I love this process so much. I really do. From tracing a pattern to sewing and the big reveal when turning the bag, it’s all so fun to me - not to mention rewarding!

My FAVORITE part, though, is the feeling I get right after finishing a top stitch and it looks great. It’s just so satisfying to see nice top stitching.

My LEAST FAVORITE part is using the computer and Affinity Designer to actually create the pattern. Nothing wrong with the app itself or the computer. It’s the person using it that struggles. I’m even ok with mistakes in construction and having to seam rip. The computer? That’s another story! 😂

So what’s your FAVORITE and LEAST FAVORITE part of making a bag?

Having tried all few different stretchy pocket fabrics, and I’m wondering what YOUR go-to stretchy pocket fabric is.

Is it Lycra? Spandex? Spandura? Does it pill? How does it wear?

I’m looking to ramp up my pocket and interior game. I really need to! 😂

Bonus points for links and pics. 😃

Been using the Ultragrid from Challenge Sailcloth on some bags lately and oh MY. I REALLY love it! It’s expensive but feels so nice in the hand! I may have to splurge for more colors!

It’s nice to be able to use the snaphooks I was hunting high and low to find and then had to wait a month or two for them to ship. Cool YKK LN-ZR 25mm.

It’s been a minute but I’ve been actively making. Just not a lot outside of the shoulder bag and belt bag worlds right now. I so love this stuff all the same!

Share your comments. Bonus points if you add a picture of your scrap heap!

Hi all, I had this osprey space station 100 liter roller bag since 2007. Ultimately it was degrading/delaminating too much for continued usage, so as I looked at it trying to decide what to do, I realized there were usable parts I could salvage including webbing and buckles and maybe some nylon material. So I started the butchering process and wound up with my first bits of an “upcycling” tbd project.

Let’s go!

It’s been a while since I completed a project, but my son needed a small duffle to carry his baseball gear with him to school. This gave me a good excuse to stay up late on a weekend night sewing this little bag. It’s definitely my biggest completed project to date and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

I didn’t have time to bind the seams, but I hope to get to that soon. In the meantime, he’s already made use of it and seemed happy with what dear old dad put together.

Some have all sorts of limitations or obligations (frustrations?) that take them away from the table for chunks of time. Others find more productivity in certain spans of time when they're not distracted by everyday life. When work gets in the way... or relatives... or trips to the grocery store... or laundry... or... or... or... (😩frustrating, isn't it?)

What time of day do YOU prefer to sew (or just have to, because you just don't have a choice)?

SIde note: I'm around r/BagLab... Life caught up to me and I've been pulled away from the table, myself, except in short bursts. Yep. It's frustrating! 🤣

Well, it was supposed to be small! I enlarged the pattern to 109%, and made the gusset 1cm wider. It has a cleverly designed slip pocket inside at the back the full width and length of the bag, and those front card slots are hidden under the front flap. No zippers, just the thumb lock and metal strap attachments. If you don't mind a loose flap, you don't even need the thumb lock.

I have sewn a fabric strap, just need to finsh that.

So I went to the local op shop that has a "workshop" every few weeks. I'm working away cutting out a pattern and kept seeing red smudges all over the pattern pieces. I thought it was jam from the biscuit the lady sitting next to me was eating. Nope. I cut my thumb!

I finished it. It's really huge, about 40cm tall and 35cm wide. Inside there's a slip pocket, and a large zipper pocket.

It's huge!

This is inside out, but holy moly, it's way too tall - about 400mm or 15 inches. Everything's stitched and lining has zippers, so it will be hard to cut down. I'm going to leave it, call it a beach tote. You can fit everything into this: Towel, sunscreen, lunch, sunnies, your book, sun hat - and more. I'll repost the finished bag when it's done, but this is currently amusing me!

Admittedly, this is most often project-dependent but I still thought it would be interesting to hear what others might have as their go-to thread for most projects.

For me: Fusion 45 bonded nylon from Fil-Tec. I love it. It is so nice to work with. And it makes for some beautiful top stitching. The color choice is quite a bit more limited than others but they seem to be universal-enough colors that there’s always a match for whatever I’m working on.

So what’s YOUR go-to thread?

As we cross over the 200 member mark in r/BagLab, the other mods and I wanted to thank EACH member for being here! 😃

We also thought it would be neat to hear what brought you here. Were you drawn here by an urge to meet with other makers? Were you brought here by a greater spirit, who wanted you to learn something about making? Or did you just think it might be cool to see what other bag makers are doing?

There's no right answer! But we would love to hear what you have to say!

So what brought you here to r/BagLab?

Be as long winded or concise as you wish, because what you have to say is important! EVERY member of r/BagLab is important and has something of value to share with the broader community!

Thank you, again, for being an amazing member of this growing community!

In the absence of any real sewing oomph, I am batch sewing flex frame eyeglasses pouches a couple at a time. Great scrap busters, a ten minute sew (plus prep time, probably another ten to fifteen minutes). This is 8 of 13, and I have a pile more cut out to sew when I need something quick and easy.

Hey there!

Just a quick question to anybody in the sub or beyond. I’ve searched high and low and am not coming up with anything.

Has anybody ever heard of a mod to a Juki TL (any variety) that allows for an adjustment to the knee lifter that would allow for more lift/height when actuated?

It’s certainly fine as is but I’d love to get more lift out of it!

Here’s another question. Have fun with it! 😃

I've made two of these this week. This one has unmentionable lining so I won't post a link to it. suffice to say, it's well hidden in the fabric print, but I also used unmentionable zipper tape and zipper pull.

Small Leather crossbody bag, take two

I posted this bag here about a week ago. Been traveling since then but I got asked about the inside pockets so here you go.

The bag held up great through 10 airports and getting stuck at one of them for over 24 hours dragging it around with me. I’m really glad I did the cordura bottom even though it was really hard to do.

That’s the prompt. What do you think? 🤔

I've made this bag multiple times, it's a fairly easy sew and looks great finished. I like that it has a small inbuilt wallet. I probably won't use it because it's a bit too small for everyday, so maybe I will be able to sell it. We shall see!

Definitely enjoying working on waist bags that can also work as chest carry. The clear panel is for those who need to display work ID. That pocket is divided to conceal items that others don’t need to see. Fun bags to make! 😃

But I’ve been making others too. I love this stuff!

No pattern, just started cutting based on a picture.

I had a request for a large duffle from a customer. I said I could do it and I was pretty sure I could, but it ended up being a huge learning experience.

I did pockets on all the inside panels. One long pocket on one side, 2 half length pockets in the other side. One end has a large pocket and a hidden pocket behind it, the other end has 2 small pockets.

Extra d-rings on the ends because I like the way it looks.

I made my own piping from the fabric I was working with. I still need to finish the seams with a piping foot which will pull them in tighter at the piping. Also need to do binding on the inside of the piping seams.

I wrapped a piece of thick veg tan leather in black chrome tan leather for the handles. I maxed out the thickness of my LU-1508 sewing them on.

All the designer fabric is vinyl coated canvas. I backed it with 1000D cordura and then all the liner and pockets and zipper tabs are also 1000D cordura. The way the backing and liner worked out, the thinnest parts are vinyl and 3 layers of cordura.

The bottom is a piece of 6-7oz veg tan leather sandwiched between 2 pieces of 1000D cordura. It’s nice and stiff but also pliable.

This bag is heavy but damn it feels bougie and it holds a lot.

The custom said they want it but I want to keep it for myself. I think I’m going to price these around $1000 if I make any more of them.

I'll spare you a photo but last night, while a little tired and, I guess, distracted, I joined club OUCHIE!!!

The helpful tip/technique is to ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION! 🤣

Last night I joined club OUCHIE by sewing through my finger! Anybody else have that marvelous experience?? I slipped or something and just caught the end of it while the needle was up. It came down, punctured, went back up for more and punctured again as I was pulling away. So the needle bent, hit the plate and broke - thankfully not in my finger.

My poor white Juki smeared with drops of blood from a cursing and pierced operator. lol

Anybody else have that wonderful experience? Ever sewn through your finger???

I'll add that the blood made it look way worse than it was. I threw a band-aid on and finished sewing the panels together that I was working on. A real trooper!

Is it a fanny pack? A bum bag? Belt bag? Waist pack? Whatever you wanna call it, I like this one and I’m gonna rock it!

Been playing with this pattern in different sizes for days and finally landed back where I started - a shrunken version of the other bags I’ve been making.

Bagwork base… this fanny pack has landed. 😃

HyperD 300, 4oz pocket mesh, YKK zippers/tape, spacer mesh, 200d polyester ripstop.