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| Basic Bag Making for beginners |
If you like sewing then you will love bag making. It is very easy to become addicted to creating your own beautiful bags while expressing your personal unique style.
Question: Are you tired of buying overpriced bags that you are sure you can make for yourself at less than half the price? Then, this series was written just for you.
This series will cover:
- The essential tools and equipment used in handmade fabric bag construction.
- Materials used such as the types of fabrics, Interfacing and bag Patterns.
- The various types of Hardware and Closures
As a bag maker, there are some basic tool and equipment needed for the construction of a bag. It is imperative that you familiarize yourself with their uses.
In order to assemble a bag, you have to sew it.
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a needle and thread. Source: Wikipedia.org
Basic bag sewing Tools and Equipment:
- Sewing Machine
- Sewing Needles
- Tape Measure
- Pins and clips
- Scissors and Shears
- Seam Ripper
- Rotary Cutter and self-healing mat
- Grid Rulers
- Iron
- Thread
- Disappearing Ink/ Friction Pen
- Hole punch
- Glue
- buttons
- Hammer
- Screwdriver
- Walking Foot/Teflon Foot
Sewing Machine
This is a mechanically driven needle for sewing or stitching cloth according to Google.com.
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| Vintage Sewing Machine |
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Sewing Needles
A sewing needle is a long and slender tool with a pointed tip at one end and a hole or eye at the other end. There are various types and sizes of hand and machine sewing needles.
Sewing Machine Needles Types
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| Pins and needles |
- Universal
- Embroidery
- Ballpoint
- Jeans/denim
- Wing
- Leather
- Metallic
- Quilting
- Self Threading
- Serger
- Sharp
- Stretch
- Topstitch
- Triple Twin
Pins and Clips
These are used to hold in place pieces of fabrics together for sewing.
Be careful when using them because they are very sharp. You can also use wonder clips.
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| I made the Pincushion |
Seam Ripper
These are very important to have in your sewing kit. they are useful for ripping stitches.
In case you make a sewing mistake you can remove the stitches promptly and start over.
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| My Seam Rippers |
Tape Measure
A sewing tape measure is used to take accurate measurements of the body and fabrics for sewing and pattern making.
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| measuring tape |
Scissors and Shears
These are used for cutting fabrics for a clean and accurate result.
Scissors are about 6" or shorter and Shears are 7" and longer.
Investing in high-quality scissors or shears can make your bag making life so much easier.
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| Don't settle for cheap scissors like mine |
Rotary Cutter and self-healing cutting mat
This cutting tool has to be used with a suitable cutting mat to prevent damage to your cutting table, as well as for a smooth finished cut.
It is suitable for cutting curves and is easier and faster to use than scissors.
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| Olfa rotary cutter |
Grid Rulers
These rulers are used mostly by quilters to create vertical and horizontal lines for cutting strips and quilting squares of fabric.
These are great for bag making as well, they make cutting rectangles and squares a breeze.
Make sure you SUBSCRIBE so that you don't miss the other two parts of the series.
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| Quilting rulers |
Iron
The iron is used to straighten or press fabric by moving back and forth over the fabric with or without steam. ( Source: thesewingdictionary.com)
Note* it is also used to attach interfacing to the fabric, this will be discussed in part two of the from zero to bag maker series.
Thread
A thread is defined as a long thin strand of cotton, nylon or other fibres used in sewing.
The type of thread you choose to work with will depend on the project.
If you don't use the correct thread your project will fall apart. (source: wikihow.com)
Types of threads:
- Cotton
- Nylon
- Silk
- Wool
- Metallic
- Bobbin
- Designer (mixed)
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Disappearing Ink Pen
These are used to mark cut lines and patterns to fabric, then disappear when heat is applied, by air or wiping with a damp cloth.
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| Disappearing Ink Pen for marking fabric |
Hole Punch
These are used to make holes in the fabric for attaching eyelet, grommets or screws.
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| Eyelet Punching Tool |
Fabric Glue
This is useful for holding a zipper in place or basting pieces of fabric together before sewing. These are good for NO SEW projects.
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| Use for No sew Projects |
Buttons
Buttons can be used as closures or embellishments in bag making. they can be attached to the fabric by hand or sewing machine.
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| Close up of a Button |
Hammer/ Mallet
These tools are used to attach snap fasteners and flatten seams before sewing.
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| Hammer or Mallet |
Screwdriver
Screwdrivers are used to open your sewing machine for cleaning and insert screws when making some types of bags.
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| Screwdriver |
This post contains affiliate links as such I will receive a few dollars at no cost to you.
Walking Foot
A walking foot is very useful in making bags because it can move over thick layers of fabric easily.
I strongly suggest you invest in one of these but make sure to check your sewing machine manual for information on what type would be suitable for your machine before making a purchase.
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| A Walking Foot for sewing thick layers |
Teflon Foot
A Teflon foot is used when sewing with sticky materials such as leather, faux leather and vinyl for ease of sewing.
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| Use to sew vinyl |
Summary
In conclusion, this is basically a list of the tools needed for building your own bags. If you are a beginner at sewing you may not have all the tools nor do you need all of them to start making your bags.
Learn to work with what you have and then add to your collection as you move forward.
As human beings, we are very creative and innovative so I
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| Sewing Tools |
am certain you will find other alternatives for the tools you don't readily have or can't get in your country or town.
I hope this post has helped you in some way on your bag making journey.
The other two series will be coming soon.
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