Hi lovelies,

It's time to start our Hobo bag sew along with Christine from Bags by Bags of Style!

This sew along was originally posted for a post bag camp sew along, but with Christine's permission, I'm sharing it on my blog. I've kept Christine's friendly chatty style, just edited it slightly into paragraphs as it's on my blog rather than facebook.

It's worth noting that as Christine is in the UK, she uses Vilene G700 rather than Pellon SF101.

Take it away Christine!

1.......ok, couple of bits before we start cutting........do you have the right size hardware?

I never do so this is what I do.... If I have 1 inch D rings.........I cut the side accent strips and the front bottom catch 3.5 inches wide rather than 4..........this allows for smaller hardware...........

If for the handle and front flap...........my hardware is 1.25 inches, I reduce the size at the connector ends of all the pieces like this and just cut away the additional piece of paper pattern...you need to do this at both ends of the handle piece and also on the flap piece according to the size of your hardware.....I tried doing it free hand.........looked scrappy and uneven, but this works.

I have a set of templates for each size hardware just so I don't have to faff about every time I make one.

Those doing the side accents and front bottom catch in faux leather, you will need to cut them double the width of your hardware..........so if you have 1.5 inch D rings, your faux leather will be 3 inches wide.............this is to reduce the bulk when you sew to the sides of the bag.


2........and cutting starts now........I'm not showing hundreds of pics of cutting, you're all adults and can use scissors.........I'll start annoying you all when I get to fusing......lol

3...........on my second hobo I've decided to do my handle in faux leather one side and fabric the other......and altered the shape.....so it will be a simple oval rather than having a waist........

4........depending on your fabric it's always nice to try and get the design to sit evenly on your handle and flap panels........
5.......ready to start fusing bag one........I've never had an issue with fusible fleece but I know several people who don't like it, they say it wrinkles.........I find laying it on my ironing board then putting fabric on top, ironing with steam on a high heat from the centre of the fabric towards the outsides works for me...I've only ever used this make so it may be that it's not the same for other makes...I did try ironing it from the fleece side once.......and spent three hours clearing the melted fleece off my iron........lesson learned me thinks!
6......when I fuse the fleece to the handle and flap I find it easiest to just dot the tip of my iron over the the fabric to spot stick it.......then cut around the fabric...........trying to cut fleece the same shape and match it has never worked for me.....

7.......while you have your iron on......take your two pocket welt panels (9 x 2) and lay them RST..........fold in half lengthways and press so you have a seam that goes down the centre of both panels. Leave them together like that as you will need them together later.
8........take your side accent strips and your front catches (all should have been fused with G700 or similar).........you're going to do the same to each piece.......fold in half length-ways and press. Fold one side in so it matches the centre crease you just made..........press.......then again on the other side............then fold again at the centre crease.
9..........I'm going to show you another way of creating a slip pocket too.....so take your slip pocket panel (already fused with G700) and fold a 1/2 inch over on the longest side, press well.

10........those wishing to add an overlay, now is the time to add your 5 x 20 panel to the bottom of your outer fabric pieces. I clip along the outside edges, then add a line of fabritac about 1/2 inch from the top edge just to stop it slipping about. Wait for it to dry. Then topstitch, use your Teflon foot and a longer stitch length. If your faux leather has a white backing it's worth colouring the edges before to place it and sew. Once it's sewn and in place I cut the 2 x 2 corners. If you want to then you can baste stitch along the bottom and sides at 1/4 inch so it's within the seam allowance, I tend to use a few spots of fabritac but it's personal preference.

That's all for today's post, when we come back we'll get to sewing!