Handbag Straps Tutorial

I received a request on how I do the straps on my handbags, so here is a tutorial on my method. This is my current method of doing them but not the only one I have used.

All of the photos below were taken while making a set of straps for a recent bag and while the fabrics look slightly different in some photos, they are indeed the same. Different lighting and my camera sometimes alters the colors on me.

Tab Connectors

Materials:

• Heavyweight stabilizer, cut 4 pieces 7/8" x 3" (I am using Stiffy by www.longcreekmills.com) (Pellon Peltex is another option)
• Four 1" D-rings
• Fabric with fusible web applied to wrong side (I use Mistyfuse fusible web), cut 4 pieces 2 3/4" x 3 3/4"

Center the stabilizer on the wrong side of a fabric piece.

Fold the left and right side over and press with your iron to fuse in place.

Fold up the bottom side and press with your iron.

Fold the remaining side and press. Repeat with the remaining pieces.

Fold the fabric covered stabilizer in half and place through a D-ring.

Using the zipper foot on your sewing machine, sew across the fabric just below the D-ring. Don't sew too tightly against the D-ring as you want the D-ring to have some wiggle room.

Apply the connector tabs to the handbag.  I mark on my bag where the tabs go and then align the tab to that mark. Place the tab over the edge of the bag with one side of the tab on the inside of the bag and the other side of the tab on the outside of the bag. The tab straddles the edge of the bag. 

I usually push the tab so it is as far down along the edge of bag as it will go. Clip or pin in place.

Sew the tab to the bag body. I use my zipper foot for this step but you don't have to (stitching on the right side of the foot).

I then sew another line of stitching near the bottom of the tab still using my zipper foot but moving my needle position to the opposite side (stitching on the left side of the foot).

Repeat with the remaining tabs, two tabs per bag side. At this point the tabs are done but I usually add a little bling with a rivet. This is optional. Set the bag aside for now.

Straps

Materials

• Fabric, cut two strips 3 1/2" x 24"
• 1" wide Polypro webbing strap (or similar strap material), cut two 22" (color doesn't matter as it won't show)

A note of caution: if you are using Polypro, polyester, or nylon strap material, be sure to use caution when ironing around it as it will melt if your iron is set too high.

Mark a line along one long edge of both fabric strips, 3/4" from the edge on the wrong side. I use an air fading purple fabric marker.

Fold over the raw edge to meet the line and press to form a 3/8" hem.

Place the webbing strap on the wrong side of the fabric, on the edge opposite the hem, centered between the two ends.

Fold the ends over and pin.

Stitch the webbing to the fabric using a 1/4" seam allowance, keeping the edges aligned and the ends folded over.

Fold the strap over as shown in the following photo. I sometimes use a fabric glue stick and run a line of glue along the webbing (before folding it over) to hold it in place on the fabric. You want to be sure the fabric and strap are nice and tight with no loose areas.

Fold the remaining edge of fabric over and pin or glue to hold in place.  The hem you pressed in the first step should be right at or near the edge of the strap.

Topstitch around the entire strap. Do this with both straps.

Place one strap end through the D-ring on your bag.

Fold the strap end and pin or clip. I fold my straps at a one-inch measurement.

I forgot to take a photo of when I was stitching the strap end, but I again use my zipper foot and stitch along the end of the strap to secure, usually right along the same stitching line where it is topstitched.

Take the other strap end and place through the D-ring on the same side of the bag. Measure a one-inch fold and sew the end to secure. Repeat with the remaining strap on the other side of the bag.

And with that, I have a completed handbag.

If you don't wish to use Polypro strap material, you can create your straps using the double fold method and use a stabilizer/interfacing of your choice to add body to your strap.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments. 

Snow Dyeing with Rubber Band Resist Tutorial

I've finally prepared a tutorial for you on how I do my snow dyed fabrics. I did not invent this fun way of dyeing. Many many other fabric dyers have done this before me and for some reason I am just this year jumping on board with this fun technique.

There are many ways you can approach snow dyeing and this is just how I have found that I most enjoy doing it. The fabric can be manipulated many different ways to achieve a wide range of results.

Please note: I do not go into the basics of working with fiber reactive dyes in this tutorial. If you have never used fiber reactive dyes before, you should search the Internet for tutorials, classes, or books on how to safely and correctly work with these dyes.

The equipment I use for my snow dyed fabrics are in the following two photos. The containers/trays I use have sides on them so that any melting snow/dye will pool in the bottom and not slosh out the sides. I elevate my fabric off the bottom of the container as I don't want the fabric to sit in the melted snow. If you don't have a grid or something that the snow will melt through, you can place a smaller container inside the larger container with the smaller one flipped upside down. The grid shown here is cut up pieces from a piece of gridded ceiling tile. I found it at my local home improvement center. I have about three layers of the grid in the bottom of the container, as one layer was not allowing enough clearance.

I use cotton PFD fabric and small elastic bands. My fabric is usually cut at half yard sizes.

I start in the center of the fabric by pinching up a portion between my thumb and forefinger. Varying the size of this pinched section will result in larger or smaller rings on your finished fabric. 

I give the pinched section of fabric a slight twist and then start winding the elastic band on. For the bands I'm using, I think I wind about 6 to 8 times until the band is tightly wound. You want the band to be tight so that the fabric dye cannot penetrate that area when the snow/dyes are melting on the fabric.

Move to an area near the first banded section and create another. You can space these any distance you like.

Continue banding the fabric working outward from the center.

Here is my half yard of fabric, completely banded and ready. Once all the elastic bands are on I put this into my bucket of soda ash mixture and let it soak for about 20 to 30 minutes.

Take the banded fabric piece out of the soda ash mixture and squeeze as much of the fluid out of the fabric that you can. I squeeze it right over my soda ash bucket so it goes back in and can be used again.

I place the banded fabric on the grid and arrange it so it is somewhat flat and not hanging over the edges of the grid.

Snow that is wet works the best. If you can make a snowball and it holds together, that is good! I mound the snow on the fabric making sure that it is completely covered, edges and all. I try to mound it about 1.5 to 2 inches high.

I have my dyes premixed and in squeeze bottles. I use a concentrated dye mixture, 1 Tbsp. dye per half cup of water. I like to use two or three colors on one piece. I start by squeezing the first color of dye on the snow.

Then add the remaining color(s). Once all the dye is on the snow, I set the container aside until the snow has melted. I usually set my container near the wood burning stove so that it can get warm and melt faster. Even in the warm environment I put it in it can take around 3 hours for the snow to melt.

Here is what it looks like when the snow has melted.

I carefully lift the fabric out of the container and place it in a ziplock bag. I seal the bag and then place it in another container, in case of leaks. Then I place this near the warm wood stove again so that it can batch overnight. 

The next morning I rinse the fabric in cold water and start removing the elastic bands. Then I continue with the washing out process to remove the excess dye. Below is the finished piece from the tutorial. The dye colors I used were Aquamarine, Watermelon, and Pewter. These dyes are from Dharma Trading.

Here is another piece I worked on at the same time as the piece above. This one is a piece of cotton jersey fabric and the colors on it are Red Violet, Bahama Blue, and Pewter.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial.