Hi, and welcome to day 5 of the Whole Lotta Bag Along.  I hope you’re all managing okay so far :o)

Today we’re going to tackle the flap:

Tips For The Flap

1. The piping fabric.

• If you’re following the pattern for the regular bag pattern, then you will have piping cover fabric that is cut straight, however, it’s possible to cut on the bias too if you prefer, I just wasn’t quite able to calculate the fabric you would need to do that if you were doing it to match your 2nd lining fabric!
• If you’re happy for it to be cut from a larger piece of fabric, or from another piece of fabric entirely, feel free to go for the bias option, in which case you will cut your fabric at a 45 degree angle, and the amount you need can be cut using 2 pieces from the middle of a fat quarter, ie line up your ruler with the bottom of the FQ and cut on the diagonal so that you cut it into 2 large triangles, then work from there, one 1 1/2″ cut each side.  If you do this, cut the ends on the 45 degree angle too, to make them easier to join.  When joining like this, make sure your pieces are overlapped as shown below, so that the height of the triangle you can see in the overlap is 1/4″, then use a 1/4″ seam allowance to join them

• If you’re doing the nappy bag version or using home decor weight, you will need to find a quilting cotton weight for this step
• If you like, you can also use bias tape, but you will need to unfold it, then work out if you need to trim any, or to add any seam allowance in when sewing it in place.

2. Making the piping:

• Now I have breaking news for you: I can’t see what you’re doing.  I won’t be popping round to your house to check your workmanship.  I won’t be telling you off if you do something different.  You know why?  Because it’s your bag, you fabric, and you can do whatever you like with it!
• Why did I tell you the above?  Well, because the bit in the pattern about the Wundaweb is not actually a die hard requirement.  I once gave this tip to a student and was told rather snottily that she’d been doing piping for over 20 years and she had no need to cheat!  Okay then!  This is the way I do piping as I find it easiest for it not to squirm about, but do whatever works for you, I won’t find out if you skip it ;o)

3. Snap insertion:

• If you’re following the twist lock route, it should be as is in the pattern, however I’m aware that not all twist locks are created equally when it comes to attaching them at this side, so if you need help, let me know!
• If you’re going the snap route, you will need different marks (what with there not being a hole to draw round ;o) )  You will need to make a mark that is 2″ in from the edge and 1 1/2″ up.  Now this measurement is as if the corner were actually still in place, so to measure this, I use a square quilting ruler to work out where the mark should go.  This mark will be at the centre of your washer, so make the lines either side for inserting the snap.  You will do the interlining scraps just as you did with the other side of the snap:

4. The remaining assembly should be as per pattern.  One note, if you’re using laminate as your lining, my machine finds it easier to sew laminate side down at this point, but check to see what your machine prefers, as I know there are a number of different sensitivities among machines!

As ever, if you have any problems or questions, please let me know :o)