The Sewing Place

Can you tell what it is?

Marniesews

Can you tell what it is?
« on: January 01, 2022, 04:02:16 AM »
Can you tell what it is?



Yes, a dopp kit (only came across the name about 6 months ago) but I meant the fabric. I was making it for my 15 year-old DGS so it had to be 'cool'. Definitely not from my ballroom stash nor the stuff for doll's clothes but I'll give you a clue - it's stretchy. Or it was before I interfaced the heck out of it. Probably the last thing most people would use it for...so, second clue, I bought it years ago for a mini skirt for my DGD which never got made.

I did think using this stretchy fabric might give me some problems but the truth is that was about the only thing that didn't. Only a basic item but I followed entirely the wrong YouTube tutorial. An interesting construction but really only suited for fabrics without too much depth and no interfacing. This had both plus medium woven interfacing and sew-in fleece! I just couldn't resist the pattern with one pattern piece not considering it meant there was no allowance for a tighter lining, badly needed with all that thickness.

The internal seams were bound, a new bag making experience so not spectacularly neat but acceptable. The baggy waterproof canvas lining, however, was a silent recrimination with every glimpse but the zip was an absolute nightmare and I was just glad I hadn't melted it with a home bodged adapted gadget like he did. With my luck I might have burned the house down! To add insult to injury that zip cost me £2.96 from Doughty's and was described as suitable for upholstery, duvet covers etc but it was actually fragile, scratchy and sticky with a mean temperament. I was practising how to tell him he had to press the front of the slider with his thumb, open it gently and move it slowly to stop it jamming an inch further along... but that was never going to work, was it?!

So he didn't get it for Christmas. :cry: I started to unpick it on Boxing Day and it took a long time to take it apart entirely without damage (that fabric!). I reused all the pieces except for the end tabs and that damned zip which got replaced with the only other blue one I had, a £1 #3 nylon zip from Little T's Haberdashery. Doesn't sound like a step up but it really was. Stronger, smoother and with excellent manners. I sewed it with as little waste as I could, trimmed the box corners as minimally as I could to realign them but forgot to put the pull tabs into the seams at the ends of the zip before I sewed them up. What the heck, I wasn't going back now! Instead I made a couple of handles to go from the vertical box seams still unsewn before I aligned all the internal seams of both outer and lining and overstitched them altogether. Bit of wriggle to get it turned out through the lining gap that I'd graded from 1/4" in the corners to 3/4" and back to reduce the bagginess.

   
Not too bad this time, do you know what it is yet?

Just a simple dopp kit but what a test. It's wrapped up now as well as some jumbo Biscoffs (just in case) and we're off to see them again on Sunday. Now I just have to hope that fabric is cool enough.  :\

Hopefully back more regularly! Ballroom sewing may be permanently paused but bag making is the current focus.

Acorn

Re: Can you tell what it is?
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2022, 06:33:57 AM »
I'm no judge of what is cool to a 15 year old boy, but that is a dopp kit (new one on me!) to be proud of!   :thumb:
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

realale

Re: Can you tell what it is?
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2022, 10:51:25 AM »
Looks really good to me.  :thumb:  But I'm not a 15 years old boy..... ;) Hope he likes it and appreciates the work that went in to it.
So many beers, so little time.

HenriettaMaria

Re: Can you tell what it is?
« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2022, 15:03:57 PM »
Never heard the term 'dopp kit' before, but Google has enlightened me -gents toiletry bag, and this one looks just the job.  My son uses a Clarins men's freebie bag (although I did make him a couple of pencil cases when he was at primary & early secondary school).

Esme866

Re: Can you tell what it is?
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2022, 20:21:31 PM »
Bag looks great! DGS should love it. "Dopp kit" doesn't sound completely foreign to me, so I must have run across it at some point. Definite improvement over the name that always comes to mind with me, as my Dad has used it my entire life: "ditty bag".

Maybe it's just me, but "ditty bag" has always sounded so terribly unmasculine for something so historically ingrained for usage by men. Dopp kit sounds better to my ears and now may even learn to reside in my brain and be retrievable information.

Marniesews

Re: Can you tell what it is?
« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2022, 02:47:02 AM »
OK. No-one's hazarding a guess about the fabric, don't really blame you. The item masks it I suspect. It's scuba.
Hopefully back more regularly! Ballroom sewing may be permanently paused but bag making is the current focus.

Diane

Re: Can you tell what it is?
« Reply #6 on: January 02, 2022, 06:44:55 AM »
Looks like textured neoprene to me
I’m a fabricholic on the road to recovery. Just kidding. I’m on the road to the fabric store.

Janome Memory Craft Horizon 9450QCP, Janome 4300QDC, Overlocker Brother 1034d, Husqvarna Viking Designer Topaz 40

Renegade Sewist

Re: Can you tell what it is?
« Reply #7 on: January 02, 2022, 06:55:55 AM »
Looks like textured neoprene to me
Hey Bill! Read the manual!  Hehehe.

SunnyWave

Re: Can you tell what it is?
« Reply #8 on: January 09, 2022, 07:41:23 AM »
Beautiful work! Wouldn't guess on the material, but looks really nice. Hope your boy loves it too.

Marniesews

Re: Can you tell what it is?
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2022, 11:15:15 AM »
Thank you @SunnyWave - he did, turns out that fabric is cool after all!  :)
Hopefully back more regularly! Ballroom sewing may be permanently paused but bag making is the current focus.

Sara-S

Re: Can you tell what it is?
« Reply #10 on: January 09, 2022, 11:45:44 AM »
Good to know he likes it.  It is quite handsome.
You can't scare me. I taught high school for 32 years.

sewmuchmore

Re: Can you tell what it is?
« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2022, 17:05:48 PM »
Aka scuba @Diane:thumb:

Sorry to knit pick but Scuba and Neoprene are 2 entirely different fabrics. Suba is a polyester double knitted with spandex/lycra and neoprene is a synthetic rubberised fabric. You wouldn't want a wetsuit made out of Suba.
It's not easy being this perfekt

Janet