In soft structures, my first project is the construction of a tote bag and going through the entire design process. To start off with for this project we had to made mood boards and sketches of what we wanted out totes and mini bags to look like.
My taste for the bag was something a little more feminine and cutesy. I picked a darker fabric but wanted to print a pattern onto it to give it some sass. My bag design that I settled on was a half circle moon shape for the tote bag and a pocket on the front. I created a small half circle cosmetic bag to go with it. These two will go together nicely. Next, I had to work on pattern making and making a paper bag proto type. This was to help me see what I needed to fix when I went to cut my fabric so I would know if it all fit together properly. We also worked on some practice stitches and sewing to help us prepare for our bag project which was helpful for me because I am self taught and wanted to make sure I was doing things right.
This is what my small and larger bags look like made out of paper. After that, I started working on the pattern and laying out on the fabric to see how I would place it and making sure I had plenty of fabric, which I did!
This is how my pattern pieces look laid out on the fabric so far. I then cut and began sewing my two bags. I made my bag in the following order:
Press hem on top of bag- should be 1 in thick.
Press and sew pocket on to front of bag.
Press and sew handles
Sew hem down with handles so that the handles are hidden and have a clean finish
Add hardware to top stitch
Sew and press gusset hem
Sew gusset to front and back and press
Snip gusset and zig zag stitch to finish inside of bag
Add print onto front of bag
This is the hardware I added as well as an in progress photo
I finished the bag after this and here are some pictures of the finished project:
I am very pleased with how this bag came out. I’ve never made anything using strict techniques. I did accurate hems, zig-zag stitch, hardware, and printing on my own. Not to mention the unique shape of my bag made it a little more complex than the average bag. I think this came out great and I cant wait to use it.
