch the seam in place.
In order to easily match the sides of the bag to the center piece, I like to fold the pieces in half and clip a small notch. Matching becomes a breeze.
When sewing the center strip to the side pieces, be sure to clip the center strip where it will match to the curved edges of the side pieces. Once the seam is sewn, edge stitch the seams to give the bag a more finished and polished look.
You are now ready to attach the bottom of the bag. Begin with the long sides of the bag bottom. Sew from seam line to the opposite seam line. Repeat with the other long side of the bag bottom.
Clip at the seam line. This will make it easy to turn and sew the 2 ends of the bag bottom.
The ends have been clipped and the ends are now ready to sew.
Once the end seams have been sewn, clip the corners.
Once the bottom of the bag has been sewn together, edge stitch around the bottom seam of the bag.
The edge stitching will help to hold the seams in place once the outer bag and the lining have been put together.
At this point, set the lining aside.
The center of the dopp bag has a zipper and it should be sewn in just as the zipper was sewn into the pouch. Once the zipper has been sewn in, attach the 2 ends just as you did with the lining.
The dopp bag features a side zippered pouch. To attach the zipper, press or fold back the top of the lower section, 1/2″ and stitch 1 side of the zipper in place. Fold the top portion back on the indicated fold line and stitch to the other side of the zipper.
You will be creating a flap for the zipper.
Once the zipper is in place, lay the outer portion of the bag over the contrast fabric and baste together. This will create the side pocket.
There are 2 pieces for the other side of the bag. Simply stitch them together. Trim the seam and edge stitch.
Once both sides have been sewn, attach them to the center portion of the bag. Be sure to trim the seam allowance prior to edge stitching.
Be sure to remember and attach the handle to 1 end of the bag. Follow the instructions for sewing the bag handle.
Attach the bottom of the bag to the top of the bag just as you did with the lining.
Insert the lining into the dopp bag and hand stitch the lining to the center zipper of the dopp bag.
It isn’t necessary, but if you like, you may add feet to the bottom of the dopp bag.
The dopp bag and the pouch are finished and ready for traveling!!
Both the dopp bag and the pouch would make wonderful gifts. As you now see, they go together so quickly and easily. And even better…they are just fun to make!!!
In our next post, we will begin the duffle bag. If you’ve enjoyed putting the dopp bag and the pouch together, just wait, you really enjoy making the duffle bag!
Until next time,
Sew On!!!
Rhonda Buss
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