17/04/2024
The chonky boys[^1] I had been making the previous pouches from are fairly light fabric. The red one in particular was very see-through (I've just called my mom and she tells me this is a 'loose weave'). I wanted to make a sturdier pouch. Some to hold an industrial amount of coins!
Well, surely two layers of fabric will sort that out!
The first thing I should mention is that this pouch was way smaller than I expected. In fact, it won't all these dice will not in this bag. It's tiny. A push to put half of these dice in.
The teal fabric is used on Pouch 2, and it's been paired with some much heavier fabric.
Mom's advice was to make my two circles of the same size, put them "pretty sides" together. This means that I'll only be seeing the invisible parts of the bag. Then stitch around the perimeter, joining them together. But not the whole way! I had to leave a couple inches of space to pull the bag inside-out later on.
This needed a whole new technique for me: sewing! I was working on this in the Hackspace and a new friend suggested using the sewing machines. They just let anyone use them! I did not, because I'm a responsible adult who knows to not use terrifying machines whilst uneducated.
So, I called my mom and got some tips ("you should just use the sewing machine if there is one"). This involved two kinds of stitches. A very simple in-and-out stitch. (I like look up the name at some point.) Then, pull the bag through the hole. All the stitching gets hidden!
Except that gnarly hole. For this, I was told to do a ladder stitch. I failed badly at this, so there's a part of this pouch that is a bit Frankenstein's monster-y. It should all stay together though.
Finally, the drawstring! I wanted a big, chonky thread here, which I bought from a craft shop in Nottingham (the one on Queen Street). This can't be threaded through with a needle. In bookbinding, I use an awl for this. but that doesn't really work well for this: I need a hole. Another new friend at the Hackspace pointed to the correct tool. There are fabric hole punches! Just a tool with a sharp circle of metal at the end that you hit with a hammer. Brilliant! Very masc.
Now, the issue here is that these holes are gnarly as heck. Very rough. I'll need to look into improving this. (Something something eyelets?)
Step by step:
1. Cut out two circles in your fabric. I used a sandwich plate, which is much too small.
2. Put them face-to-face. (This might be printed side touching printed side, if you have printed fabric.)
3. Stitch around the edge, about a centimetre from the perimeter. Leave maybe a six centimetres gap.
4. Pull the inside of the fabric through the hole. Use a blunt tool (knitting needle?) to push out the insides.
5. Use a ladder stitch to finish off that hole. (Or any stitch you can manage.)
6. Use a hole punch tool to make holes for drawstring.
7. Thread drawstring through. I had to push it through using a knitting needle.
8. Hold the two string ends in one hand and pull the fabric away. You made a pouch!
Destination of this pouch: No where really. It's too small. You can have it if you like!
Life expectancy: Pretty good, I think! The limiting factor of this pouch is its size; it's much too small.
[^1]: I've feel told that these are called "fat quarters". I prefer "chonky boy".