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.
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.