Sew-Along Step 3: Prepping the Pieces.
This step will prep the pockets and the strap and should take about an hour or two. To start, you will need all 7 rectangles at 3"x 10.5".
We are going to do the strap first. This needs to be pretty durable as it will be the main wear-and-tear point. The bag will be hung, swung, carried, pulled, and carted by it so it needs to be a strong as possible. You will use the one rectangle you cut out of the fabric used for the main body.
In many of the following steps you will be using an iron. Use as hot a setting as possible for the fabric, and be sure to turn the steam setting on your iron off. Your fingers will be very close to the iron- please be careful!
First, lay the strap in front of you on your ironing board, right side down.
In many of the following steps you will be using an iron. Use as hot a setting as possible for the fabric, and be sure to turn the steam setting on your iron off. Your fingers will be very close to the iron- please be careful!
First, lay the strap in front of you on your ironing board, right side down.
Fold the rectangle in half, right down the middle. The bottom of the rectangle should come up to meet the top of the rectangle. Press to make a crease.
Open the rectangle back up. You now have a line right down the middle to act as a guide. Take the bottom edge and fold it up so it meets this right-down-the-middle line. Press to make a crease.
Take the top edge and fold it down so it meets the right-down-the-middle line. Press to make a crease. Both your top and bottom edges should now meet up in the middle. Be sure they do not overlap.
Fold in half along the right-down-the-middle line. You will notice the former top and bottom of the rectangle are now tucked into that crease along the middle. This is hiding all those rough cut edges and will prevent fraying. Press to make a crease.
Switch your iron back to the steam setting, or give a manual shot of steam, to really set those folds. Be very careful not to burn your fingers with the steam. You can see from the side shot below, the strap is now folded and pressed into quarters.
Keeping your needle as close to the edge as possible (about 1/4"), sew the strap shut along the edge that "opens."
Sew the other side (along the folded edge) exactly the same way.
To make the strap extra strong and durable, add a few more lines of stitches down the space between the two side seams. I put in 3 more.
The strap is finished!
You still have 6 rectangles left. First, fold the rectangles in half with the right sides together, as shown.
Pin in place.
Sew using a 3/8"seam allowance.
Turn each tube so the right sides are facing out.
Take each tube to the ironing board and press each tube flat, with the seam in the middle, or as close to the middle as you can get it. Exact placement doesn't matter so you can easily eye-ball it in place. Once it is in place, put the steam setting back on (or give it a manual shot of steam) to set the folds in place.
Choose one side of the flattened-tube to be the top, and one to be the bottom. Sew the top as close to the edge as you can (about 1/4" seam allowance). You now have 1 quilted strap and 6 game-pockets with one edge sewn, like this:
Set all these aside, and turn your attention to the two rectangles that are 7" long and 4" high, and the two rectangles that are 13" long and 5" high.
With right sides together, pin the bigger (13"x5") rectangles together along the top edge. With right sides together, pin the smaller (7"x4") rectangles together along the top edge and down one side.
Sew with a 1/2" (4/8 on some machines) seam allowance. Trim the corner on the smaller rectangle.
Turn the rectangles right side out, use a pencil to poke the corner of the smaller rectangle out to make it more square looking. Press carefully along the seams to make everything flat. Sew along the seams as close to the edge as possible (about 1/4" seam allowance).
You are now finished with all the prep work! Take a step back and admire your accomplishment so far!
Onto step 4!
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