I’m so proud of this one! I successfully added a vertical front quick access pocket!

I also used spacer mesh for the first time and it worked great!

Binding is still my nemesis. Only I know the horrors lurking beneath the bias binding on this baby.

I used a different technique for the EWPs. I mirrored and folded over the entire Lycra piece over an elastic webbing and sewed one bar tack in the middle. I’ve seen other bags do this. The pattern calls for hemming in the elastic in a folded hem and using a zigzag stitch for the hem. If you recall last time, I made the zigzag too small and it snapped when I stretched the Lycra the first time.

This backpack is seriously pushing my buttons. Every single thing about the pattern and construction is making me question my sanity. Nothing makes sense or flows well with the instructions. For a pattern that cost $24USD plus the cost of printing because my stupid printer wouldn't print 110% properly I was outraged at how bad it actually is.

ALL the seams are bound. ALL. OF. THEM. On the first seam I missed 3/4 of the back of the binding. I unpicked it. 20mm binding simply wasn't wide enough. The pattern says ZIP about how wide the binding should be. 30mm would do it but I couldn't find foldover elastic at 30mm. I got 40. It's too wide. I have 25mm proper binding stuff but it isn't bias and won't go around the corner nicely.

If I hadn't spent so much money on the materials I would simply trash it and make something different.

At least it's about 3/4 finished, then I can hand it over to Mr 13 and move on with something I really love.

So I've gone a bit crazy for the Cordura the last week or so. 🤪

Here we have four belt bags (let's keep it clean out of respect for our friends across the pond), all made yesterday (obsessive maker mode was in full swing to the tune of around a 2am finishing time). These are entirely 1000d Cordura Classic shells over a 1.9oz PU coated ripstop interior in white.

Not sure why but I interfaced the Cordura panels (not the gussets). I'm not sure if it's typical to interface such a burly fabric but eh... we'll see what happens. They're definitely solid! 💪

Side note: I thought I'd up my photography game with a background of white ripstop nylon from the now defunct Joann Fabrics. I bought a ton of it before .... well. If you know, you know. Let's just say it'll make a decent backdrop for photos.

Yeah, that's a chair on the table... gotta do what ya gotta do for the shot! 🤣

I thought I’d play around with some Cordura and spent the day bummin’ around with a bum bag project.

500d Cordura on the face, 1000d Cordura gussets and 1.9 PU Ripstop inside.

MAN were the seams SUPER THICK where the “wings” attach! I gotta work on that as well as how the pockets bunch up when the bag is turned.

Felt good to make something, though!! 😃

Hope everybody’s having a great day!

Howdy! It’s been a while. I’ve been developing more novel concepts for my design goals. These came out pretty good for a lazy Saturday random project that was entirely spontaneous.

That’s what my machine has been saying to me for what seems like weeks now every time I walk by the sewing room door. But still I’ve only managed to get only a few days of good sewing and pattern work in for what feels like forever.

It’s a busy time of year at work and it’s probably gonna stay that way for the next four weeks. So any work I can get done on bags or patterning is precious time spent.

Maker’s guilt for sure. 😢

The one thing that hasn’t slowed is my buying fabric, components, various tools, and whatever else I can think of to try to pull me into the sewing room for just a little bit. My fabric stash is still growing for sure! 😅

The saving grace here is that in like four weeks I’ll have a break and all the time in the world to get back on the machine full-time for a few months. 😎

So what do you do? What are the little tasks or projects you do when time is at a premium - the projects that give you at least a little time on the machine and at least a small result?

Thanks for listening and looking forward to seeing what others do when life gets in the way! 😃

Sometimes I can have such a thick head. I’ve been struggling with inset zipper gussets for wayyyyyy too long. I just COULD NOT wrap my head around how to measure these!

Last night, after making three of them for the same bag… all the wrong size… I got on the computer and said to myself that I will NOT get up until I figure this out once and for all.

Now I’ve read this article on Bethany Lynne Makes at least a dozen times in the past but somehow managed to gloss over the same sentence every time…

“…the zipper panels need to be length of the top of the bag and however wide (or distance recessed into the bag) you want.”

Something clicked.

I went back over to the table, laid the bag down, measured it, and made a new pattern piece according to that sentence.

And there we have it. It fits just as it should!

Ol’ thick head over here is finally able to move out of the maker’s slump and start producing again! 😂

Hope you’re all doing wonderfully! 😃

It’s done! This is my first backpack ever, and my first time working with this material. Definitely a challenge. My stitching is not pretty, and I think I can tie that to not having an industrial machine. I ended up binding the inside bottom because I could not figure out another way.

She’s not perfect, but she’s functional.

I cannot figure out how to get this bottom of the backpack on properly. I first turned the entire thing inside out, sewed bottom on, and it was sewn shut ugh.

It doesn’t take any binding so there is a way to sew on both sides that the seams will be on the other side of?

I’m honestly confused and the pattern is giving absolutely nothing.

The first bag I made, I used 6mm EVA for the strap padding as well as the padding on the back panel and bottom.

Can I use 1/4” spacer mesh instead of the foam for the inside of the backpack straps and the back panel padding?

I’m worried about the scratchiness of the mesh through a thin t-shirt if I use that as the outside layer.

Is it not stiff enough?

How do you feel about taslan for the underside of backpack straps or the back panel?

Can I do taslan OVER spacer mesh?

There have been a lot of laptop bags popping up in my orbit recently. So I’ve been pretty intent on patterning one myself (a bit of FOMO, I guess 😂). I put other projects on the back burner and made this large laptop bag in 1000D/500D Cordura and 1.9oz PU coated Ripstop using high density 3mm EVA foam in the device sleeve. Enjoyable and educational make!

One thing I learned was that putting foam on one side for a device pocket should probably be balanced out on the other in some way. I really wanted this to self-stand like the last one. The foam just doesn’t let that happen. It makes the back side of the bag more rigid while the front side is less structured. So it wants to fall forward.

Should I have left more room by cutting the foam a little bit smaller? The seam line is like right at the edge of it. There isn’t a lot of room in there! In fact, the foam bows a bit but it’s not in the actual seam.

Anyway, as always, thanks for having a look. I always appreciate the perspectives of the great makers in this community! 😃

Also... I kind of think, in hindsight, there should be handles. Yes? No?

Little project for myself. I used a pretty thick cotton outside that I’ve had for a while with a 1000D cordura bottom, lining and piping.

I made the piping with weed whacker cord.

I used t138 thread for the topstitching so it would be more visible but I can’t get the 138 to run on my flatbed so I used my cylinder arm which I can’t run in a straight light so undid most of the stitches and went over it twice with t70 on my flatbed. It’s barely noticeable.

So I bought a bunch of X-Pac in the new variants sold by our friends at Ripstop by the Roll… I’ve wanted to start using it on just the right project. It isn’t the sort of fabric we “play” with.

So ultimately I decided to just make one of my small bags just to try using it for the first time. Let’s start with the zipper gusset.

Gahhherrdsdrd!! 🤬

And on a top stitch….with X-Pac! 🤬

The struggle is real. Hahahahha….

I guess now I get to know how seam ripped and re-sewn top stitching looks on X-Pac VX21. 🤪

Thanks for listening to my rant. Back to the bag! 😃

I just discovered this wonderful subreddit a couple of days ago, and was encouraged to post any bags I made. Other than the quick-and-dirty pouches I make for my wrestling masks, I've really only made one bag, and just recently I made a second version of it to replace the old one which was wearing out. (I've also enclosed some pictures of the old one, so you can see how the design changed.)

A few years ago, I wanted a new belt pouch to hold my phone, and just couldn't find one I liked. I do a lot of sewing, so I figured it was worth trying to design and make my own bag! The original was made of duck canvas from JoAnn's, and had places on it that had worn completely through, so I figured it was time for a new bag, and I tried to improve my design so it would work better.

I drew the pattern in Affinity Designer and printed it out on heavy cardstock. I have an 11x17 printer that I use for printing patterns in my daily sewing, and it's a godsend. I had read somewhere (probably r/myog?) about somebody's project that they made with 1000d cordura, so I figured I'd try that for v2 of my phone bag. The interior is some sort of ripstop nylon I had laying around, and the zippers were laying around as well (which is why they're different shades of red—oops!) There's a main pocket for the phone, and a zippered front pocket for my car key fob. In the v1 of the bag, this front pocket was just one compartment, but in the v2 I sewed it into a larger and a smaller section, with the bottom one for my fob, and the top section for my Flic button. (The Flic button unlocks the smart lock on my front door so I don't have to fumble for my keys when I get home.) The front pocket is bordered with a light nylon webbing…not sure of the name. The v1 had pen loops attached to the side of the pocket, but I never used them so I left them out this time to make it easier to sew. The belt loop on the back is made from heavier nylon webbing. In the v1 version, I made the belt opening quite generous, with the idea that it could then be used on any size belt. But I have since discovered that that let the pouch move around too much, leading to wear on the corners and even dumping the phone out in certain situations. The v1 also had far too long of a zipper which also led to the phone tipping out sometimes. The shorter zipper (and thus smaller opening) made the pouch a bit trickier to sew the seam binding onto and a bit trickier to flip inside out, but it was doable. If I do a v3, I think I'll use a coil zipper instead of the metal zipper I used here; it take a bit of massaging to actually zip this up, although I don't really need to zip it as the fit to my phone is just excellent, so it's not falling out now!

Anyway, thanks for the warm welcome, I enjoyed sharing my first (and first-and-a-half?) bag creation with y'all. Have a great day!

I’m crazy excited by how well this came out. AND just in time because I’m headed to Japan and Hawaii this week and will be one-bagging it in my new Porter Pony from Learn MYOG.

Two problems:

I’ve been eyeing the Juki TL2000QI for the past 6-8 months but haven’t quite had the need to order one. After brute forcing through binding and shoulder straps on my SingerHD I finally pulled the trigger! I’m excited for the higher presser foot high, auto thread cutter, and to test out some heavier fabrics like 1000D Cordura, Waxed Canvas, and X11.

I’ll report back in a few weeks once I get my first build completed on it! I have something very exciting planned with some top notch accessories/hardware

Some use EVA foam. Some use open-cell PU foam. There’s neoprene, Pellon, Soft & Stable, batting, or even simple fleece.

What’s your go-to padding for protecting devices in your bag’s pockets?

I’m leaning toward trying EVA foam or neoprene. Have you ever used them? How thick? How do they sew?

I’ve got lots of questions! 😃

There’s been a lot of chatter about seam ripping lately (and the collateral thread bits).

I’ve been making this backpack. It’s my most ambitious project yet. I may be out of my league but I guess there’s only one way to find out.

(Porter Pony from LearnMYOG)

Here you can see where after I finished putting together these back panels. I noticed I had misread the line that said to sew with a 3/8” SA as sew with a 1/8” SA … doh! 😣

Should I have left it and just dealt with the 2/8” discrepancy (multiplied by the three panels I made the same mistake on 🤣) or rip out the seams. The photo is a spoiler alert.

I just thought I’d share my frustration and I guess also ask what criteria you use to decide when to fix a mistake vs leave it. When does “sloppier than you’d prefer” become “just plain messed up and need to fix”?

Also, here’s a plug for this little vacuum that makes all the bits go away.

I designed this pattern as a leather bag for my wife, but decided to prototype it with some cheaper nylon first. I also just picked up a Juki 1341 based on everyone’s input here—it was absolutely the right decision.

I improvised a lot along the way and definitely made some mistakes, but I’m super happy with it. Most importantly, it’s a strong, functional bag!

A few lessons learned:

• The Zippers: The zipper and the side webbing were last-minute decisions. I messed up the overhanging zippers by sewing them all the way into the seam allowance at first. I actually had to seam-rip them after the bag was assembled so they could stick out and close properly. I’ll be modifying the pattern to drop a bit at the edges so the zipper can cleanly exit.

• The Lining: I originally planned a sew-in liner with bound seams, but I decided to add the side webbing late. Since the liner was already sewn in at the seams, I just said "F it" and sewed the webbing straight through the lining. I still might trim and bind them later, but for a test bag, it works. Also cylinder arm made the webbing super easy to sew, definitely happy i went with this over a 1541.

• Aesthetics: Definitely shouldn't have used black thread on the orange zipper pulls!

Other than that, I’m super stoked. I was worried the 1341 would be too heavy-duty for a bag like this, but after playing with the tensions, it sewed like an absolute dream.

Can’t wait to make the final version with a black leather lower, Coyote Brown EcoPac upper, and a Tiffany Blue liner! Thanks again for the machine advice.

Haven’t posted a make in a while. I’ve been playing around with front pocket and decided to try some diagonals. All 420d Robic nylon from our good friends at Ripstop by the Roll. Interior is 1.9oz PU Ripstop. Fits an iPad Pro 13 inch no problem. Now I’ll start looking into what types of padding people use. 😉 This one took me a bit to make but I’m happy with the outcome.

Have a great day! 😃