Market Totes: Making a Liner

Recently, I got an order for two Market Totes in the Labrador fabric. Here you can see the bag bases with the labels sewn in. All they need are the liners, magnetic snaps and straps.

Making the liners.
First, I take a lightweight duck and measure out the length I need for the liner and a pocket to be sewn on one side of the liner. The pocket will be the entire width of the bag and have three divisions. It will come to almost the top height of the bag.

I cut the piece I need for the pocket, fold it in half and sew a seam along what will be the bottom of the pocket. I turn that right side out and press.

I then pin the pocket to one side of the inside of the liner.

I then make faint mark lines on the pocket for dividing the pocket into three pocket spaces.

I then sew the pocket along the dividing lines, along the bottom and along the left and right edges of the liner.

The next step is to fold the other side of the liner up over the pocket and sew the edge seams together. I then overlock these side edge seams.

Then I need to make the side edges of the bottom of the liner. I open up the bottom edge of the fabric and iron it into a corner point.

I then measure the width I need for the bottom of the liner, make my marks

and sew.

Before I fit the liner to the bag base, I have to install the magnetic snaps. Once that's complete, I'm ready to sew in the bag liner.

Voila!

Making the straps.
I bond the cotton print to a light weight craft-bond backing. Cut out four 1.5" wide straps about 37" long. I then overlock the side edges of the straps, and draw a faint line down the center of the strap on the back side.

I then take my iron and press down the side edges of the four straps, where they would meet at the center line.

After the straps have been pressed, I then sew the front and back sides together. I then cut the finished straps to 36" and sew them onto the bag.

I was in such a rush to get these bags in the mail when promised, I shipped them off without taking a finished photo.

I'm still getting used to sewing with my Elna 7300. Here are some features I like. The bobbin winder is a separate motor, and all you need to do is touch a button and it goes. Touch another button and the machine will automatically put a knot stitch in. Press another button and it will cut both threads on the underside of the fabric. I will need to get a different sewing table with more width before I will be able to use the knee lever extension to raise the foot. That's a handy feature. I love the elevated platform and the longer arm of this machine.

Features I don't like are the complicated steps you have to go through to sew in a button. To me, I think they could have incorporated a setting or a button feature to make this task easier. I much prefer my Pfaff 1473 for sewing in a button. On the Pfaff, I just set it to the button stitch and go.

I don't like the fact that the top feed only works with certain feet. I don't like the fact that I have to use a tool to remove feet. I love Pfaff's magnetic snap in feet. I also don't like the fact that once you step on the foot petal, the machine appears to hesitate. It takes one slow stitch before it sews quickly. I'm still trying to get used to that. Overall, I'm still very happy with my purchase and would recommend this machine to anyone interested in buying this model of sewing machine.