A Handle tip

Wow it's been a while since I posted last! My parents have been in town and we've been busy playing. When I was mass producing bags for the last Craft fair I learned something I'd thought I'd share. When you look at a bag like this it seems like the handles would be the easiest part to make. But turning the handles inside out after you've sewn them is tedious and sometimes downright frustrating. Especially if you are using heavy fabric or have added a thick stabilizer like you are supposed to. Anyway, I figured out that if you turn the handles outside in, instead of inside out, turning handles becomes super easy. All you need is a Safety pin! Here's how to do it. Generally the handles I make are made up of two pieces of fabric, sewn right sides together with a stabilizer attached to the back side of one of them. This trick would work just as well you were using one piece of fabric folded in half and sewn up the side. To turn the handle attach a safety pin to one side like this. In this picture I've left one fabric a little longer than the other so it's easier to see.
Next, take a safety pin and shove it down the center of the handle. Getting started is the hardest part but you can do it!
Continue to work the safety pin through the handle straightening out the bunches as you go. Pretty soon the pin will be out the other side and you'll be done. I seriously wish I had figured this out sooner, it is so much faster. No more shoving with a stick or pinching and pulling with pliers, all you need is a safety pin to quickly turn your handles. In other, not as exciting, news. My brand new serger broke the week before Easter and I didn't get to sew up the skirt I was planning for Mer. The company happily took it back fixed it and returned it quickly. I got yesterday and started sewing on it again today. After 2o minutes of blissful serging there is now a metal scraping sound coming out of it. Talk about frustrating!!

1 comment:

  1. Great tip, Sarah! I'll definitely use this before long. :)

    I'm sorry to hear about your serger- it's shocking that it needed a repair so soon, and now it's acting up again?! Not cool. :(

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