Now that my piece is finished, I had to actually "finish" it. My guild Virtual Threads is participating in a group exhibition for seminar. The theme was "Project Bags", so I decided to turn my beaded project into a pouch. I looked around the Internet until I could find instructions that don't use a sewing machine and found this one.
I was going to try and find a nice contrasting fabric for the lining but in the end I used the same one I used for my stitching.
The instructions seemed easy enough. Before I started beading, I looked at the instructions to figure out how big the fabric needed to be. The pouch is made by folding the fabric in half and sewing the edges closed. This meant that whatever my design area was, I needed a little extra at the top for the drawstring and then double that size. For the lining, I cut out a piece exactly the same size.
The back of the piece for those curious. The hoop marks only show in the backing fabric and that gets hidden with the lining so I didn't bother ironing it.
Before I can sew the edges together, I needed to fold the top and bottom to make a channel for the drawstring.
The front.
Folded the entire piece in half with the design in the inside and started hem stitching.
I wanted more room at the bottom, so I decided to go with the variation and stitched a line through the bottom corner.
I realized later that the inside of my pouch is not the neatest. Because of the instructions I used (and the fact I don't have a sewing machine) I couldn't hide the edges. So if you open up the pouch you can see them and this fabric doesn't help (the edges fray). It still looks pretty.
For the drawstring, I got a satin ribbon in a lovely blue. Here it is in good lighting. I decided to call it Turkish Jewels. Once I have a few Japanese bead embroidery phases done, I want to restitch it to see if I can do a better job. Especially on the "eyes".
This is the last post on the Talliaferro Challenge. There are 12 days left till seminar so I don't think it's a good idea to start anything new right before leaving. So for the next little bit, it will be all about stitching beaded flowers and leaves unless I make good progress on one of the older WIPs.
I was going to try and find a nice contrasting fabric for the lining but in the end I used the same one I used for my stitching.
The instructions seemed easy enough. Before I started beading, I looked at the instructions to figure out how big the fabric needed to be. The pouch is made by folding the fabric in half and sewing the edges closed. This meant that whatever my design area was, I needed a little extra at the top for the drawstring and then double that size. For the lining, I cut out a piece exactly the same size.
The back of the piece for those curious. The hoop marks only show in the backing fabric and that gets hidden with the lining so I didn't bother ironing it.
The front.
Folded the entire piece in half with the design in the inside and started hem stitching.
I wanted more room at the bottom, so I decided to go with the variation and stitched a line through the bottom corner.
I realized later that the inside of my pouch is not the neatest. Because of the instructions I used (and the fact I don't have a sewing machine) I couldn't hide the edges. So if you open up the pouch you can see them and this fabric doesn't help (the edges fray). It still looks pretty.
For the drawstring, I got a satin ribbon in a lovely blue. Here it is in good lighting. I decided to call it Turkish Jewels. Once I have a few Japanese bead embroidery phases done, I want to restitch it to see if I can do a better job. Especially on the "eyes".
This is the last post on the Talliaferro Challenge. There are 12 days left till seminar so I don't think it's a good idea to start anything new right before leaving. So for the next little bit, it will be all about stitching beaded flowers and leaves unless I make good progress on one of the older WIPs.
Well done - didn't it turn out well!
ReplyDeleteNice design, stitching, and finishing!
ReplyDeleteIt looks fantastic! And a great idea to make it up into a little pouch. I'm always looking for different ways to finish things!
ReplyDeleteVery good idea to put the beading on a drawstring bag. The colours really pop on the white fabric and the dark blue drawstring.
ReplyDeleteGreat job hand sewing. The bag looks very pretty and is an attention grabber.
ReplyDeleteLovely finish.
ReplyDelete