A couple months ago I was attempting to mail a yard of Tencel Cotton to a new strike sewist up in Canada. I inadvertently selected the WRONG address!
I thought to myself, well, one lucky customer is going to get an extra yard of fabric in the mail.
Lo and behold, I get an email from a lovely and honest person who says, "Hey, Christina, I received this lovely fabric at my house, but addressed to someone else."
I thanked her profusely for reaching out and told her that the fabric was hers to keep due to my mailing error, but if she wanted to "strike" for me for that round, I'd be happy to have her! She agreed and made something utterly amazing.
Now, remember I told you I mailed her a yard of Tencel Cotton? Well our Tencel Cotton (TC) is roughly 110gsm, so a very light weight fabric. This fabric would normally be used for a light weight top, or dress. It is a woven material, and very similar to quilting cotton.
This brings me to the amazing thing Melanie did with this fabric. She made a HANDBAG. I have never seen someone use a lightweight woven to make a handbag! I was blown away!
I was so impressed with this that I asked her share how she did it! She agreed to provide some instructions. Now, this is not a step-by-step tutorial since I asked her to provide steps AFTER the bag was complete, but this will give you a good idea of HOW to do what she did, and you can recreate it using whatever lightweight woven you have on hand, OR you can check out or catalogue here.
Using lighter weight Tencel Cotton fabric for the exterior of a bag might not sound like a good idea, but it is! Not only can it be done, but it can be beautiful, functional, and easy to accomplish by adding a water and stain resistant coating!
I use a product called Liquid Vinyl made by Heat n Bond.
There are other similar products out there, but the one I have tried and had great success with is the Heat n Bond product.
According to the directions, you may apply one, two, or three coats, depending on your preference. This product gives an oilcloth effect. The more layers you apply, the greater the effect. I apply one coat which provides a water and stain resistant layer. I find that it also makes the fabric a bit thicker and stiffer.
When making a bag, first cut out you pattern pieces, and apply any interfacing the pattern requires. Next, lay out a piece of parchment paper and place your Tencel Cotton pieces onto it (to keep your project from sticking to the table). Then, using a paintbrush or foam craft brush, paint on a layer of liquid vinyl. Let it dry for 20-30 minutes, and iron it between 2 pieces of parchment paper or press sheet according to the directions. Let it cure for 24 hours, and continue sewing your pattern as usual!It really is easy for anyone to use a lightweight woven fabric for bag making. The possibilities for this application are endless! It works great on canvas fabric too!
Happy sewing!