I was at a loose end with my sewing when Christine asked if I wanted to enter her Instagram Competition for her Epiphany pattern, so I said yes! I knew I would spend a lot of time picking fabrics, so to help me choose I traced the bag details so I could have a good look at how it went together, without the distraction of pattern and colour.
Once I could see how it all fit together I realised this could be pieced together from several fabrics in a variety of ways. Then I remembered my collection of Nautical/Maritime fat and thin quarters I had collected to make a cushion that hasn't happened yet, and decided they would be perfect as I am not far from the sea.
Next was matching the pattern pieces to my fabrics by size, then arranging them so I was happy with the way they went together. There are a lot of pattern pieces, which all have to have interfacing fused on, and the process took quite a lot of time. I had to piece the straps too and decided to do the optional cross-body strap as well.
Happily I had the hardware, all except the 1 1/2" Rectangle Rings, so I decided to use 1 1/2" rings to match the Gate Rings on the cross-body strap. These lovely swivel hooks came from bobbingirl.co.uk.
I always struggle with gussets and ByAnnies Soft & Stable, I simply can't see what I am doing so I have found it best to hand baste them in. I forgot that for the first one and had to do a couple of corrections afterwards, but the second one I did baste and it went in well.
Apart from that it all went swimmingly. I used my Stitch in the Ditch foot to do the 1/8" topstitching and my 1/4" foot for the 1/4" topstitching. I got right to the end, adding the rivets, before I spotted my mistake - strap tabs were long and thin instead of short and fat! I had made them the wrong way round, and now they didn't match the straps.
I had to use 3 rivets arranged in a line instead of 2 next to each other, but I kept calm and carried on. This is the back view with the zipper pocket, and the Anchor charm Zipper Pull I bought myself from eBay
The top of the bag is closed with a recessed zipper. I used a YKK No. 4.5 Long Pull Handbag Zipper for the top, and a shiny metal zipper end from u-handbag.com. You can see the pieced straps and striped lining fabric.
I made both the inside and outside zipper pockets along with the slip pocket arrangement. I didn't add a key fob as I can clip my keys to the o-rings or use the outer pockets. I had carefully cut my lining pattern pieces so the lines would match perfectly. Sadly I forgot to mark the top on both pieces so I accidentally turned one up the wrong way. Never mind, no-one else is going to see the inside of my bag.
I used a different style of Bag Feet this time, these domed ones also from bobbingirl.co.uk, and this was a new way of doing a base too! As always Christine's instructions walk you through the whole process with helpful Tips along the way.
My Seaside 'Epiphany'
© 2021 Created by Sara.
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