I started the Pear Oxbow the other day. This is a gift for an acquaintance that has been helping me with some issues in the family.
The colors are out of the ordinary for me, but a good challenge.
I have most of the pieces cut out and am working on the prep. Most of the interfacing is finished, though I haven’t done anything about the reinforced bottom. I chose to use some of the lavender quilted vinyl I bought from Sew Hungry Hippie. Usually it needs to be quilted, but I don’t want to interfere with the diamond vinyl pattern. I am thinking of either sewing some foam around the edge or using the Sewfisive self-adhesive stabilizer from Sewfisticated. I am leaning towards the latter. I haven’t decided yet, so I haven’t done anything.
I have made the shoulder strap. I am not sure how I feel about it. It is VERY thick. This means I didn’t need padding and the strap will not ‘self adjust’. It also means that is hard to adjust. The quilted vinyl doesn’t fray, but the raw edges are showing and that makes me a little uncomfortable. Maybe it will be considered BoHo?
I am also working on reinforcing the strap holders. On the first Oxbow I just sewed the strap holders into the side seam. I plan to do the same, but with a little extra fabric so I can reinforce the strap holder and not have all the weight of the bag on the side seam. SueS and I went back and forth about it. She was kind enough to share pictures of what she did so I could consider my options.
The idea is that there would be a seam next to the triangle. Then there would be enough strap holder so some would be on the inside of the bag (between lining and exterior) and some would be on the outside of the bag. I would reinforce it using a stitched box like normal and then rivet through the two layers of strap holder and the exterior of the bag. My paper test strap holder is in a mid iteration in the photo as I think I decided that that fabric (in paper above) needed to be folded in the other direction. I haven’t sewn anything yet.
Sometimes I think of things and then I realize why it isn’t included in the pattern as it is very difficult to describe. I am having fun trying to make the solution work.
Other prep is the zipper, which I had to order in the right color, making the interior pocket, and making the handles. I am in some stage of making all of these. Yes, I have been jumping around. Once they are all prepared, then I can start sewing the bag together.
SueS reminded me that Noodlehead has some videos I can look at.