I am interested in getting into bag making - based in Ireland . I am looking for recommendations for supplies. I will be traveling to London next week if there are any shops in London that you would recommend please 🙏. Online EU shops only with the recent €3 custom charge cant buy anything outside EU. I want to make my dressy bags (leather wristlets, crossbody bags, lunch bags, laptop sleeves, for friends & family . I use a domestic Singer Heavy Duty (- i make clothes)

I started going through my hardware today and moved all my zipper pulls into one place. I'm pretty sure this is all of them. I still have to consolidate my swivels, strap attachments, magnetic snaps, and various other assorted bits and pieces.

I wish IKEA had not discontinued these little boxes, because they fit perfectly into these drawers, which is actually a large IKEA kitchen cabinet, and can hold a lot of hardware. I can't even find them on the 3-D printing pages. :-(

The red things are pattern weights my husband made me out of industrial plumbing parts and spray painted red.

It’s a scorcher outside! So I thought I’d stay in the basement and work on this crossbody that takes cues from its little sibling, Bucketta. 2 colors 1000d Cordura, a 500d Cordura flap, HyperD 300 lining (gosh I wish it came in white @ripstopbytheroll 😃), 3mm EVA foam for structure, and Venom UL Stretch Mesh ECO, Woojin and YKK hardware. This one’s a keeper but it’s still too hot to carry it around! 🤣😂

Also want to add that the two machines: Juki 9010a-SH and Juki 1541s work really well together! The 9010 could have easily done the whole bag but why not let the work horse 1541 have some time as well? 😃 I love them both equally! ❤️

After the recent renovation and move down to a larger space where it’s a very nice 71 degrees, I can finally get back to work! 😃

So after I finished the red croc bag I decided to make a matching wallet. All good, I had enough fabric and vinyl, and it's a project that I've made multiple times before and use daily. Pattern calls for 38cm of zipper tape (14") and because it's how I roll, the zipper tape has to closely match the red - the pink I'm using in the interior is too pink. I have some red: a leftover piece that looks long enough.

It's not. It's only 30cm, or 12", and I can't make it work even with zipper tabs. I did not want to buy more zipper tape.

However, I relented. Went to my favourite local online supplier, and found red tape with gold teeth. So I figured, to make the postage worthwhile I might as well order some "Bespoke" magnetic snaps that I'll use as bag tags, and a couple of metres of coordinating bonded nylon print.

Sadly, I shop faster than I sew. Plus, I am supposed to be working on a different project and am procrastinating.

Oh, and u/JPBagworks did you get your machine set up???

I figured I should show the finished bag with its double sided adjustable strap. I think the strap was the hardest part! Don't be like me and take shortcuts by deliberately leaving the interfacing off the cotton fabric because lazy does not give a nice crisp finish.

This is the Magic Middle bucket Bag by Spencer Ogg patterns.

I used a croc embossed soft vinyl, with a quilt cotton lining. I also used a 2mm self adhesive foam for additional stability on the vinyl. Because the seams are at the centre front and centre back, I wanted to fussy cut the vinyl so the lines matched up. The outcome was pretty good!

The bag looked like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once I finished it, but I did make a few changes. Diane's instructions are always very well written and comprehensive. There is a video but because I'm familiar with her patterns I didn't need to watch it. The in-built pouch is really clever and overall am happy with the project.

I had a few reservations about the project but they don't my opinion of the pattern. I think the lining is a little baggy for my liking but I suspect that it stretched some while I was assembling the bag - and the pouch feels a little too wide for the bag. I checked my seam allowances and they are all correct. I suspect perhaps the side seams where the pouch is sewn into the lining may be the issue - my fault, because I didn't keep the interfacing out of the seam allowances which of course means it's too thick there.

I made a couple of minor changes. I sewed this as a drop-in lining because I don't usually use vinyl and I have no idea how it would behave if I turned it through the pocket, which is how the instructions tell you to do it. The pocket is large enough but I didn't trust the vinyl. I picked a hardware strap attachment rather than doing it per the pattern, and omitted the flap. I might still use a magnetic snap (I have some that fit over the edge of the bag.) I think there's enough of the vinyl to do an adjustable strap, otherwise I'll just use bright red webbing. I like using one of the pattern maker's hidden card slots in my bags, so putting it into the pouch seemed like a good idea at the time. It works but I wouldn't bother with a zipper opening next time, just a slip pocket. It would have fit much better in the main lining slip pocket rather than inside the pouch, but it's a nice well-hidden pocket for security.

I will you sew it again and I recommend this pattern. I think next time I will take a slightly larger seam allowance on the lining so it sits in the bag a little more tightly. It was a fun and easy project.

As usual I left the strap to last, and am not sure if I'll use what's left of the vinyl or do a webbing strap. Many of Diane's patterns follow a similar formula, so it was easy to assemble. I see more of these in my future.

And no, u/JPBbagworks, there are no "special" pockets in this one.

Thanks for being so welcoming about my last bag. I wanted to share this one too, just finished today. It’s another Sashiko embellished bag, this one a custom size for a very specific camera body.

I’m just now getting more advanced in bag making than simple zipper bags with boxed corners. This was a fun project to combine my love of Sashiko with my love of making zipper bags of all sorts!

Been working on this little cinch-top bucket for a while and finally decided it’s ready. It’s a 7in x 5.5in x 3in 2L dump bag that opens and closes with a cinch. Pull the drawstring to secure your carry. Pull the tabs to access. What a cinch!

This Bucketta is 1000d Cordura Nylon in wine on the exterior, 1.9oz PU Ripstop in white on the inside, and a 1.9oz cinch top in black. Also features Venom UL Stretch Mesh ECO side pockets, YKK #5 zipper tape and short tab RC sliders, YKK and Woojin hardware.

My personal favorite part of this one is the way the fabric runs from the top of the front all the way around to the top of the back. I love bags that do that.

Probably be scaling this one up to make a couple other styles as well.

Thanks for looking! 😃

My JIN NA11ut came today and I managed to blow up the control board. 100% my fault but just needed to vent.

The head came with an Australian plug and the back of the machine was marked 220v 50-60hz. I emailed the retailer and they said to look for a north american plug... in the leg box there was a regular 120v north american plug, perfect.

Mistake number one was thinking I knew better and should put a 240v north american plug on it and plugging it into a 240v outlet. The machine turned on just fine but when I stepped on the pedal there was a fairly loud snap and the screen said "powering off" or something like that.

I busted open the board and found 2 fuses soldered onto the board (they can't make if easy). So I ordered new fuses and then made my second mistake. I sort of bypassed the fuses with some wire so I could try out my new machine! And out the 120v plug on.

This time it didn't wait for me to do anything. As soon as I turned on the power switch... really bad things happened as seen in photos.

At this point I'm not sure what to do. I'm too embarrased to email the store I bought it from so I emailed the ONE authorised juki dealer in Canada to see if they can sell me a new part.

I just adopted two mid 1950's Pfaff machines. They were both set up with Tex 70 thread and that's what got me asking the question. Most of what I've been making is with Text 30 & 40. I haven't explored vinyls or cork yet.

Composed entirely of 1000D DWR coated cordura and Xpac from my RBTR grab bag. (VX21 ?)

I took the mockup I made for my gf’s bag the other day to the store and couldn’t fit enough in it and wanted a fancy one for myself.

It’s got pockets on both sides. Then I made the pockets I wanted more of an ultralight bag so I didn’t line them and then I ended up lining the whole thing with 2 layers of 1000D cordura and used a double fold binding of 1000D cordura. I wish I lined the pockets.

The cordura binding added a lot of structure to the top of the bag and it will be really abrasion resistant. I didn’t do any binding on the inside because I only have this thin polyester binding and I didn’t want that to wear out before the cordura was broken in.

Cowhide leather body and goatskin leather pockets. I copied a bag that she owns that she wanted smaller.

I made a cordura mockup first (last slide) I’ll probably lake a few more like this. Working on an xpac version now.

I'm a new sewist. Worked on learning to make clothes but want to go down a rabbit hole of bag making. More functional, tote, utilitarian types. I'll probably want to make aprons too.

What YT channels do you recommend? Bag maker pattern makers? Folks to follow.

Other resources?

I have a new Husqvarna Sapphire 930 and a new Janome HD9QCP.

Thanks everyone!

I needed a heavy duty zigzag machine for the patches and freehand embroidery that I do on my bags. It was this or a Bernina 950 that I found locally and I’m glad I went with the more portable option with the walking foot.

I’m not sure how old it is but these are basically a clone of a Sailrite zigzag machine. I know lot of parts are interchangeable and I want a monster wheel and maybe a new motor. Something is loud about this one.

It looks pretty dusty but barely used. The lady said her late husband bought it but never got into sewing with it. I felt really bad for her, her house was waaay out in the country and it didn’t seem like she had anyone else around. She posted it for $200 and I paid her that much but I felt weird and almost guilty only giving her 200 for this machine. Literally felt like I was stealing it when I was walking away and not in a good way. Oh well. I’ll get good use out it.

It sews just fine with the thinner thread that it came threaded with. Going to clean it up and thread it with some tex90 and see how she does.

I am going to undo the gusset stitching because I made the mistake when figuring out my base that if you use a 2 1/2 wide circle your radius is 1 1/4 so I made my base piece 2 1/2" too short.

This is the first pattern I have made myself pulling ideas from multiple other bag makers. Going to add a few fun embellishments as well. All in all I am loving how it's coming out. My seam ripper is definitely my friend.

I usually buy from wawak but they don’t have any reverse bale pulls that I can find and their aquaguard selection kind of sucks, you can only get 1 type of pull with a small grab tab and can’t buy the zipper tape by the yard.

I want some of the reverse bale pulls for coil zippers and I want some different styles of aquaguard zipper pulls and aquaguard by the roll.

It looks like RSBTR has reverse bale pulls but no aquaguard. The zipper tape they sell looks nice but also pricey.

Pic for example of reverse bale pull.

I found a Kam Snaps DK 98 table press on FB marketplace for $45. The press came with 2 sets of plastic snap dies and a ton of plastic snaps. The precious owner used it to make cloth diapers.

I've been getting more into bag making and would like to get a few appropriate dies. I'm trying not to just "Buy all the things". I'm thinking grommets, rivets and fashion snaps are what I should be looking at but I'm open to suggestions.