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How to Make a Perfect Pull Tab

 

iPad Sleeve with pull tab (made with the Just Pattern Pieces - Tablet Computer Sleeves)

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Back on this post, I wrote a little about this pull tab.  I like them a lot--especially for things with VELCRO closures.  It gives you something to grab to pull back the flap. 

It also satisfies my need for some small detail on the front.  I end up using buttons as embellishments quite a bit, because things sometimes look like they just need *something* to be complete.

These can be sewn a variety of ways, but I thought I'd share my method.  I tried a few other ways before coming to the conclusion this is my favorite way to sew them.  The finished tab is solid and neatly square.  It is easy, fast, you don't have to turn anything right side out, and there aren't any corners to clip. Yay!!!

Before going into a bunch of detail for those who don't need it...this is basically single fold binding (both edges folded to center) with interfacing in the center, folded in half, topstitched and sewn in place.

This is also the same general idea used for this strap (1.75" eyelet can be found here):

 

1. Determine Width & Cut

The tab can be any width and you can improvise most of this, so feel free to skip exact measurements.  The only things you want to make sure to do is to cut the entire piece the same exact width--whatever number you use--so the tab ends up even and square. 

However wide you want the finished tab, multiply that by 2.  The red striped tab is 1.5" when finished.  So the piece is 3" wide. 

Then however tall you want it, multiply that by 3.  This can be a guestimate.  The red one is going to end up being 1.25" tall before sewing it on, so it is just easier to work with a slightly taller piece and cutting it down to size right before attaching. 

I'm also making multiple tabs at a time here, so this piece is much longer than needed for just one. 

2. Cut it Out

3. Crease Center

Fold it in half, WRONG sides together, along the length. 

Press gently to crease the center.  This crease is a guideline, so just press it once to make a visible crease.  You want it to come out later, so don't go nuts making is super sharp.

4. Press Edges to Center

Open it up and press each raw edge to meet the center crease. 

At this point, the center crease often disappears because it gets flattened when pressing each side to the center.  If not, press the whole thing again to get rid of the center crease. 

5. Apply Interfacing

Cut a piece of fusible interfacing wide enough to fit inside the center. Make sure the edges are within the center and don't extend into the side creases.

Place the interfacing inside and fold the edges of the fabric over it so it is encased in the center. 

Press on each side of the fabric to adhere the interfacing.

6. Fold in Half

Fold the piece in half along the width.  If your fabric is puckering at the fold, get out your metal ruler and wrap the fabric around it to make a sharp fold.

7. Topstitch

Topstitch the sides and bottom.

8. Trim

When using a 3/8" allowance, I like this tab to be 1.25" high before sewing it on.  So trim it down to whatever height you want to be + allowance.

   

9. Attach

Baste it to the center top of the flap, or wherever you are attaching it. 

For those new to sewing, you might wonder why the print is upside down?  For things where the flap/back is one piece (a lot of my patterns have this), the print will be reversed once the flap closes.   

Some of my patterns you could use pull tab on are:

Idea Pouch

Padded Camera Pouch

Pleated Pouches

Laptop Sleeve

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Belted Tote in Grey Melton Wool + Tip for Strap Turning

This summer I used this linen version of the Belted Tote quite a bit.  The fabric was not good quality, so it didn't take long before it wore through and an ever growing hole developed on the back.  :0[

But fall is here, so it is time for a wool bag!  Yesterday I finished making a Belted Tote shown above.  It is a very dark grey Melton wool. 

Last week I pulled out a few wools and started thinking about making a bag, but the thing that tripped me up was I wanted the straps to be wool too.  Wool is a pleasure to sew, but it gets bulky really fast. 

So the method of folding the strap piece and enclosing the raw edges in the center does not work.  It is pretty much impossible to get four layers of wool under the presser foot. 

The other option of turning a strap right side out is something I dread--I just don't have the patience for it, and it is so hard your fingers. 

But recently I saw a tutorial via Pinterest that gave the perfect solution for turning a strap right side out!  Sadly, I didn't pin the tutorial.  If you pinned it, please drop a link to the original in the comments and I'll link to it. 

Here is the basic idea:

Cut a piece of ribbon 1-2" longer than your strap. Center the ribbon down the length of the strap piece on the RIGHT side of the fabric.  Stitch the ribbon in place on one end.  Sew it down well.

Fold the strap in half, RIGHT sides together, encasing the ribbon in the center.  Pin down the length making sure the ribbon stays in the center.

Sew the length of the strap, making sure not to stitch through the ribbon. 

Tuck the end with the sewn ribbon down into the tube to get it started.

Gently pull the other end of the ribbon to turn the strap right side out. 

 

 

eReader Pouch

 

When I discovered the large Pleated Pouch fits an eReader, with some room left over on the sides, the next step was to make it a bit more fitted.  So this is the same large Pleated Pouch from the other day, but it has some modifications I wanted to share.

Here is a brief summary of the changes, and you can read on if you'd like more info (this post is really loooong):

1) Decreased width by 3/8" at the center ("place on fold" edge) of both pattern pieces.

2) Made piece B taller so more of this print would show on the flap.

3) Added interfacing to lining A.

4) Trimmed interfacing for lining A to make it easier to topstitch pleats.

5) Quilted lining B horizontally every 2" starting from the bottom of the piece.

First I want to show you my original pattern pieces.  They are laying on top a piece of chipboard:

These days, I tape my pattern pieces to chipboard and then cut them out.  The pattern pieces work ok just as paper, but the chipboard makes them sturdy and easy to trace around with chalk or a pen.  If you plan to make multiples of any item, you will thank yourself later for taking the time to make the pieces easier to use and longer lasting. 

You can find chipboard lots of places--including your recycle bin. Cereal and cracker boxes work well.  But they often have creases where they were folded into box shapes, so I just buy chipboard and keep it on hand.  The straight edges of the purchased pieces are also easier to join for taping if you need a big piece.

The store in Portland where I used to buy chipboard went out of business, so now I order it online from Kraft Outlet.  There are plenty of places to buy it online, but I started shopping at Kraft Outlet because they have lots of other kraft paper things--I love that stuff! 

There is something comforting about kraft paper.  Maybe because many of us have spent our entire lives exposed to it through paper grocery bags, lunch sacks, etc.  The natural woody texture and color are appealing, but it is probably the food association that really does it for me!

Anyway, back to the sewing.

1) For this pouch I took 3/8" off the center. In the photo above, you can see the faint lines where I marked 3/8" from the "place on fold" center edges.  It was super simple to align those lines with one straight edge of a piece of chipboard and then just trace new pieces.  Here are my new ones:

2) For this clutch, I wanted the flap slightly longer to show of the fabric print better.  Which, of course, I decided AFTER remaking my pieces. 

Rather than confuse myself with a 3rd set of pattern pieces, I just faked it during cutting.  I began tracing the B pattern piece and when I got to the straight part of the side edge, I slid the pattern piece down an inch. Another great thing about the chipboard pieces is they don't need pinning and can just be held in place while tracing the outline.  

The hardest part was remembering to cut out all the pieces with the extended height!  It is easy to go auto-pilot during cutting.  I managed to remember, BUT then I forgot to move the VELCRO down.  Oy.  Since the front pouch has so much expandability, it wasn't hard to resew the VELCRO piece to the pouch at a lower place.  Inconvenient and a silly mistake, yes, but thankfully not a big deal in the end. 

3 & 4) Because of the pleats, this pouch is a challenge to pad on the front.  There are probably ways to do it, but they might not be worth the effort.  But one quick thing you can do is add another layer of interfacing. 

Generally, I'm not a big fan of using fusible interfacing on the lining pieces.  Linings are often a lighter color fabric, and don't have a busy print, so those tell-tale signs the interfacing is peeling away from the fabric are more obvious. The times I make an exception for this are when the piece doesn't fold, the piece is really small (less area for peeling to happen), or some stitching will help hold the interfacing in place. 

In this case, topstitching the pleats helps hold the interfacing in place, so I wasn't concerned about peeling.  Since the folds of the pleats already add some additional layers of fabric to sew through, I removed some interfacing from one of the A interfacing pieces to make it easier to topstitch the pleats and sew at the bottom.  

I trimmed away the interfacing about 0.5" on each side of the pleat marks at both the top and bottom.  Several of my patterns have this type of strategic trimming and the few extra seconds of work are worth the effort. It will make sewing multiple layers less frustrating and give you better finished results.

This is what your (still folded) interfacing piece will look like:

You could trim both interfacing pieces, but it is probably isn't necessary.  I apply the trimmed interfacing piece to lining A, and the untrimmed piece to the exterior fabric A piece. 

5) The final change is the lining B piece is lightly quilted.  I used cotton batting and muslin backing to make the "quilt sandwich".  Because the back and flap are one piece for these pouches, I stitched the quilting lines horizontally so they would be parallel to the fold when the flap is closed. 

Ok, that was a lot of words!  Time for me to be quiet now. 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips for Installing Eyelets

So the new pattern is coming very soon.  I'm aiming for Friday.  The instructions are written and tested, but I'm making some adjustments to the pattern pieces. 

In the meantime, I wanted to share a couple things about eyelets for anyone who hasn't used them before. 

First mark the placement and cut a small X shape through the fabric:

The eyelets will have 2 parts--one longer piece and one shorter.  The longer piece goes on the front (right side of fabric) and the shorter piece goes on the back.  I'll show you why at the end...

To attach the pieces together you can either buy an eyelet tool that looks something like this (there are a few different ones, but same basic idea):

These will be with the eyelet packages in the notions section.  The idea is you hammer the eyelet between the two pieces.  It is easy, but it can take a few good whacks to get the eyelet tightly together. 

Or a better option is to invest in a pair of these pliers:

These pliers work for both snaps and eyelets.  The bottom piece rotates so you can change it from a snap setter to an eyelet setter.  The photo shows them set for eyelets.

One firm squeeze over the eyelet is all it takes:

Here is the back side after the eyelet is installed:

You can see where the longer piece has flattened into the shorter piece to hold them together.  It leaves some raw looking edges that are best hidden from view.

Ok, I'm getting back to the pattern now!

 

 

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Sewing Tip: Use a Ruler to Make Neat Pleats

The pieces for a medium size Pleated Wristlet in a black and gold brocade fabric have been cut out for a few weeks now, but I wanted to quilt the lining with metallic gold thread, which I didn't actually have, but now I do and it's time to sew this wristlet.

This brocade is synthetic and has an embossed texture, which means it can't be interfaced or even pressed.  It's also slippery and won't hold a crease, but it's beautiful, so I'm going to get it done!  After a false start or two, it was obvious some assistance was required and what I found was that using a hard metal ruler was quite helpful in getting this tricky fabric folded.

 

Here are some photos to illustrate...

Line the ruler with one of the center pleat lines:

Fold the fabric over the ruler:

Hold the fabric in place and slide the ruler out from under the fabric.

Move the ruler to the exterior fold line:

Fold the fabric back over the ruler:

If your fabric can be pressed and the ruler is stainless steel, it can be left in the folds and pressed right over.  It gets super hot, so don't touch it until it cools down.

Hold the fabric in place again, remove the ruler, and pin or clip the pleat in place.  Look at those neat pleats!

 

 

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Anatomy of a Zipper

This is probably not new info for a lot of you, but just so we are all on the same page, I'm posting this diagram here.

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