Amy Butler Cameo Sew-a-long - Episode 3!

Welcome to Episode 3 of my project for the Amy Butler Cameo Sew-a-long!  You can catch up by checking out Episode 1 and Episode 2!

In today's episode...Bias Tape (inner scream of horror!) and putting things together!  I'm using the Reversible Bucket Bag (mine won't be reversible) pattern from The Bag Making Bible by Lisa Lam.

First up...Bias tape!

Another confession to be made here...I've never cut fabric on the bias before, nor made bias tape, and really wasn't feeling the whole "buy another tool" thing... so I did a bit of internet browsing...and kinda figured out what needed to be done!  (there was a bit of info in the book, but not necessarily enough for a true novice in the bias binding/tape arena).  I used this tutorial at Jaybird Quilts to get me going.

(and man was I nervous to actually cut into the fabric!).  And here is what I ended up with:

woohooo!  Success!  I used Julie's calculation (as explained in the tutorial) and was CONVINCED that I didn't have enough length once I got everything done...but sure enough...exactly PERFECT!  I had about 1-2" left over (you can see it in this pic):

once I got over the weird-o pinning and how awkward it all seemed...it went halfway decent! (and surprisingly...I will try it again!)

Then it was finally time to actually start putting together a bag!  Now...the instructions have been pretty good so far...and the exterior pieces went together WAYYY easier than I thought they would (the base piece went on really much easier than I could have imagined!).

The ONLY thing I wish had gone a little better is if I had remembered to make the pocket before I fused the fleece to the lining!

But it worked out in the end!  So now I have a bag exterior...

and a bag lining (with pockets!)...

up next...putting it together!  See ya soon with Episode 4!