Quilting Arts TV – Preparation

My preparation for the QA TV episode involved creating a series of ’step outs’ that would demonstrate the construction of the tote bag without sewing every step on camera.

This ended up being a little trickier than I originally thought. First, it takes a LOT of fabric to create a tote bag in every phase of construction. I received a very generous box of fabrics from Windham but I started to run out so I had to scheme on the best way to use what I had.

Since I wouldn’t be sewing every step of the process real time I also had to make some decisions about where to leave off with each step out. Until I was actually on the set, I didn’t quite grasp how short the segment actually was and how little real time sewing gets done on camera.

First step was highlighting the selection of fabrics. My pattern uses 5 fat quarters plus fabric for the lining and the straps.

This was the first official ’step out’. It shows how to layer the pocket onto the middle panel followed by sewing on the side panels. I took this through to this stage knowing that if we wanted to show any of the individual steps to get here I could use the fabrics shown in the fabric selection step.

The next construction step was creating and attaching the handles. I created three samples from bottom to top that showed: 1) sewing strips together to make a longer strip that gets backed with interfacing, 2) folding the strip in half and sewing the seam and 3) the strap after it’s turned inside out.

OK, now this was a confusing step for me. I prepared this step out only through sewing down one end of the strap. After walking through my demo with Helen Gregory we agreed that it made more sense to go ahead and sew down the other end of the strap and only sew the bottom of the bag to the upper panel on set.  We just explained how those straps were sewn down instead of actually doing it live.

I was very glad at this point that I’d been conservative on how far to sew into this sample leaving some options open. Of course, I also brought along my seam ripper just in case !

I had the lining sewn up on the sides and the boxed corners marked. We sewed one of the boxed corners live and trimmed it on camera. The other was just left and the demo proceeded without finishing that corner off.

This step out was changed the most. I brought it with only the bottom sewn to both side panels. I had run out of fabric at this point otherwise I would have created another step out that looked just like this one. Once again, after going through my steps with Helen, we decided it would work best to sew up the side seams, box the corners and turn it inside out.

By doing that we were able to go right into showing how to attach the lining to the exterior:

I didn’t come to the conclusion that my step outs needed some work until later in the morning. As I watched each episode before me I started to get that little feeling in the pit of my stomach that my sequence would really only support 1 or 2 trips to the sewing machine which meant some of the step outs would need a few more seams sewn on them. At that point I brought up my concerns to Helen and Pokey (who of course has a million things going on!)

I was sweating as I finished each step out in the Green Room on a new machine I’d never sewn on before. The Bernina representative was so amazingly helpful and supportive, she got the bobbin wound and the machine threaded (I did bring thread to match my project) and I got the task done quickly. I got the feeling everyone else was probably sweating a bit too that I was sewing things last minute on a sewing machine I’d never used before but they never let on!

I’m so glad I listened to my own intuition on this. As soon as Helen heard my concerns she immediately knew what I was talking about and gave me excellent advice. Ultimately the changes we made were spot on perfect and the demonstration on air went very smoothly.

This was the final ’step out’. It was also the finished tote. I left one section of the handles loose. We could either sew this down or use it for illustration, the latter option was used. From the other side the tote looked finished and provided that finished sample.

I had so much fun doing this part of it. Figuring out the best way to show the steps and determining which parts of the construction were worthy of being demonstrated. I based that on the parts I thought were the trickiest and things that maybe taught a new skill too or was something you don’t always see on a bag.

The instructions for the bag will be up on the Quilting Arts TV website for free when the show airs (they have lots of free projects already on the website from previous seasons, you need to register to get access). It originally appeared in Quilt Scene (a special Quilting Arts publication that came out in Fall 2009).

I fell in love with Bari J.’s Full Bloom collection all over again! Lovely, lovely, lovely.

pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale