Art Gallery Fabrics - The Creative Blog

Hello AGF friends!

As you remember in the first part of my sewing DO's and DON'Ts I prepared everything that I needed to sew my perfect clutch. I cut the fabrics, chose the clutch pattern  and prepared all the supplies. I am all excited and ready to continue my sewing journey and learn all about what to DO and NOT TO DO to finish the project successfully. :)

So, today Meli (our product designer and my patient teacher) taught me the 3 steps below:

1.Sewing the strips

Do you remember those two feet I showed you on the picture of necessary supplies? Let me start with an important tip from the very beginning: DON'T be afraid to use them! The blind stitch foot made my life much easier when I was sewing the strip and loop for my clutch. In order for the strips to look nice you have to top stitch them very close to the edge. Without the blind stitch foot, it would've been really difficult or (for me) almost impossible. ;)

2.Sewing a zipper 

I ironed the fusible fleece to my "birds fabric" and it was time to sew a zipper! Wow, that skill definitely opened the door to many sewing projects! Now, I am a zipper PRO! ;) It's not that difficult as it may seem at the beginning. It's just a matter of following the steps and...being precise. So here is what I have learned from sewing the zipper:

• DO use a zipper foot :)
• DO make time to cut and sew zipper tabs - sometimes it may be tempting to skip that step but Meli taught me that the bag will look so much nicer with them! 
• DO pin you zipper sandwich very precisely to make sure the stitches will be even on both sides 
• DON'T hesitate to use a ripper tool if something goes wrong (wink, wink).
• Are you a beginner and want to learn how to make a zipper sandwich? DO watch this video explaining how to sew a zipper.

 3. Sewing the pockets and attaching snaps

Sewing the pockets was fun because I was using my blind stitch foot. I love this foot - it makes my top stitches look so nice! After that, I had to attach the snaps to the pocket. Here is a video explaining how to attach the snaps. The important tip I want to share with you is: DO watch your fingers when using the hammer!:) Don't worry, nothing happened to me, but if you are not an everyday hammer user - you may want to be extra careful. :)

I can't believe what Meli just told me! I did all the hard parts and now its time to stitch the bag around and my clutch will be ready!! Wow! I can't wait to show you how the final result is going to look. Stay tuned for next part of my sewing DO's and DON'Ts to see the complete clutch!!!

Also let me know in the comments what are some sewing DO's and DON'Ts that you've learned along the way.

Wishing you happy sewing!

-Ola