Castell Day Bag Sew Along Day 1

Castell Day Bag Sew Along | Happy Okapi blog

Yay! it’s Day 1 of the sew along. I hope you’re as excited as I am to make this beautiful bag together. Before we get started, let’s review what we’ll be doing. Starting today, I’ll be posting steps to make the Emmaline Bags Castell Day Bag. I’ll break it up over several days, to give you plenty of time to sew at a leisurely pace. I will offer tips and different options and take pictures along the way. You can share your progress on Instagram with #CastellSewAlong or in the Emmaline Sewing Patterns Group on Facebook. There are also going to be 3 prizes for participants who complete the bag. To be entered to win an Emmaline store credit ($20, $15, and $10), simply tag me @reecemontgomery and Emmaline Bags @emmalinebags in a picture of your completed Castell Day Bag, and use #CastellSewAlong on Instagram before September 12, 2017. (Profiles must be public so I can see them. If you don’t have/use/like Instagram, you can also upload a picture of your completed bag to be entered to win.)

Here’s the schedule:
Day 1: Getting started – cutting and fusing pieces (that’s today!)
Day 2: Starting Exterior of bag
Day 3: Finish Exterior of bag
Day 4: Make the Lining
Day 5: Finish the bag!

Getting Started

A note about this sew along: I suggest reading through the actual pattern and referring to it while sewing; this sew along is meant to supplement the pattern instructions, not replace it. If you don’t have the pattern yet, you’ll need to purchase it. You can find the discount code and link in the announcement post here. If you haven’t ordered your hardware yet, you’ll want to do that right away too. You don’t need it today, but you will need the frames before finishing up the bag. Visit Emmaline Bags to pick up some bling and your frames!

If you’ve purchased a paper pattern, you’re one step ahead. If you have downloaded the PDF pattern, you’ll need to print it. You may wish to only print out the pattern pieces and refer to a computer or mobile device for the pattern and sew along. Make sure the pattern pieces print out at 100%, or actual size. Once printed, double check by measuring the 1″ test square. Cut out the pattern pieces and tape A1 and A2 together, overlapping the gray area; do the same thing for D1 and D2. I also find the cutting guide on page 4 really handy to print out, so I can check off as a list as I go.

Cutting

Cutting and fusing is often my least favourite part of bag making, and I often have to psych myself up just to get started, but once it’s done, the fun begins…so let’s do this!

If you haven’t chosen your fabric yet, you’ll need to do that. For this bag, I chose one single fabric for my exterior, but it works well to have the centre pockets as an accent fabric too. For my lining, I chose several coordinates and went with a brighter theme than my usual low volume innards. I like to cut my fabric first, before the interfacing, since it’s prettier and more fun, and then when cutting the fabric is done, I tell myself I’m more than half done all my cutting! Gather your supplies. I use shears for the pattern pieces, and rotary blade with rulers for the rectangles. Do yourself a favour and change your rotary blade if you haven’t done it recently. A fresh blade really does make cutting so much nicer, and reduces fatigue. I also like to have a few different marking tools. I like the chaco liner, the clover triangle chalk, and just regular pens.

The direction of the print of fabric should be the same way as the words on the pattern piece, so if you have directional fabric, pay attention to make sure your top isn’t at the bottom.

Let’s start with the exterior fabric. Notice that Pattern Piece A states to cut 2 mirror image sets. Here is an example of how I did one mirror image set. Basically, you trace/cut one piece out of the pattern with writing side up, and another piece with the pattern writing side down.

A time saving tip for some of the rectangles is to do subcutting. For example the zipper casing is 24″ long by 1.5″ wide and we need 4 of them. For this piece, I’ve cut one piece 24″ by 6″, and you can interface the same way, and cut into the smaller sections once you’ve fused the interfacing.

Some of the rectangles we have to cut are probably bigger than the rulers you have available. Use 2 rulers together! In this example, I wanted a piece of fabric 15″ wide, but my large ruler is only 12.5″ wide, so I added 2.5″ from another ruler.

Here’s another way to cut 4 pieces of fabric, when you want to 2 mirror image sets: fold the fabric right sides together, and then fold again, now wrong sides together. Trace around pattern piece, and cut (I pinned my fabric layers together before cutting to prevent shifting). This method is a favourite mine because I only have to trace and cut once for 4 pieces of fabric.

For the lining gathered pocket, we’re cutting on the fold. I also pin before cutting on the fold.

Make sure to check off all the pieces as you go so you can keep track of what you’ve done. I like to write on the back of my pieces with erasable pen, like frixion markers, since they’ll disappear with some heat. I also pin or clip small pieces together so I don’t lose them. Any pieces that correspond with pattern pieces I leave with the paper pattern piece. This pattern doesn’t call for interfacing the lining pieces, but if you choose to do so, you can cut a set of interfacing to match the lining pieces; however, you should consider not interfacing the gathered pockets since they may not gather nicely once interfaced.

To fuse the interfacing to the exterior pieces, make sure the interfacing is centred on each piece and use a hot iron. I find interfacing fuses best when I start at the centre and slowly work my out, with pauses and pressing, rather than a back and forth “ironing” motion. I always find fusible fleece difficult to actually fuse, no matter which brand I use. My best success is when I spray a bit of water before placing the fleece (on the wrong side of my fabric) and then placing the fleece and quickly flipping the pieces over and pressing from the right side of the fabric. I picked up a spray bottle at the dollar store and filled it with water and always keep it near my iron when fusing. If you’re lucky/smart enough to have a steam press, then you’ve probably skimmed over this section since I hear that’s the fastest way to fuse interfacing.

Once you’ve cut and fused everything, you’re ready to move to Day 2! This can take a while, so we’ll start Day 2 on Monday, August 21, giving everyone the weekend to do their prep. If you’re done early, gather the rest of your supplies, like any of the pretty optional hardware, and all your zippers.

I’d love to see your fabric choices; share with me on Instagram with #CastellSewAlong or in the Emmaline Sewing Patterns Group on Facebook and don’t forget to tag me @reecemontgomery so I can see. Thanks for joining me and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

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Comments

Cyndi says

August 18, 2017 at 12:43 pm

Yay! Great tips! Can’t wait to see the castells come rolling in
Janelle says

August 18, 2017 at 2:36 pm

Great post!! Thanks so much for hosting this, Reece!
Tara says

September 12, 2017 at 1:27 pm

Love seeing how you do it, and managed to pick up a few tips! Such great details!!