A Little Sewing Technique Improv….

Remember this little Zakka Box Pouch I shared with you last week? It was the first time I had made one, so I made sure to take my time to  get a nice quilty finished Pouch. And I did, but I kind fudged a bit.  Here’s how.

One of the new techniques I learned in this pattern was how to make a zipper-less lining that matches a zippered exterior. Pretty neat once I visually studied it. So I made the liner you see above, but when I finished I noticed that it just didn’t look ‘finished’ to me. So I did a 1/8″ topstitch to the liner, then inserted it into the exterior pouch to finish the final step.  This is where I started to improv.

Improv 1.  Topstitch the liner before inserting it so it looks more polished.  Check. Looking okay still?

So after the lining is in and looking good, I read a bit further to find out I have to hand stitch the liner to the exterior to close it!! I enjoy hand stitching just about as much as I like to deal with bias binding. So off I go to whip out my thread and needle and spend the next few hours stitching with my clumsy hands.  Until an idea popped in my head.  Glue.

Improv 2:  Take a tiny amount of fabric glue and with my fingers, gently go around the lining under my topstitching. I didn’t use large amounts. Can’t be seen or felt. After it is applied, I press it to the wrong side of exterior around zipper and sides so it looks neat and finished. Brilliant!

Improv 3: Take threaded needle and every few stitches, mirror the top stitch you see all around the bag interior.  I did 1 stitch for every 3-4 topstitches. Didn’t go through the exterior at all.

Worked like a charm! A half-hour later, my pouch is ready to go and holding a ton of little squares and hexie papers.  The lining is secure and polished. Yes, a little glue was used, but I used my topstitching to hide the finishing stitches that went around the pouch. I just improvised a few steps to ensure my pouch was the best I could do until I have mastered certain hand stitches.

When you are working on sewing projects, do you ever improvise? If yes, on what?  ~Cindy~