The Sewing Machine Travel Bag is a pattern by Sew Sweetness.
You can find and purchase the Sewing Machine Travel Bag here,
This hack was inspired by the Owen Organizer by UhOh Creations
Supplies
- You will require additional fabric and strapping in the colour of your choice.
- Peltex or Decovil Heavy
- Shape Flex
Make The Handles
1. Cut the 2 pieces of fabric and Shape Flex for your Handles 1” longer than the width of
the Side Panel x 2”.
2. Fuse Shape Flex according to manufacturer's instructions.
3. Make a mark in the center of the Handle, all the way down, on both Handles.
4. Fold both long raw edges to meet the center line and give this a good press. Repeat
for remaining Handle.
5. Pin the Handle to the strapping. You will be placing the Handle so the raw edges of
the Handle are against the strapping. When pinned and sewn, the only raw edges seen
will be the short edges. Repeat for other Handle.
6. Topstitch both the Handles 1/8” along both long edges, on both Handles.
7. Place these to the side for now.
Alternative Way to Make the Handles
1. Cut the 2 pieces of fabric and Shape Flex for your Handles 1” longer than the width of
the Side Panel x 4-1/2”.
2. Fuse Shape Flex according to manufacturer's instructions.
Fold the Handles in half along the long edge and press. Open up and fold the raw
edges to the center and press. Refold everything and press again. You will have
created a piece of double fold bias tape. The Handle will measure 1” wide x 1” longer
than the width of the Side Panel.
3. Topstitch both the Handles 1/8” along both long edges, on both Handles.
4. Cut the strapping the same length as your Handle. It will be cut 1” wider than the Side
Panel.
5. Use a Bodkin or safety pin to insert the strapping into the Handle. This will hide the
strapping, instead of your Handle being double sided. The choice is yours.
6. Place these to the side for now.
Attach the Handles
7. Cut a piece of Peltex or Decovil Heavy 3” x the width of your Side Panel.
NOTE - If you’re making this bag for a machine that is not terribly heavy, you can use
Shape Flex , foam or Decovil Light, instead of Peltex or Decovil Heavy.
8. Fuse the Peltex or Decovil Heavy 1-1/2” down from the top edge.
9. Measure and make a mark, with an erasable marking tool, on the Handle that is 4”
over from the short raw edge. Repeat on the opposite side of the Handle and on the
remaining Handle.
10. Pin the completed Handle , 2-½” down from the top edge, lining up the Handle raw
edge with the Side Panel raw edge. Repeat this for the remaining Side Panel and
Handle.
11. Sew the Handle, starting at the raw edge, sew across, directly on top of your
topstitching stitches, until you hit the mark you made in Step 9, sew down that line and
back across to the side. Don’t forget to backstitch.
*You can sew across the line made in Step 9 a few times for extra security.
12. Repeat for the opposite side and remaining Side Panel and Handle.
13. Fuse a piece of Shape Flex over your stitches for extra security.
Finish the Bag
14. Finish the bag as per Sara’s instructions.
Side Handle Hack on Tara Sinclair of UhOh Creations Sewing Machine Travel Bag.
Extras and Tips
1. If you want your Handle to have a bigger gap for your hand, you can cut the Handle
and strapping 1-1/2” longer than the Side Panel.
2. You can add rivets or Chicago Screws to your Handle, but these would purely be for
decorative purposes. You won’t want these to be used to hold the strap as the weight of
your machine will be too heavy for just rivets or Chicago Screws.
3. You can add ribbon, from Renaissance Ribbons to your Handle, as I have, for
decorative purposes.
4. Instead of making one half of your Handle with fabric, you can sew 2 pieces of
strapping together. Try using 2 contrasting colours, as Tara did for her Handles, for a
different look.
5. Sew Sweetness has a video tutorial for making your Handles double sided, you can
find that here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp1Rxc4WlKo&t=97s This will help
explain my instructions above.
6. You can make the Luggage Sleeve on this bag, into a Pocket, using my hack,
‘Luggage Sleeve into a Pocket Hack’. You can find this in the ‘Pattern Hacks’ section of
my Blog.
IMPORTANT - Please use caution when lifting your Sewing Machine Travel Bag
with the Handles. Michelle Graham will not be responsible for any damages to
your machine or injuries, from dropping, falling, etc while using the Handles.
Making and using these Handles, is at your own discretion.
When posting on Social Media, use the hashtags
Download and print the PDF file for this hack here,
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