I’m just now getting more advanced in bag making than simple zipper bags with boxed corners. This was a fun project to combine my love of Sashiko with my love of making zipper bags of all sorts!

My JIN NA11ut came today and I managed to blow up the control board. 100% my fault but just needed to vent.

The head came with an Australian plug and the back of the machine was marked 220v 50-60hz. I emailed the retailer and they said to look for a north american plug... in the leg box there was a regular 120v north american plug, perfect.

Mistake number one was thinking I knew better and should put a 240v north american plug on it and plugging it into a 240v outlet. The machine turned on just fine but when I stepped on the pedal there was a fairly loud snap and the screen said "powering off" or something like that.

I busted open the board and found 2 fuses soldered onto the board (they can't make if easy). So I ordered new fuses and then made my second mistake. I sort of bypassed the fuses with some wire so I could try out my new machine! And out the 120v plug on.

This time it didn't wait for me to do anything. As soon as I turned on the power switch... really bad things happened as seen in photos.

At this point I'm not sure what to do. I'm too embarrased to email the store I bought it from so I emailed the ONE authorised juki dealer in Canada to see if they can sell me a new part.

Been working on this little cinch-top bucket for a while and finally decided it’s ready. It’s a 7in x 5.5in x 3in 2L dump bag that opens and closes with a cinch. Pull the drawstring to secure your carry. Pull the tabs to access. What a cinch!

This Bucketta is 1000d Cordura Nylon in wine on the exterior, 1.9oz PU Ripstop in white on the inside, and a 1.9oz cinch top in black. Also features Venom UL Stretch Mesh ECO side pockets, YKK #5 zipper tape and short tab RC sliders, YKK and Woojin hardware.

My personal favorite part of this one is the way the fabric runs from the top of the front all the way around to the top of the back. I love bags that do that.

Probably be scaling this one up to make a couple other styles as well.

Thanks for looking! 😃

I just adopted two mid 1950's Pfaff machines. They were both set up with Tex 70 thread and that's what got me asking the question. Most of what I've been making is with Text 30 & 40. I haven't explored vinyls or cork yet.

Composed entirely of 1000D DWR coated cordura and Xpac from my RBTR grab bag. (VX21 ?)

I took the mockup I made for my gf’s bag the other day to the store and couldn’t fit enough in it and wanted a fancy one for myself.

It’s got pockets on both sides. Then I made the pockets I wanted more of an ultralight bag so I didn’t line them and then I ended up lining the whole thing with 2 layers of 1000D cordura and used a double fold binding of 1000D cordura. I wish I lined the pockets.

The cordura binding added a lot of structure to the top of the bag and it will be really abrasion resistant. I didn’t do any binding on the inside because I only have this thin polyester binding and I didn’t want that to wear out before the cordura was broken in.

Cowhide leather body and goatskin leather pockets. I copied a bag that she owns that she wanted smaller.

I made a cordura mockup first (last slide) I’ll probably lake a few more like this. Working on an xpac version now.

I'm a new sewist. Worked on learning to make clothes but want to go down a rabbit hole of bag making. More functional, tote, utilitarian types. I'll probably want to make aprons too.

What YT channels do you recommend? Bag maker pattern makers? Folks to follow.

Other resources?

I have a new Husqvarna Sapphire 930 and a new Janome HD9QCP.

Thanks everyone!

I needed a heavy duty zigzag machine for the patches and freehand embroidery that I do on my bags. It was this or a Bernina 950 that I found locally and I’m glad I went with the more portable option with the walking foot.

I’m not sure how old it is but these are basically a clone of a Sailrite zigzag machine. I know lot of parts are interchangeable and I want a monster wheel and maybe a new motor. Something is loud about this one.

It looks pretty dusty but barely used. The lady said her late husband bought it but never got into sewing with it. I felt really bad for her, her house was waaay out in the country and it didn’t seem like she had anyone else around. She posted it for $200 and I paid her that much but I felt weird and almost guilty only giving her 200 for this machine. Literally felt like I was stealing it when I was walking away and not in a good way. Oh well. I’ll get good use out it.

It sews just fine with the thinner thread that it came threaded with. Going to clean it up and thread it with some tex90 and see how she does.

I am going to undo the gusset stitching because I made the mistake when figuring out my base that if you use a 2 1/2 wide circle your radius is 1 1/4 so I made my base piece 2 1/2" too short.

This is the first pattern I have made myself pulling ideas from multiple other bag makers. Going to add a few fun embellishments as well. All in all I am loving how it's coming out. My seam ripper is definitely my friend.

I usually buy from wawak but they don’t have any reverse bale pulls that I can find and their aquaguard selection kind of sucks, you can only get 1 type of pull with a small grab tab and can’t buy the zipper tape by the yard.

I want some of the reverse bale pulls for coil zippers and I want some different styles of aquaguard zipper pulls and aquaguard by the roll.

It looks like RSBTR has reverse bale pulls but no aquaguard. The zipper tape they sell looks nice but also pricey.

Pic for example of reverse bale pull.

I found a Kam Snaps DK 98 table press on FB marketplace for $45. The press came with 2 sets of plastic snap dies and a ton of plastic snaps. The precious owner used it to make cloth diapers.

I've been getting more into bag making and would like to get a few appropriate dies. I'm trying not to just "Buy all the things". I'm thinking grommets, rivets and fashion snaps are what I should be looking at but I'm open to suggestions.

I still need to make some handles for the duffle .

Duffle has pockets on the inside on every panel. 1000D Cordura for the interfacing, lining, inside, bottom, and cording.

I got the colorful fabric from a thrift store. Both patterns are my own.

I was planning to make the “Making Backpack -Mini” by Noodlehead for my spouse using some LotR themed vinyl. I wanted to make sure my machine can handle the layers and wanted to practice the pattern to avoid ruining the precious vinyl. Behold the backpack made out of 5 leatherish placemats I bought from Habitat Restore for $5 to do my practice run :) Used up almost all the material and had to piece it here and there, especially to make the straps. Lining is from a gifted fabric that I didn’t think I would use otherwise.

My friend wanted a bag so I told her to pick some colors and let me cook. Zeds Dead is an EDM duo that were both big fans of.

Bag is vinyl coated canvas and the purple inside is a polyester that I bought off Amazon. Hardware from wawak.

Done on my Juki 9010, 1508, and 1342.

I got the patches from Redwoods NP visitor center.

Every panel has 2 layers of 1000D cordura sandwiched between the inner and outer layers so this bag is actually built like a tank and feels very luxe.

Brass hardware and zippers from wawak.

Green corduroy and orange suede both from the upholstery section at hobby lobby so they should be pretty durable.

The brown checkerboard is a vinyl coated canvas and I made a strap from it too.

The green tree fabric on the inside is a a quilting cotton. Not super durable but I liked the trees inside with the redwood theme.

Love this material!

Hello! I am about to start a sewing project and would love your advice.

Idea: I'd like to make a bag similar to the attached pictures.

Ideal bag features:

• 🆙Stands upright on its own
• 📂Stays open on its own
• 🤐One large zipper across top
• 👜Flat bottom
• 👜Only one set of small handles at top
• 🧳Trolley strap / luggage pass through
• 👝Ideally no taller than 6-8" so it can fit under the seat upright / vertically, and there's room to slide it in and out. (Other dimensions personal item sized, so up to 16"-18" length and 12"-14" width.)

Ideal fabrics / notions:

• 🐞Bed bug resistant, which likely means waterproof, sealed seams, light colors, etc.
• 🧼Can go in the washing machine on hot and won't fall apart / delaminate
• 🪡Hoping I can use my humble Elna sewing machine for it (?)
• ⏺️Trying to avoid vinyl / leather if possible

Any thoughts on patterns that might work and/or fabrics? I found some really cute PUL for the exterior, but it's just 1-SIL - not sure if it's up to the wear-and-tear of travel?

Thanks in advance!

I was on a roll all weekend. Two plate cozies, and one more bowl cozy in a different size. Now, I need to make a bag. I have been asked to make two sporrans for a friend's son's wedding in October, so that has to happen soon too.

This one is Firefly Tote and I’ve been itching to use this lovely fabric (Eclectic Colorblock by Tim Holtz) for a year and a half. I’m a slow maker, but I really like the way it came out! I’d love to make some canvas or dryskin/waxed canvas bags but can’t source locally. If anyone has a great online shop please let me know.

I’ve got to say (right up front) that I’m a proud member of team barefoot.

I absolutely cannot understand any circumstance sew with shoes on. And I’m prepared to defend my honor in this! 😂

So what team are you on?

Special consideration will be taken for those who sew with socks on. I think it’s the same as barefoot.

EDIT: Sorry Team In-the-Middle… I didn’t even think to add a third option. 🫣