Swoon Amber Sewalong Day 3: Construct Interior

Day 3!  We will sew the interior.

Interior zipper pocket.

SMALL tote:

Fold one interior panel in half, width wise (hot dog style) to find the top middle.  Finger press to create a crease.  Along the middle crease on the WRONG SIDE, measure down 3" from the top.  Draw a 7" line (3.5" on either side of the middle crease).  Draw a second 7" line 1/2" below the first line.  Draw lines on either end, creating a rectangle (red lines).



LARGE tote:
Fold one interior panel in half, width wise (hot dog style) to find the top middle. Finger press to create a crease.  Along the middle crease on the WRONG SIDE, measure down 5" from the top.  Draw a 7" line (3.5" on either side of the middle crease).  Draw a second 7" line 1/2" below the first line.  Draw lines on either end, creating a rectangle (red lines).

Flip the panel over to the right side.  Take the last pocket piece.  Place a short end of the piece 2.5" from the top for the small tote or 4.5" from the top for the large tote. Pin the pocket piece to the interior panel along the edge of the pocket piece. Fabrics right sides together.

Flip the panel over to the wrong side again.  Stitch around the rectangle you drew, sewing through the pocket piece.  Remove pins from the other side when sewing along the top, if needed.
From both short ends of the rectangle, measure 1/2" in the rectangle.  Make a mark.  Draw another line in the middle of the rectangle from 1/2" mark to the other 1/2" mark.  This line should be 1/4" away from the stitching you just did.  Draw diagonal lines from all four corners of rectangle to the 1/2" mark.  See below.

Fold the panel in half again, and carefully snip along the middle line you just drew.

Cut along drawn line until you reach the 1/2" mark.

When you reach the 1/2" mark, very carefully snip the diagonal lines to the corners of the rectangle.  Make sure to not cut the stitching!

Repeat for the other side of the line.

Flip the panel over, again! Shove the pocket piece through the hole you just cut.

This fabric is busy, so I understand it is hard to see.  But flip under the entire pocket piece to the wrong side. 

Press along the seam.  Roll the seam towards wrong side if needed.  Press really well around entire zipper hole.

You will have this.

Flip 'er over.  I like to use a glue stick for my zippers.  But some people use scotch tape to hold the zipper down.  Whatever floats your boat.
I apply glue along the edges of the hole on the wrong side of the panel (right side of the pocket piece) just were the zipper allowance will go.

You guessed it, flip the panel over again.  Slide the zipper under the panel and line it up with the zipper hole.  If you applied glue to the wrong side, press along the opening to make the zipper stick to the panel.

I like to pin the zipper to the panel as well.  Wait a few minutes for the glue to settle and things to stick.  Go potty, get a snack or drink, twiddle your thumbs. 

This is the back of my panel.  In case you need to compare.

Again, super hard to see here, but I like to pin the bottom of the pocket piece down so it doesn't accidentally get sewn through.

Hunt for your zipper foot.  Top stitch around entire rectangle.  You may need to move the zipper pull.

Ta-da!

If you have extra zipper hanging off, trim it down.

Fold the pocket piece up, matching top edges. Starting at the bottom left side, sew up the pocket piece across the top of the pocket and down the other side of the pocket.
*MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT SEWING THROUGH THE MAIN PANEL AT ANY POINT!*

Set that aside and grab your last zipper and one top lining piece.
Pin the zipper to the longer long edge of one of the top lining pieces.  Stitch together with 1/4" seam allowance.

Make a sammich with the zippered piece and one of the bottom lining pieces.  Match the raw edges of the top of one bottom lining piece and the edge of the zippered piece you just sewed.  Pin together and sew the panels together, following the stitches you just sewed.

Flip so the top and bottom are wrong sides together and press each side away from the zipper.

Repeat the same steps for the other side of the zipper.
Make sure the top lining pieces are lined up as well.  (let's see how many ways I can use 'line")

You should have this.  Trim off excess zipper ends.
Sew darts in the same manner as with the exterior.

Open zipper 1/2 way.

Place panels right sides together, matching darts.

Sew around entire lining with 1/2" seam allowance, leaving a 5-6" opening along the bottom.

Opening along bottom.

Trim seam allowances except along bottom opening.

Come back tomorrow to finish the bag!