Make It With Me - Wavy Top Tote: Finishing

Well, here we are. We're almost finished. And the rest is a breeze. So let's get going!

Sewing the Lining Together
1. Place your lining pieces right sides together. Sew across the bottom (1/4 inch seam allowance), leaving an 8 inch gap in the middle (this is for turning the bag later). Press.

2. Pin and stitch the sides of the lining (1/4 inch allowance). Tuck the zipper out of the way because it might want to involve itself in your sewing and we just can't have that. Press as best as you can.

3. Box the corners of the bag just as you did for the exterior.

Putting it All Together
1. Turn the exterior part of the bag right side out, and the lining inside out. Open the zipper all the way. Place the exterior part of the bag inside the lining (right sides should be facing).

2. Line up the top edges (the wavy parts and the side seams) and pin generously. You may need to tuck the zipper tabs down out of the way a bit.

3. Stitch all the way around, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Take your time around those curves!

4. Reach in through the gap we left in the lining, and pull everything right side out. Be gentle with it.

5. Push the lining down into the bag. Press the top edge nice and neat. I use pins here to keep everything just so. Topstitch 1/4 inch from the top edge, all the way around. The side seams are a little bulky and may try to sass you, but take your time and shove it through if you have to :)

6. Sew the gap in the lining closed (I use my machine but you can do this by hand to make it less noticeable). Then tuck everything down in the bag nice and neat.

Sew on the Shoulder Straps
1. Take one of your shoulder straps and feed it through your ring (just like we did for the loop straps that we sewed to the bag). Fold it down about 2 inches and pin. Note in the picture the direction it's folded.

2. Use the three lines of topstitching on the folded over part of the strap as a guide to sew the strap to itself. Sew towards the ring until you're about 3/4 inch away, then pivot and come across the strap, creating a box with your stitching for strength.

3. Press, press, and press. The whole thing. This makes a huge difference.

Put it over your shoulder and strut around. Get the neighbors and show them your new bag. Scream out the kitchen window "I made a wavy top bag!!" Or maybe have some tea and feel content with yourself, because we're done :)

We've made ourselves an inside zipper pocket...

...and created a suspension bridge zipper closure with pull tabs...

...inserted some purse feet and a nifty gridded bottom...

...and sewed ourselves one delightfully curvy bag :)

So that's it! I'd love to know what you think - the good and the not so good. It was a lot of work, but I actually really enjoyed doing this. Depending on what you think I'd like to do something similar in the future (but not the near future--between last week's giveaways and this week's technical writing, I need to get back to "look at this pretty fabric" posting for a bit :)  I've put a Flickr group together for this sew-along - I would LOVE it if you'd pop a picture or two of your bag in it.

UPDATE: Totally forgot to mention this part. I am more than happy for you to sell bags made from this pattern in your Etsy/Artfire/Folksy/etc. shop or at craft fairs, but you may not sell the pattern itself (I know - that's fairly obvious, but there are some who need that spelled out). Also - please play nice and give a mention where you got the pattern.

Thanks for sewing along!