Clover along with TV host Nancy Zieman have a new product called Create-a-Strap.
A bag & tote strap iron on interfacing which promises to make straps & handles with ease ~ it does!
I had a play this morning and I loved the results.
- 2m (2.2yard) length of iron on interfacing that will make a finished handle of 25mm (1 inch).
- Cut 5cm (2 inch) fabric strips on the cross grain (that's horizontal to selvedges) and a piece of interfacing the same length.
- Place shiny side down and iron as per instructions.
- The perforated edges make folding a dream and the result is perfectly even handles.
- The key here is take it slow so your stitch lines are beautifully straight.
- You will be left with professional, good quality handles to add to your bag or tote project in no time at all.
I think this is my first comment on any of your blogs, but this one just needed my comment...
ReplyDeleteI bought a bag at Target for under $5 woven of wicker-ish sort of stuff with rows of silver sequins even spaced. Unfortunately the handles "moulted" constantly, the edges breaking down and leaving parts of themselves EVERYWHERE.
I went to Lincraft and found some quilting cotton that looked like woven wicker, and made new straps! I cut fabric strips twice the width of the original straps plus some seam allowance. Overlocked the length of the straps and then I used my Fastturn tube turner to turn the tubes and fill them with iron-on timtex (or similar) strips the same width as the original straps, and ironed to set the timtex in place. Unpicked the sequins from the originals and sewed them onto the new straps; unpicked the originals from the bag and replaced them with my new ones and stitched them in place. Whole project took probably an hour and a half and was fun and it makes the bag just that much more fun to use!
Thank you so much for sharing your bag handle makeover story with us!
ReplyDeleteWOW ~ it sounds like you went to so much effort but the results were definitely worth it.
Now I'm off to find one of those Fastturn tube turners you mentioned!
Great idea! Is it essential that you cut the fabric on the cross grain? It seems to me that it would use a lot of fabric?
ReplyDeleteHi Leah,
ReplyDeleteCross grain doesn't use that much fabric as it's going from selvedge to selvedge - if it was cut on the bias then that's a different story! I hope this helps :)
Have a great weekend.