Have you made some Grocery Bags from denim yet? If not, they turn out fantastic in this durable, classic fabric!
The Grocery Bags are easy to sew in denim if you pick the right weight fabric. This page has two tips for picking denim for these bags and the weight is one of them.
Now let's talk about lining the denim bags because one specific thing happens every time I make these in denim and that is the exterior and lining side seams don't match up.
And the worst part is when you pin the bag shells together, everything seems totally fine. There is no visual clue to remind you this is going to happen.
First, let me explain why this happens because it can happen anytime you are mixing fabrics weight and/or stability:
As the bag shells are sewn together the differential that helps push the fabric under the presser foot ends up stretching the thinner lining fabric, but not the more stable denim.
Keep reading to find out what to do to fix it...but first here's a pic of the lining fabric for these bags:
Isn't it pretty and just so perfect with the dark blue denim? This is called Blue Crush and it's from the Night Garden collection by Dear Stella.
Ok, here's how to fix the lining doesn't fit issue:
Measure 0.25" from the existing side seams sewn at 3/8" and sew new seams that taper into the the existing stitching. In the photo the new seam is about 2.5" - 3" long.
This consistently works well for me and I hope you find it works for you too!
