Sew-Along Step 4: Putting the Inside Panel Together.
Now that all the prep work is done, we can really get moving. Just to see where you are headed, you will be putting together your pieces something like this:
Now would be a good time to lay everything out, especially if you are alternating colors for pockets (like me). After I did this layout, I decided to reverse the order of the green and blue pockets. Now is the last chance for you to determine your color order as well.
You are only going to work on the section with the vast majority of pockets (the bottom section in the picture above). This should take you about 2 hours to complete and you will need a very sharp pencil or fabric marker, ruler, and a lot of patience. I also recommend a nice hot cup of tea and little packet of gummy bears.
First, our focus will be on the cable and DSi pockets. You need the to two fabric rectangles that were made out of the two 7"x4"and 13"x 5" rectangles. The smaller rectangle should lay on top of the larger one, so its bottom and right side are touching and the two corners meet up. Be sure that the top-stitched sides of the little rectangle are on the top and the left, and the raw edge sides are the bottom and right. Pin in place.
Sew along the left side of the smaller rectangle, using the top-stitching as a guide. I like to put one or two stitches beyond the rectangle's edge (I did this for all my pockets). This will help keep it from ripping in the future. I took the picture before I trimmed the threads so you can see where I started and stopped sewing.
Next, select the 16.5"x10.5" plain rectangle. This is the one without the decor. Place the pocket so its bottom (the rough edge) lines up with the left side of this large rectangle. Pin the two smaller sides of the pocket to the large rectangle. The pocket width is wider than the rectangle, so you will get a "bubble" in the middle. Don't worry about this for now. Sew the small sides of the pocket to the rectangle at 3/8" seam allowance.
Gently push the bubble to the edge of the fabric towards the top of the large rectangle. You are just pushing it out of the way for now.
From the bottom of the rectangle (the right side of the pocket) measure up 7.25", and draw a straight line across the full face of the pocket. Pin and sew along this line.
Turn your focus to that bubbled fabric section. Using the seam you just sewed as a guide, measure over 1" to the left of the seam. Fold the bubble bit its whole length at this measurement. Ignore the remaining bit of bubble- we will get to that in a second.
Fold the little section you have in your hand so that the folded part is touching the seam. This will make a pleat, or zig-zag in the material. Pin in place along the fold.
Fold the little section you have in your hand so that the folded part is touching the seam. This will make a pleat, or zig-zag in the material. Pin in place along the fold.
Repeat this process on the other side. You can just eyeball the pleat in place, just be sure the pocket section no longer bubbles and the fold is at 3/4". Pin in place.
Once both sides are pinned, pin the raw edge along the entire left side of the rectangle. This is the bottom edge of the pocket. Sew at 3/8" seam allowance. Do not sew the pinned pleats. Instead, iron them in place with a steam iron.
Be careful! Sometimes ironing over the pins can damage your iron (especially if the plate is Teflon) or can leave permanent holes in your fabric. You may want to remove the pins and hold the fold in place with your hand.
Just to give you a rough idea of where everything will go, the pleated pocket will hold the plug, the longer pocket the DSi, and the little one up front will hold the cable. Like this:
You need to mark where 4 of the 6 game pockets will eventually be placed, making these marks at the same measurements along the top edge and the bottom edge of the large rectangle.
Starting at the game pocket, measure out 2" and make a mark. Then measure 2.5" from this point and make a second mark. From here, measure out another 2.5" and make a third mark. And lastly, measure out another 2.5" and make a fourth mark. Your marks will be at 2", 4.5", 7", and 9.5" from the edge of the pocket.
Using these marks as guide points, lay the game pockets down on the rectangle. For my bag, I chose to alternate the pockets, as you see here. You need to ensure the seam on the game pockets is facing down, towards the rectangle, and the top-stitched edge (the top of the pocket) is on the left. The top-stitched edge should be in line with your pencil marks. Pin the other side (the bottom) of the game pocket.
Stitch close to the edge of the pocket trying to mirror the same seam allowance (about 1/4") you used for the top-stitching. When done, the pockets will look as if they are sewn on both sides, but you can see how it actually opens to the left.
Pin the sides of the pockets along the top and bottom edges. Sew in place at 3/8" seam allowance. Just keep on sewing through the gaps in between the pockets making one continuous line.
The next step is to sew on the middle of each individual pocket. You need to find the exact center of the game pocket. You can either do this by folding in half and creasing or by measuring. Mark a line across all four pockets but do not mark the gaps in between the pockets. Be sure to use a ruler to ensure your lines are straight.
Sew along the pencil marks on the pockets only. Do not sew the gap.
One trick is to sew the first pocket then lift the foot of the machine, slide the fabric forward to the next pocket, drop the foot, and sew the next pocket. You can see that it looks like I sewed right through everything, but the spots in between the pockets really have a loose thread. You still have to do the forward-backward-forward stitching to knot on each pocket, but at least you can get to the next one quicker. Be sure to trim all those loose thread bits when you are done.
Just to give you and idea of where we are, I put in a row of games.
You can see how they are very loose in the pocket and will just fall out. In order for them to stay put, they need to be in individual sections. All we need to do is sew in dividers for each game. This is a bit tricky. Too small, and the games won't fit in. Too large, and the games will fall out. I found the perfect size for each section is 1 and 9/16 of an inch.
To find this measure, you need to use a ruler that has 7 little lines in between the inch and half inch (not counting either one of those end points). Lay your ruler down and measure out 1.5" (you see in the picture how I made a little pencil mark to show this point). Now add one more line. That's your measure! When I was measuring my pockets, I would use the phrase "one-and-a-half-plus-a-little-line." Not very mathematical, but certainly easy to remember.
At "one-and-a-half-plus-a-little-line", draw a straight line on the pocket only, not the gap in between the pockets.
From the line you just drew, measure another "one-and-a-half-plus-a-little-line", and draw a second line on your pocket, and then repeat the process once more. In the picture above, you see me starting at the center seam and measuring towards the right. When finished measuring and marking those 3 lines, I started from the center again and measured towards the left, making lines at the same distance of "one-and-a-half-plus-a-little-line." I ended up with 3 lines to the right of the center seam, and 3 lines to the left. The line farthest away from the center (on both sides) was just a fraction of an inch away from the long side seam I sewed earlier. This is exactly what should happen. They should not line up.
Once my 6 lines were drawn, I sewed each one. Now every game is in its individual section...
... and they are so snug they won't fall out. Even if I hold it upside down!
Once the first pocket is divided, it's time to repeat the process on the other three pockets. I highly recommend sectioning each pocket one at a time. It is so important to make sure each section is the correct size that it is worth making the effort to measure independently.
When you are done marking then sewing all the sections, check to make sure each one is game size. Now is the time to pull seams and remeasure if you have to. You won't get a chance to do this later. If you are like my daughter and a bit spoiled by a certain family member, then you can fill the whole unit in one go. If not, you can use only one game, and slide it into each section to individually check.
When done, it is really fun to do the upside down test. It looks so darn impressive.
2 comments: