Deckchairs and sunshine

If I am making something for the first time I try to work out the most logical method for construction. As I make the item it often becomes apparent that my method needs tweeking so here goes . . .

Since the beginning of summer I've been wanting to make a colourful, deckchair-inspired bag. In my recent haul of stripy cottons I knew I had the perfect fabric –medium weight cotton in a fabulous combination of orange, green, beige, red and sky blue. I have the same colourway in both a narrow and wide stripe and decided that I'd have some fun and combine the two – narrow for the outside and wide for the gusset and inside pockets. All it would need to finish the deckchair look is some wooden dowelling.

I'm very guilty of just marking lines on the fabric and cutting if I know roughly what size I want my finished item to be and think it's a simple shape. This time I thought I'd be good and create a pattern even though the final shape is to be all straight lines.

I cut the fabric and pinned it to be flatlined to a water-resistant polycotton lining.

As the shape of the bag relies on having smooth sides I decided to insert gusseted pockets on one side, to avoid potential bulges, and a flat 'magazine pocket' on the other. The pockets were edge stitched to give a sharp edge.  I like the crisp finish edge stitching gives. A zipper foot can be useful for edge stitching but can sometimes result in an uneven feed on my machine so for this project I used a standard all-purpose foot and just stitched carefully!

The outside pieces of the bag were placed right side to right side and the handle curves sewn, trimmed, notched, turned right side out and edge stitched. I've still to decide on the finish for the outside – binding or french seams. I'm sure as I go along the method will suggest itself.

The gusseted pocket was stitched to the lining while the flat pocket was pinned to be sewn in with the attachment of the gusset to the sides.

The gusset of the bag was interlined with a second layer of polycotton to add structure and strength. I decided to add a webbing strap to give flexibility in use and as the webbing is so thick and bulky I gave it a few stitches to hold the folds in place with the raw edges tucked in ready for machine sewing. I like the criss-cross pattern used to apply webbing straps so I marked it out and stitched the strap to the gusset. So that's it – all the bits ready to be put together.







Gratuitous pretty pic

The sun has disappeared from Edinburgh again this week so to make me feel more summery here is a photo of a beautiful flower taken on sunlit walk on the banks of Loch Semple in Lochwinnoch.

This isn't a plant I'm familiar with so I looked it up. It is Himalayan Balsam: 'Because of its shape this flower is also known as Policeman's Helmet. It is not a native of Britain having been brought here during the nineteenth century as a greenhouse plant. It escaped and spread uncontrollably due to its seed dispersal method where exploding seed pods blast showers of seed huge distances.' – www.wildflowersofstrathclydepark.org.uk

It's a shame it isn't indigenous but it's very pretty all the same.