I finished the Heart Bag over Memorial Day weekend, but since I am friends with people who know the recipient, I decided not to post about it until it had been given. Also, I found out that DH reads my posts. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was. He read the last post on this Heart Bag and questioned me (not in a bad way) about my whining. I had to explain that I was tired and things went much better after I recovered more from the NSGW Grand Parlor. There is a fine line between wanting desperately to sew and being too tired to sew.
So, the bag is finished and I am pleased with the way it came out. The ShapeFlex interfacing gives the bag some structure, which I like, though it can still be folded for easier storage. I love that stuff!
I think I felt especially bad about that twisted strap, because I made an effort to ensure it wasn’t twisted when I first sewed it on. I felt like a gremlin had snuck into my workroom and twisted it while I was looking away just to be mean and frustrate me.
I thought about leaving it, but didn’t feel right so I ripped it out (good time to focus on podcasts!) and now it is not twisted.
The pattern calls for the edging to be topstitched, so I used a heart decorative stitch. I like the heart stitch on my Janome 9000, but you know that story. The stitch on the DC5100 is much more substantial. The machine goes over the stitches a few times each. Not all of them came out perfectly, especially around the straps, but matters of the heart are never perfect.
I really like that heart batik. It has a good hand, doesn’t fray and the heart motif is not kitschy. I have a bit more left and am said to use it up, but it has been hanging around for awhile so it is good to use it.
I have to do something better about the pockets on this bag. I always do them wrong, though wrong is relative since they still work. I just don’t do them according to the pattern and I think I need to add more of them. There is always next time.