INTRO (Part 1): Supplies // Sew Together Bag sew-along

Welcome to the kickoff of the Sew Together Bag Sew-Along! I am so excited to get started making these fun bags with you.  Did you know there are over 450 people signed up to participate in this sew-along!  And I promise, you CAN make this bag! 

We will be starting our sew-along with two weeks that I call the INTRO WEEKS (part 1 and 2).  Each part will be one week long, and every Monday I will post that week’s instructions and videos.  Just as a reminder, we will have a weekly timeline that we follow (see below) BUT IF you fall behind or can’t sew along right now, you can reference these posts any time you want!

TIMELINE

July 19 - Intro (Part 1): Supplies 

July 26 - Intro (Part 2): Ideas for Personalizing Your Outer Panel 

Aug 2 - Week 1: Cutting + Interfacing

Aug 9 - Week 2: Outer Panel 

Aug 16 - Week 3: Inside (Zippers) 

Aug 23 - Week 4: Attaching the Sides

Aug 30 - Week 5: Finishing It Up 

Ok so let’s get started….

INTRO (part 1): Supplies

Items covered in today’s post:

• Pattern 
• Zippers 
• Interfacings
• Basic supplies (thread, rotary cutters, clover clips, 1/4” foot and zipper foot)
• A few of my favorite things for making these bags

PATTERN

If you don’t already have a Sew Together Bag pattern, you can find it many places online, but here are 2 that are offering discount codes for this sew along:

• paper pattern  (10% off your entire order with code: REDRAINBOOTSHANDMADE)
• PDF pattern  (15% off with code: STBSewAlong)

ZIPPERS

For this bag, you will need (3) 9” zippers, and (1) 18” zipper.  

Zippers can be a bit pricey if you have to buy very many, so my very favorite place to purchase zippers is an Etsy shop called ZipIT Zippers.  

They have great prices, a wide variety of colors to choose from, and are good quality.  They are currently offering a promo code for this sew-along that will give you 10% off your total purchase.  (Promo code: REDRAINBOOTS10)

They offer Mix and Match options, so you can pick and choose your colors.  I love this, because I love using different colors of zippers on the inside of the bag, which makes it easier to remember what's inside each pocket. 

Mix And Match Options:

- 9" zippers (5 pieces, 10 pieces)

- 18" zippers (5 pieces, 10 pieces)

- 18" long-pull zipper (1 piece)

- STB bundle of 4 zippers (HERE)

Note: if you have longer zippers, they can be cut down to shorter lengths, if they don’t have metal teeth.  

INTERFACINGS

You will need interfacings to stabilize and add body to your bag.  

- For the inside pieces of the bag, I highly recommend Pellon SF101.  It is a soft, high-quality fusible interfacing that you iron onto your fabric.  You can buy it in a single bolt, or by the yard.  I always find a coupon to use when I buy it!

- For the outer panel you will want a bit more stabilizing, which can be achieved a few different ways:

Option 1 - My personal favorite is to double layer it by using Pellon SF101 + a scrap of leftover cotton batting.  I feel like it gives nice, firm body to your outer panel, without being too stiff.  This works especially well if you’re going to add appliqué to the outer panel of your bag.

Option 2 - By Annie's Soft and Stable (or Pellon FF77 Flex Foam Stabilizer - sold by the yard in some craft stores). This will give even more body to the outer panel of your bag and add amazing dimension to quilting lines.  However, it isn’t fusible (meaning it doesn’t have glue on one side), which means you’ll have to add quilting stitches to hold it in place. 

BASIC SUPPLIES

Most of the basic sewing supplies I won't take the time to go over here, but there are a few I want to be sure to mention:

• 1/4” sewing machine foot
• Zipper foot
• Quilting thread (I like to use a heavier weight (thicker) thread for quilting like this one - it looks nicer! (But note, this is NOT hand-quilting thread!)
• Frixion Pen (or chalk pencil for marking quilting lines on dark fabric)
• Heat N Bond Lite, if you want to appliqué something on the front panel - like the pig in the photo above.  (More on this next week)
• Clover binding clips.  You don't need many, but these are essential for this bag! (10-pack, Best deal I've found on 50-pack)

MY FAVORITE THINGS

…And some of my personal favorite things to use for Sew Together Bags…

Black and White stripe fabrics for the binding (which I wrote about HERE)

“Handmade” charms to add to the zipper  (I bought mine years ago at Michaels, but I found a few fun ones HERE, HERE, and HERE.  Make sure you buy a jump-ring (or something similar) to connect them to your zipper!


I think that’s about it for this week.  Start gathering up your supplies and dreaming up your outer panel design.  I have a post about some of the bags I've made HERE.  (And next Monday we will talk more about design!)

Oh! One last thing… make sure you head over to my Instagram page for a fun giveaway tomorrow (Tuesday morning)!  You won’t want to miss it. (Hint: It has to do with something we talked about today!)

(To make sure you don't miss out on the weekly sew-along emails, click HERE)