I recently stitched up this bag from Lisa Lam's free
tutorial (over here!). I love how the pleats turned out...
and that the pleats are stitched both outside and in.
It came together quickly and easily. However, when (not if) I make it
again, I'll draw up a pattern on paper first so I can get all the pleats
to match up more precisely. I'll also preshrink my lining, which I didn't
do this time. I figured it would always be dry-cleaned, so why remove
the sizing? Unfortunately, the ironing required for pleat and interfacing
installation created a great deal of unwieldy shrinkage. Nothing a little
edge trimming wouldn't fix, since the measurements are flexible.
Live and learn!
