Welcome to Day 1 of the Hey Mercedes Sewalong! Feel free to check outthis post for details about a deal on getting the Windy City Bags book for the pattern.  For my Canadian readers, you may want to try Indigo or Connecting Threads, which both offer free Canadian shipping with minimum purchase

If you’re new to sewalongs, you might be wondering what exactly a sewalong is. Basically, it’s like sewing with friends, all doing the same project, except you’re sewing at home and checking in online. What makes it fun is when everyone shares their progress and of course, the finished projects. Oh, and I can’t forget to mention the awesome prizes! Look for details on how to enter for prizes at the bottom of this post.
Here’s what the sewalong will look like over the next few days:

• Day 1 (that’s today): Preparing the pattern, cutting the fabric and interfacing, and fusing the interfacing
• Day 2: Sewing handles and handle connectors, and creating pockets
• Day 3: Final assembly of bag

Since this pattern is included in the pullout section of the Windy City Bags book, you won’t want to cut out the original paper pattern. You have several options:

• Take the pattern to your local office store and have the pattern copied
• Use your own home copier to copy the sections of the pattern you’ll need
• Trace the pattern onto tissue paper or tracing paper (this may be the simplest/cheapest option)
• Trace the pattern onto quilter’s templates (this is the option I chose)

I taped a couple template sheets together to get my piece long enough, and they’ll fold where I taped for easy storage. I used a permanent marker to copy the placement marks and the cutting instrcutions right on my templates. The other advantage to the clear templates, is that it helps to visualize pattern placement for fussy cutting.

For the supplies, I’ve used quilting cotton, shapeflex 101, and Pellon Flex Foam for the foam interfacing.  If you want to learn more about selecting interfacing, I suggest taking Sara Lawson’s Craftsy class, you can learn more about it in my review of the class.  If you have a really special fabric you want to display, you’ll really only need enough for the front pocket piece, and then the rest of the exterior could coordinate with it.

I often write myself a list of what to cut from each material, but the book already has it laid out in that format, so I just followed along straight from the book. Once you’re done, go through the list one last time to make sure you’ve got everything. For cutting, I like to start with my interfacing. For this bag, the lining is all interfaced with shapeflex, so I cut my interfacing first, then fused it to my lining fabric, and then cut out my lining fabric – this helps save a bit of time by not having to trace the pattern onto my lining fabric. Make sure to cut on the fold. Some other people save cutting time by simply interfacing the entire yardage of the lining fabric, and then tracing and cutting both together; this option does save time, but it isn’t a very frugal method. You can also use the interfaced lining fabric as your pattern piece for when you cut the foam – this way you don’t have to fold the foam in half and it allows for more accurate cuts. For my exterior fabric, I used my clear templates, and this helped me visualize the design of my exterior fabric so I could have it just where I wanted.

When I cut the handle extenders, I used the method suggested in the book, and folded the interfacing so I could cut and trace a mirror image set at once. I just pinned the folded interfacing, then traced and cut. I cut the interfacing, and fused it to my accent fabric, just like I did with my lining fabric, to skip the step of tracing the handle extender pieces onto the accent fabric.

If you like, you can secure the foam interfacing to the exterior fabric at this point. I find the Flex Foam, similar to the Soft and Stable, has a nap to it, so the fabric stays in place quite well. To secure the foam to the fabric, simply sew a basting stitch with 1/8″ seam allowance along all the edges. If you used fusible fleece, then you’ll want to fuse at this point instead of the basting stitch.

I highly recommend following the book’s suggestion and cutting the pocket trim on the bias, instead of a straight grain cut. It’s a small piece, so won’t “waste” a lot of fabric cutting on the bias. We’ll be using this piece on a curve, so the bias cut will allow us to place the trim along the curve nicely.

Once everything is cut and fused/basted, place it in a pretty pile and gather your matching hardware, thread, and zippers, and come back here for Day 2 of the sewalong to get started with pockets and handles.

My awesome sponsor, Sitka Fabrics, is offering up a $10 gift certificate and a $25 gift certificate. Aurifil has also sent me some thread sets for prizes. There will be one “top prize” of one thread set and a $25 Sitka Fabrics gift certificate, and 3 random prize winners to receive the remaining 3 prizes: one winner of the $10 Sitka Fabrics credit, and two winners who will each receive an Aurifil thread set.

To be eligible to win a prize, use #HeyMercedesSAL on Instagram to post a picture of your completed bag. You can also use this hashtag to share your progress – it’s so fun to see what everyone is up to. Just make sure your account isn’t private, otherwise I won’t be able to see your pictures. If you prefer, you can send me a picture of your completed bag; just upload it through my contact page. You have until March 31, 2016 to complete your Hey Mercedes bag for the contest. Contest open internationally.