Gift/stadium bag turned to project bag

[Linda in Iowa]

Good Sunday morning. I got so tired of the giving quilts and potholders etc for RAGBRAI hosts, I decided to experiment with a stadium bag for DIL for her 50th….it is now a gift bag filled with green tip money!

My biggest mistake was when I started….the vinyl is a bit more brittle, but I let the clerk talk me into it. It is ok for a project bag. It got all scratchy in the final step where you turn it right side out. If I could do a great job in covering the seams, I may have done it in reverse; sewing with wrong sides together. But it stands so well on my table now, been there all night. I will look for other vinyl tomorrow, we will be in Des Moines. I have seen thicker softer in other places. Such as the big box stores. Now to add the photo.

IMG_2826.jpeg (32.07 KiB) Viewed 13026 times

Thank you Angie and Judy for the directions to posting pictures.

The designer…me —- after watching you tube videos for a week or two….there is just so many of very good professional people out there with wonderful tips. I didn’t copy any one designer. The black thread…first time out, I wanted to see the thread if I needed to unsee…another need to buy is the clear thread.

Thanks for looking

[ShirleyC]

Linda, that turned out nice! You're braver than me to make one!

[nonie]

Linda, that is a nice gift for someone. Not sure I am ready to try vinyl. Does the needle hole cause the plastic to tear?

[Linda in Iowa]

Thank you,Nonie and Shirley. I used a 14/90 needle, new, and just a very common brand. I had to unstitch some of it, and restitch in the same area, and it is fine. With my Janome 15000, it sewed like butter, perhaps because I went not too fast, and didn’t need the Teflon foot. I will buy some clear thread and will be happier. However using black made it very easy to unstitch. Listen to various YouTube videos. Sallie Tomato is so detailed, I loved the ones she did at Missouri Star Quilts. Sallie (Jess) and Misty worked so well together. The tips are so great! I need to learn more about the zipper technique. Assembling a little notebook about the various techniques would be good and what video it was would be so good to have.

A real pattern might be good to have, just so you knew what size you were ending up with, and the size zipper.

Jennifer loved hers…she will use it on her Prison days.

[KathyD]

the bag turned out great! Yes, sewing on vinyl can be challenging! LOL! My first bag has red thread and I'm OK with that. I have clear thread, but chose to not use it. I'll be watching to see what your next bag looks like.

I found that the 12 wt. gauge worked well - in case you're looking for something different than what you had.

Kathy

[Linda in Iowa]

Kathy, thank you for the suggestion on gauge. As it was, in JoAnns I could not find the gauge. But, I did find a rack with 5 different vinyls, and brought home the heaviest. Which I hope will sew up just fine. I will test it out on a small bag with a zip to make sure it sews ok. I will not be able to turn a small bag, and will have to bind those edges. That will give me some good practice.

Thank you for the compliment! I hope your pattern takes off. Perhaps, it will with a video. The stadium bags are such a big thing right now. I haven’t had time to find it yet. I know I won’t have time to work further with the vinyl this week!

[JerryR]

Linda, this is fabulous!

[KarenVA]

You and Kathy make such useful AND pretty things!! This bag is really nice!!

My fisrt adventure with vinyl was on an Atkinson’s Designs Classmates tote. She gave such nice directions for sewing on vinyl, that it was fun to make the tote! It was also my first time using Pellin SF101. Now I’m hooked!!