Adding Quilting to Your Handmade Bags!

Hey, bag makers, I am so excited to bring you this tutorial today! We have so many incredible patterns in the shop that have pieced panels, but what if you are nervous about all that piecing but still want that “quilted” look? Well, you are in luck! Today, we are going to give you all the tips you need to add quilting to your next project! I’ll be showing you these steps on the all-new Round it Up Clutch, a bag that has become a quick favourite of mine.

Follow the steps below to add quilting to your next bag or clutch!

Not familiar with the Round it Up Clutch pattern? Not to worry! You can find it here!

What you will need:

• The Round It Up Clutch pattern
• Lining cut and ready to sew
• 2 Outer Panel – Bottom cut in fabric
• 2 Outer Panel – Bottom cut in interfacing
• 2 Outer Panel – Bottom cut in fusible fleece
• 2 Outer Panel – Top Pieces cut at 12” x 6 1/4” (30.5cm x 16cm) in fabric
• 2 Outer Panel – Top Pieces cut at 12” x 6 1/4” (30.5cm x 16cm) in interfacing
• 2 Outer Panel – Top Pieces cut at 12” x 6 1/4” (30.5cm x 16cm) in fusible fleece

Plus, pick one of these: Walking foot, wash away marker/pen or painters tape.

If this is your first time quilting, let’s cover a couple of basics first!

Batting/Fleece

Because we make bags and clutches, we can use fusible fleece as our batting. The best part about this is that once your fleece is fused, you don’t have to worry about it moving around!

If you opt to use batting scraps left over from quilts, I highly recommend using a spray adhesive to keep it in place. There are numerous adhesives available from craft and quilt stores. I prefer Heat and Bond because it dries quickly and doesn’t gum up my needle!

Measurements

When you quilt your fabrics, you will find that your pieces “shrink” a little bit from all that topstitching across the material. To account for that shrinking, always cut a minimum of 1 extra inch around all sides. We can cut our pieces to size once the quilting is done! It’s easier to cut smaller than to add on little strips!

My fusible fleece has a serious bond, so I barely got any shrinkage. The fluffier the fleece/batting/foam, the more likely you will have some shrinkage.

For the Round it Up Clutch, I added 1” to each side to end up at the 12” x 6 1/4” (30.5cm x 16cm) measurement. 

Bonus tip: If your piece is an unusual shape like the Stand Up and Tote Notice Tote, cut a rectangle piece first, then cut out the curves after it is quilted. It will be MUCH easier to quilt a normal shape than an unusual one!

Thread

Choosing your quilting thread can be quite daunting. Pick 3 colours that are in your print and lay them across your panel.

At first glance, it looks like the dark blue would be perfect, but if you look closely, it may be great for the background of the print, but it is too harsh against that lime of the frog! So I opted to use the green!

Now, before you go wild stitching, there’s one VERY IMPORTANT thing you must remember with quilting to ensure your piece doesn’t get distorted too much or get ripples. 

ALWAYS start your stitching from the same edge. If you started your first stitching line from the top edge, your next stitching line needs to start there, too! 

It is tempting to just keep the momentum going, switching from top to bottom, but you will likely end up with a wavy texture across your piece, leaving a funny-looking bag!

Stitch lengths

If you are using a regular sewing machine, it is recommended to use a longer stitch length when quilting. You will be less likely to have ripples with longer stitch lengths because the feed dogs underneath pull the fabric with less intensity.

This still applies with a walking foot, and the beauty of using a walking foot is that there will be even less pulling, and you will get very even stitches because the foot is doing all the work!

So, let’s dive into the actual quilting

Fuse the interfacing and fleece to your exterior outer panels 

We’re going to mark our quilting lines on our Outer Panel Top, and there are 3 ways we can do that!

Read through the following BEFORE you stitch anything!

Option 1

This option requires a walking foot with a seam guide. Mark your first sewing line and sew along the line

Then, adjust your seam guide the correct distance away. In this case, I’m going to use 1.5″ (3.8cm). 

You’ll use this seam guide to follow the first row of stitching, meaning you don’t have to draw a bunch of lines!

 

Option 2

Draw on all your stitching lines! Make sure that your lines are evenly spaced. 

Option 3

This option requires painters’ tape or masking tape. This is great if you are out of a wash away marker. Using your ruler as a guide, line up where you want your first row of stitching to go. Add your tap along that edge.

I like to mark an arrow so I know which side I will be sewing against.

Sew your line following the tape.

Take your ruler and measure the next stitch line and again, lay down the tape. You can reuse the same piece of tape over and over.

Stitch that next line and repeat across.

So, we have the first round of stitching done, but what if you want even more for a crosshatch design?

You’ll mark your lines in the same manner that you chose before. When you go to stitch, ensure once again that you are starting at the same edge that you started at for the first round.

If you find you are getting a little ripple going across the previous stitching, giving your material a tiny bit of resistance as it pulls through the foot will help. You can also use your seam ripper or a point turner to smooth the fabric as it’s going into the foot.

Now that our piece is quilted, let’s cut it to the correct size. Before I do this, I like to press it with my iron to smooth it out. Using your Outer Panel -Top pattern piece, cut your piece to size.

For the contrasting outer panel bottom, we will make some minor adjustments so it sits beautifully and is not bulky!

Fuse the interfacing you cut out to the wrong side of the outer panel bottom.

Take the outer panel bottom fleece piece that we cut, and remove ¾” (1.9cm) across the top edge. 

Fuse to the back of the outer panel bottom.

Attach the outer panel bottom to the outer panel top following step 7 Assembling your Outer Panels – All Options in the pattern. Trim your seam allowance and topstitch.

Because we took that ¾” (1.9cm)  off the fleece for the bottom panel, it sits perfectly smooth with no major bump!

Look how awesome that quilted Outer Panel looks!

Complete your Round it Up Clutch following the remainder of the pattern.

Adding quilting to your bags is a great way to make them more fun and unique! Plus, it’s an awesome alternative for bags and clutches that don’t have any piecing OR if you aren’t ready to try piecing yet!

Hop on over to the Andrie Designs Facebook Group to share your quilted bags, and let us know in the comments what pattern you will add quilting to! I think I should give a quilted S & S Tote a go!

Happy sewing!

Aimee <3