The Ultimate Carry all bag by Quiltessa

Part Two

I decided to have a test go at making the middle small pocket ( with the mesh pocket at the front of the first inside pocket). Instead of mesh fabric I used a thin brocade with a thin lining fabric.

I noticed that the brocade pocket was a fair bit longer than the width of the pocket it was supposed to go on, and knew it was somehow gathered. I was using cotton bias binding at the top and bottom.

Firstly, I hand gathered the top part. This didn’t work because there wasn’t enough ‘give’ to it and it, so it was a ‘fail’.

I then had the bright idea to use a thin elastic through a small hem I made at the top,( pushing through the elastic after I had sewn the channel for it). That worked ok.

I then made a few gathers at the bottom into the length of the binding, which was a bit fiddly but that worked too.

Next was to tackle the way Natalie puts her zips in. I watched the video again ( which she shows in episode 4 here):

https://youtu.be/-1HhtADBsNE

I watched slowly, pausing after each part, and finally managed to get a zip in. It wasn’t brilliant, but it did the job.

Here are the steps I took, and the finished middle part of the pocket: