Welcome back!  It’s been amazing to watch the progress on my Tag-Along tote.  If you’ve been following along then you know I’m entering this in the Stitched In Color Shelburne Falls Contest.  When we parted company on Day 3 this is how it looked.

Next up, pockets.

Hold This For Me

The Tag-Along pattern includes two pockets. One is fashioned from fabric and closed with a Velcro tab. The other is constructed from vinyl and has a zipper closure. The fabric pocket was just fine for me. The vinyl one, however, I thought wouldn’t work so well with my iPad or keyboard. I opted to replace the vinyl pocket with a second one of fabric.

Let’s begin assembling our inside pockets. The front side of my pockets was cut from the Dress Floral Lilac and the back side from the Circle Square Lilac. Fused to the wrong side (ws) of both pieces was a layer of light fusible interfacing. Both pockets as well as the Tag-Along itself are secured with a tab closure. The tab closures were cut from the Circle Square Lilac. They too had a layer of light fusible interfacing ironed on to the wrong side (ws).

Let’s Get Rid Of Those Wrinkles

As I mentioned on Day 3 my fusible interfacing was pulled from my ancient stash. It was riddled with folds making an accurate cut slightly challenging. Last night I laid out the pieces on my cutting board. Then I placed a heavy object on top.  I hoped that by morning some of the creases might have disappeared. When I lifted the heavy object I was not at all surprised they were still there. I knew it was a long-shot but I had nothing to lose in trying.

Follow Manufacturer’s Instructions

When fusing interfacing, typically a pattern will instruct the user to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. The instructions for my fusible interfacing had long since disappeared and I had no idea what brand it was. Taking a shot in the dark I set my iron to wool. To protect my pressing surface I put my applique pressing sheet down first, then my fabric pieces, and finally the fusible interfacing. Before laying the fusible interfacing on top of the fabric I made certain the shiny side was down. No fusing interfacing to my iron today. On top of the fusible interfacing I briefly applied light pressure with my iron. After fusing the interfacing to my fabric pieces it was time to begin sewing.

Let’s Put The Pieces Together

With right sides together (rst), I stitched the pocket lining to the pocket front along the bottom or 12 1/2″ edge (mine was 15 1/2″) using a 1/2″ seam. I laid the pocket unit on my pressing surface with the right side down.

(My modification: before proceeding with the pattern instructions I chose to, from the wrong side (ws), press my seam open. The pressed seam allowed the fabric to lay much flatter for the next step.) I picked up the entire unit, flipped it over and laid it on my pressing surface with the right side (rs) of the fabric against the pressing surface. Grabbing the 12 1/2″ raw edge  of the pocket front (mine was 15 1/2″) I lifted it and pulled it up towards the 12 1/2″ raw edge of the pocket lining (mine was 15 1/2″).

Matching raw edges together, I pressed along the fold. The Circle Square Lilac pocket lining  now extends 1/2″ above the Dress Floral Lilac pocket front.

Time to top stitch both layers together just below the seam where the pocket front and pocket lining meet.

(My modification: I also basted the raw edges together to provide a bit of stability.)

Since I am making two of these pockets it was now time to repeat the above steps.

Last but not least was the addition of Velcro. The Velcro was stitched on the center front 1 1/4″ from the top edge of the pocket.

You can see in my photo I have placed a pin at the pocket center and the edge of my ruler 1 1/4″ down from the top edge of the pocket. I machine stitched my Velcro on both pockets.

This was the last step in the pocket assembly. When I was all finished I had two neatly constructed pockets.

Not Much Left!

I can’t believe we are almost finished. Assembling this Tag-Along tote has gone so smoothly.  Only three days are left. Thanks so much for sharing in my journey.  See you next time.

Here are links to the previous posts:

Day 1 of 7

Day 2 of 7

Day 3 of 7