Hang About Toiletry Bag Sew Along – DAY THREE

Hang About Toiletry Bag Sew Along - Andrie DesignsHello and welcome to Day Three of the Hang About Toiletry Bag Sew Along! I’m thrilled to have you join me and have some exciting news for you – today we finish off our flap!!! If this is your first time visiting this sew along and would like to see the pattern, click here.

DAY THREE

Today we will be finishing our flap by adding the piping around the outside, as well as the swivel hook and d-ring loops. We will be working through steps 21 – 28 (steps 12-14 of the Andrie Designs-branded version) and as always, I will share a few tips with you along the way.

I know that attaching piping can be a daunting task… It looks fiddly, and bulky, and you are probably thinking “I will never get it as nice as she does…”. Well, I’d like to try and help you overcome this ‘fear’ of piping once and for all! As you work through steps 21 – 22 of the pattern, make sure you READ the instructions AND look at the pictures. That will help a lot to start with. 😀

When I attach piping, I always stitch over my pins on the corners. Naughty me, I hear you say! Yes I know many class ‘sewing over pins’ as a big no no, but I personally have found that it is the ONLY way to get your stitching as tidy as possible in some situations, and attaching piping is one of those situations. By stitching slowly around the corners of your flap, over the pins, you will be able to get nice and close to the piping, and your piping will follow the curve of the corner just beautifully.

Hang About Toiletry Bag Sew Along - pattern by Andrie Designs (www.andriedesigns.com)
I love using pins to help keep the piping in place while sewing!

Another little tip I have for attaching piping is this – don’t be afraid to stitch over the same spot once, twice or even three times to get that piping attached nice and snug along the edge of your flap! I like to stitch the entire piece of piping in place, and then go along and feel what spots may need ‘tightening’ up a bit by rolling the seam back and forth between my fingers. If I decide a spot feels a bit too loose, I simply re-stitch it, coming in just a bit closer and tighter to the piping than I did the first time.

Hang About Toiletry Bag Sew Along - pattern by Andrie Designs (www.andriedesigns.com)
The tighter you get your piping stitched on, the better it will look.

Once you’ve attached your piping, the flap lining and re-stitched your flap from the fleece/foam side (step 27), you need to ensure you trim your seams well so the flap sits nicely once turned through the right way. I LOVE using my pinking shears on the corners – it saves a heap of time and helps ensure the ‘clips’ around the corner are all uniform with each other. If you have a pair of pinking shears and haven’t tried this yet, I strongly urge you to give it a go!

Hang About Toiletry Bag Sew Along - pattern by Andrie Designs (www.andriedesigns.com)
Pinking shears are a great way to quickly and easily trim corners!

When it comes to top stitching, it probably goes without saying that you need to increase your stitch length slightly to around 3mm for a nice finish (the length, however, will depend on your machine). When top stitching around the outside of your flap, as pretty as it would look to only stitch once along the bottom edge where the d-ring and swivel hook loops are attached, please please please fight the inner urge to just keep going, and stop and reinforce 2 – 3 times before continuing!!! The seam and top stitching holding the d-ring and swivel hook loops in place is SO important – they will take a LOT of the weight when your toiletry bag is hung up and so need that extra little bit of love when finishing off your flap.

Hang About Toiletry Bag Sew Along - pattern by Andrie Designs (www.andriedesigns.com)
Reinforce well across the bottom of the flap where the d-ring and swivel hook loops are joined.

Give yourself a pat on the back! You should now have a beautiful Hang About Toiletry Bag flap all finished and looking awesome, ready to attach to your bag later on.

Hang About Toiletry Bag Sew Along - pattern by Andrie Designs (www.andriedesigns.com)

If you have any questions whatsoever, please feel free to comment below or ask in my patterns group on Facebook. Please also feel free to share your beautiful flaps too! I love to drool (ahem, ‘look’) at other peoples creations!

Next time it’s on to creating your front and back panels! See you then!

Happy sewing,

Lisa x

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