tell me about interfacing! **edited: i finished the bags! yippee!

[Lou]

i'm a fairly novice seamstress. i usually just sew stuff off the top of my head with whatever i have lying around.... but i'd really love to make a sturdy bag that stands upright somewhat. so i figure i need to start using interfacing.

i'm planning on making tote bags similar to these- tote bags at craftster

so, tell me about interfacing! what kinds are there- iron on or sew on? different thicknesses? when do i add it to the fabric- before sewing under the ends of the fabric? will the interfacing add a lot of thickness and make it hard on my machine?

[2tired2clean]

Interfacing is wonderful stuff! I love it, I use it for all kind of things, mostly I iron it on to my pattern pieces to make them sturdier. As for sewing, I recommend using the iron stuff, you can iron it on to your fabric and it doesn't move while you are sewing. it does not make it that much thicker then the actual fabric and can make sewing a little easier. I don't know what the thickness of the stuff I use is, but you can find it at walmart, for $1.17 a yard.

[Sherry]

if you want your totes to maintain their shape and not be floppy, you need to use a heavy interfacing...just iron it to the fabric and then cut your pieces out. make sure the bottom of the bag is also either interfaced or you have some other stabilizer to help it hold its form.
totes are lots of fun to make...i make one or two each month...sometimes more if my mom wants a new one!

[Lou]

thanks for all your help!! the poster on craftster mentioned that she used thicker interfacing for the bottom half of the bags... i'm wondering if the thicker interfacing would be hard on my machine? i don't have the most fancy machine!

[Sherry]

it shouldnt be too hard on the machine..give it a go and see how it does. sometimes your machine will surprise you!

[Lou]

I finished two tote bags tonight!! Yay! I love, love, love interfacing- it was so much fun to work with. My bags actually stand up! It was definitely worth the bit more fuss. All that ironing and cutting. ahhhhh!! But- I'm happy with how they turned out. Pictures on my blog if you wanna see.

[shalena]

They look awesome!! Great fabric combos.

[Sherry]

very cute! you did good.

[2tired2clean]

Those are really cute! Where did you get that material?

[Lou]

thanks guys for all your help and the compliments!

i got the material from this big crafting warehouse in portland, where KnitPicks has their yarn- i went for the yarn but got sucked in by the cool fabrics! now i have yet another crafting addiction..... I'm seeing all this material that I have lying here and there, old clothes etc, and seeing cool tote bags and purses!