MY BAG SEWING PATTERN & GUIDE

GENERAL TO DOS:

for every seam, press with iron before & after
The important thing to remember about the order of operations is that you want to keep the garment flat for as long as possible.

SETUP FOR SEWING

SEWING: NON-BAG STUFF

make the strap (cut pattern, iron, press, fold, add sewing)
for style & length, in area where length of fabric not long enough, create an arc seam to join pieces of fabric to match the form language of the bag)
sew together, hiding raw edges
IN PATTERN & SEWING, LEAVE OPEN ENDS SO THEY CAN BE SEWN DOWN TO THE BAG’S HARDWARE FOR THE ASSEMBLY PART
//
what are ‘insecure’ ways of attaching straps (aka typical ways people attach sstraps that are not great, things i should avoid, 1 ex being like how you explained the zipper strap weight thign)

to keep the structure of the bag and stability of the bag, straps should be putting the most strain on the side panels
if they are putting strain on other fabric that isnt the side panels, it will pull fabric unevenly, pucker, it wont look great
TLDR have straps put weight ON THE SIDE PANELS

IF CONTINUOUS PIECE, DECORATIVE SEAM TO CONNECT THAT FEELS RIGHT AND MIMICS DESIGN LANGUAGE TO CONNECT OTHER FABRIC (CURVE SIMILAR TO THE TOP OF THE BAG MIMIC IN THE JOIN)
BASED ON STRAP CHOSEN, FIND OTHER POPLE WHO DID SAME THING AND FIHGURE OUT WHEN THEY ATTACHED IT
4 INCHES EACH SIDE THAT TAPERS WITH THE ENDING OF THE SIDES, WHICH YOU CAN MAKE INTO A LOOP THAT PUTS HARDWARE INTO AND THEN CAN ATTACH ANY STRAP TO
BELT FOR CLOSURE

make the closure (cut pattern, iron, press, fold, add sewing)
account for the fact that there will be hardware in the middle that joins, so these are almost like two separate pieces
sew together, hiding raw edges,
IN PATTERN & SEWING, LEAVE OPEN ENDS SO THEY CAN BE SEWN DOWN TO THE BAG’S HARDWARE FOR THE ASSEMBLY PART WHERE THE CLOSURE WILL GO
ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT THAT ONE OF THE EDGES WILL BE SEWN INTO THE SIDE SEAM WHEN JOINING THE LINING AND OUTER FOR EXTRA STRENGTH AND SECURITY

q. how to attach clasp to the outside of the bag without it showing seams on inside, and in a secure way secure, w/o worrying about the wear & tear of the fabric if yanks on the clasp
attach the clasps to the outer before i put the lining in
regardining avoiding it getting ripped out or yanking:

have a durable material
weight to fabric strength relationship between the bag and the clasp
refer to drawing (before stitching up sides, sew a ttrip of fabric to the outer (reinforcing strip), adds more strength and tension to the thing, closure goes through outer fabric and strip, it will be super strong

reinforcement strip is a separate piece, sewn to the seams, not along the fabric of the bag
closure is sewn through both pieces
transfering strain of the closure to the seams which are strong rather than tjust that fabric where the closure is (yank will go to the seam rather than that portion of the fabric, which is less likely to hapne)

COULD ALSO LOOK AT CLOSURES THAT GO INSIDE THE SEAM RATHER THAN CENTER OF BAG FABRIC. closure moving to the seam rather than placed in the middle of the bag would also do this
DESIGN FEATURE, BELTING IN SIDE SEAMS THAT LEAD TO THE MIDDLE WHERE THE CLOSURE IS

for the pattern for the top piece to adapt zipper:
take the pattern & cut it in half
add double regular seam allownace to the middle, where the other edges are given the regular seam allowance
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entirely integrating the lining for the top ‘lid’ & zipper to this guide/step by step thing

do this part after topstitching side seams & bottom panel(DO IT ESSENTIALLY LAST)

after sew something to secure end so the zipper doesnt fly off the bag
when do i attach it in the process
the two halves should get stitched to their constituent parts first (lining parts get stitched to lining parts) (outer fabric gets stitched to outer fabric), NO ZIPPER YET
repeat for other side of lid

when cutting the floor size, do i exactly keep the same dimensions as the floor for the pattern?

depends: might be worth doing a test wher eyou sandwich plastic between layers of fabric to see how close you can get to the piece of plastic

SEWING: LINING

***FLIP PATTERN OVER FOR THE LINING! GIVEN ASSYMETRICAL BAG

sew inner lining of bag, join faces togetherwrong side together when sewing
(for certain types of seams—pockets? etc) fold raw edges and pin, then sew down (if i decide to do pockets)
BY THE END the seams should be visible on the OUTSIDE of the lining

SEWING: OUTER BAG

if i do this, won’t need to whip stitch in the corners or anything, now there is ajust a layer on it

DO A TEST, see how good i am at stitching along the line of the batting & outer fabric

SEWING: ATTACHING LINING TO BAG/ASSEMBLING

NOTE FOR THE BELT PIECE FOR THE CLOSURE IN THE FRONT, SEW THESE PIECES AND SANDWICH THE RAW EDGES ON EITHER SIDE IN BETWEEN THE LINING AND OUTER LAYER WHEN ASSEMBLING
BEFORE INSERTING IN LINING FABRIC, INSERT THE FLOORING PANEL! SINCE BATTING WILL BE QUILTED
sew clean finishes on inner lining and outer section (separately!) (wherever visible/applicable)
sew together inner lining bag and outer lining bag:

when seat lining into either, can do the same shit with zipper where you fold and pin seam allowance inward and top stitch
lid attachment:

sandwich in between the outer and lining
^^ if done this way, will be easier to get the side seam really consistent cause youll just go around the bag

the seams for the lining should have the raw edges outside (on the right side)
the seams for the outer back should have the raw edges facing inside (on the wrong side)
batting sandwiched in between
then top stitch