Barrel Bag Sew Along Instructions: Week 5

The final step is here! Well done if you've been keeping up with the sew along, and thank you so much for taking part. I have really enjoyed seeing your bags come together. 

Don't worry if you are worried about losing your place in the instructions: I am planning to archive them all in one spot so that they are easy to find for future reference.  

barrel bag

Finishing Touches:

Seam Finishing: 

The next thing you need to do after last week is finish the inside of your round seams: I have bound mine using the 4cm bias binding. It is a professional and also pretty finish to have on the inside of your bag. If you want to request a tutorial in how to bind seams please go ahead and use the contact form. 

Or, you can overlock the raw edges together- it is quicker and also very strong. 

Making the Strap:

Cut 2 x 10cm lengths of webbing, and also 2 x 7cm lengths. Then, have a look at your remaining webbing and decide how long you would like your shoulder strap to be. 

Don't forget that the buckles themselves will contribute to the length, and you should also allow about 3cm for the loop of webbing used to attach them (see picture below)- the overall length of buckle plus webbing loop is about 7.5cm each end of the strap. 

bag strap detail

You also need to add 1cm seam allowance each end of your strap. 

Once you are satisfied that you have identified the correct length of webbing, cut the strap to length. 

Take a 10cm piece of webbing, fold in half long ways and topstitch. Thread this loop through your buckle, then sew the loop closed. 

Place this loop onto a shorter 7cm piece of webbing and sew them together near the top. Make sure the buckle has its opening side facing down as pictured. The webbing loop should overhang by about 1cm: this is to stagger the bulk of the seam and also to ensure the rivets will go through it.

Then, place the strap onto the buckle to sandwich it into place, and sew, taking a 1cm seam allowance from the strap and the 7cm webbing. 

Now, press this seam so that it lays flat, and press the raw edge of the 7cm webbing, turning 1cm over. 

Topstitch around the sides and top of this shorter piece, attaching it to the main strap. 

Repeat this process for the other end of the strap. 

Now, making small pilot holes with an awl or a sharp pair of scissors, hammer the rivets into place, arranging them as you like, but preferably add strength by holding all of these layers of webbing together. 

The last step:

One (optional) finishing touch is to sew your handles together longways for strength and ease of use: find the midpoint at the top of you handles, then measure and mark 10cm either side of this. 

Fold your webbing in half along this 20cm, and sewing close to the edges topstitch both sides together. 

love that 'Quink' linen

And you're done! 

Well done and thank you again for joining in the sew along. Don't forget to keep tagging me in your finished results on twitter and instagram!

With thanks once again to Merchant & Mills for kindly supplying the materials for this project. 

barrel bag from Merchant & Mills materials

Barrel Bag Sew- Along Instructions: Week 1

Are you sitting comfortably? 

Then let's begin our sew-along!

How To Make a Barrel Bag 

Step 1 was to prepare your fabrics, which is why today we are starting with:

Step 2:

Cut Out Your Pattern:

Do you remember that I mentioned a 26cm diameter plate? Well, I'm sure you will have guessed that this is for making the ends of your bag! 

Draw around your plate (or use a compass to draw a circle this size), and cut a paper pattern (no need to add any extra seam allowance, this is already included).

26cm Circle

Fold the circle in half both horizontally and vertically, and mark quarters around the edge (e.g. 12 o'clock, 3, 6, and 9). You can use a notcher here if you have one. 

Paper Pattern with Notches

Other Pattern Pieces: 

Cut a paper square with sides measuring 19cm for the pocket pattern, and cut a paper pattern for the main body of the bag measuring 76.5cm x 52cm.

It pays to be as accurate as you can be at this stage, so it is a good idea to check that your corners are right-angles and your sides the correct length. Again there is no need to add any extra seam allowance as it is already included. 

Cut Your Fabric:

Pin the pattern pieces carefully onto your fabric and cut as follows:

• cut two circles from main fabric,
• cut one piece for the body of the bag from the main fabric (line up one of the edges with the straight of grain),
• cut one pocket square from main fabric and one pocket square from contrasting fabric (again, cut along the grain line). 

Making Bias Binding:

Taking your contrasting fabric (my Marble Indigo cotton) we are going to make some bias strips, which we will use for binding and for piping. 

This is where your graders square (if you have one) will come into its own: line up one of the shorter sides of the triangle with the selvedge and mark down the long edge of the tool- this will be at 45˚ to the straight of grain, or the bias. Take care not to drag on the fabric as you go. 

Using Graders Square

You can then use the markings on the plastic (seen here in the bottom of the picture) to help you draw a series of lines running parallel to the first one, and draw a number of strips which run along the bias. 

If you don't have a tool like this, use a small set square to find the bias, then use it in conjunction with a long ruler to mark your strips. 

You will need roughly 2m of 4cm-wide binding, and 2m of 3cm-wide binding. Do all of your drawing before you begin to cut. 

Rolls of Bias Binding Ready to Use
notice the different widths

Cut along your lines to make strips, and join them together to make long rolls of bias binding as follows: to determine whether the ends of your strips can be joined, lay them with right sides (RS) up, and if the angles run parallel you will be able to join them.

Edges Run Parallel

Take one strip and turn it over, laying it on top of the other- now RS's face each other. 

Joining Bias Strips

The stitch line will be 1cm from the raw edges, so make sure this is where the edges intersect, and that this is the point at which the right angles appear along the edges- stitch line drawn below. 

Stitch Line

Cover Your Piping Cord:

You will need to attach your one-sided foot to your sewing machine. If you're not sure what this looks like, take a look at the image below: I always think it looks like a ski. 

It will not sit in the middle of the ankle, you will have to attach it to one side- attach it so the foot it positioned to the right of the needle. 

In some machines, the position of the foot is adjusted by loosening the screw, sliding the foot to the desired position and tightening it back up. You can do this with the needle down to get a really close hold on the fabric. 

Making Piping Cord

Take your 3cm binding, and roll it around your piping cord. Take care that the raw edges of the bias binding are level with each other and that the cord runs down the centre of the bias strip. 

Using your one-sided foot as shown in the photo, sew a line of stitching running along the cord- don't stitch through the cord itself but try to keep the stitches close to it to hold it in place. 

Lesson One Done!

That is as far as we are going to go this week, I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to you sharing your progress with me on twitter and instagram. 

If you need anything to be clarified please go ahead and ask, and if you really don't do the metric system I may be persuaded to offer imperial conversions... 

#MMMay:

Are you following #mmmay on social media? Me-made May is the perfect opportunity to show off your skills, so don't forget to add this tag too to your barrel bag pictures.

Following the Instructions:

I will be putting up other blog posts between the sew-along, so don't forget that you can click on the words 'sew-along' in the word cloud to the right to see everything in this sequence. 

Announcing The Barrel Bag Sew-Along, with Merchant & Mills

sewing instructions

Announcing the Sew-Along:

I am delighted to announce that I am hosting a sew-along, sponsored by Merchant & Mills.

How it works: 

Each Wednesday I will upload a set of clear instructions for you to complete at your leisure to take you through every detail of how to make your very own barrel bag, in small manageable stages.

The Sew-Along

About the Bag: 

I love the preppy style of barrel bags, but I wanted to soften it a little. The relaxed and slightly slouchy result is perfect for me to use as a gym bag: it is quite capacious but with a proper fastening, and I can either throw it over my shoulder or grab the handles to rummage through the contents. 

I hope I've come up with something that will be equally useful to you, be it for a day out, an alternative to your handbag, an overnighter, for school or college... or whatever you choose. A barrel bag is also gender neutral, so this could be a great make for a man. 

How to make a barrel bag

I'm waiting a week before I launch in with instructions to allow you to gather your materials and equipment. 

Merchant & Mills:

If you've never encountered Merchant & Mills at their shop, or selling elsewhere then you have missed out! Their website is perfectly lovely, and tells you pretty much everything you need to know, but there is nothing quite like seeing the colours of all of those beautiful fabrics in the flesh and engaging with their really tactile properties. Yes, dear readers, I have spent some considerable time loitering, planning projects, and, um, shopping!

what's in this beautiful package?!

Therefore, I am thrilled that they have supported this sew-along by providing my fabrics, hardware, and webbing. Thank you so much to Carolyn, and also to Michelle. 

I strongly recommend that you order your fabrics and hardware from their website, or pop down to their shop in Rye, East Sussex, if you can.

What You Need to Make a Barrel Bag:

Fabrics:

It took me (somewhat characteristically) a long time to decide which fabrics to plump for, but for my main fabric I chose Quink linen: it is substantial and yet soft, and I love the way has amazing depth of colour, and yet antiques with use. It is also beautiful on the 'wrong' side, which means the inner of my bag is as beautiful as the outer (I made use of this contrast on the pocket). You will need one metre.

For the contrasting fabric I went for an Indian cotton, in marbled indigo. I have used these Indian cottons before, so I knew that they handle really well and have a nice dry sort of feel. 

The straps are vital to this bag, so I suggest that you don't scrimp on your webbing. You will need four metres, which seems huge I know, but I promise you it is important. I went for 50mm blue grosgrain. 

You'll also need two metres of fine piping cord (approximately 2mm diameter), plus matching cotton sewing thread. I used Guttermann shade 5412 which is a perfect match.

'Quink' linen, Indian cotton, 5mm grosgrain

Hardware:

A beautiful bag deserves top quality hardware!

You will need a zip. I went for a chunky metal one, measuring 45cm long.

To make this bag you will need two D rings, two paraclips & four rivets. 

beautiful hardware

Tools:

You will need a sewing machine with a good sharp needle, plus a one-sided foot. 

You'll need your general sewing kit (hand needles, pins etc). 

sewing kit

Also on the list of essentials are good fabric scissors, drawing tools for both paper and fabric and pattern paper, (unless you want to work straight onto the fabric, in which case good fabric markers will do), including a long straight edge. 

Pilot 'Frixion' pens: my favourite for fabric marking as they iron off easily

A grader's square is extremely useful, as is a 26cm diameter plate. 

grader's square

For attaching the rivets: a hammer and an awl.

Skills: 

This sew-along will suit an adventurous beginner or someone who has intermediate skills. We will be putting a zip in, sewing curves and using bias binding (which I will explain in full). The really make-or-break skill is careful marking out though, for which no experience is necessary. 

How to Make a Barrel Bag:

Step 1: Preparation

Wash your fabric as per the instructions, and lay flat to dry, or hang from the selvedge on the line. Give them a careful press. 

26cm dinner plate

Sew-Along With Me: 

So, I hope you will join me next week for the first set of instructions in the sew-along. As I mentioned, each Wednesday the next instalment will be uploaded. You could consider subscribing to ensure that you don't miss any stages. 

I always welcome your comments, and if you get really stuck or you want to request further tutorials then please go ahead and use the contact form on the right. 

Also, I'd really love it if you tag me on instagram @stitchingfitpixie or twitter @StAustellStitch at every stage of your make: show me your fabrics and how you're getting on!

Amazing giant protractor also purchased at Merchant & Mills