Hey all, im in the process of building a backpack and have a question for all of you that have completed one. When sewing all the panels together near the end of the build, how do you go about effectively sewing the corners down near the bottom? I’m having some issues with this. It’s coming together, might even hold some stuff in it lol
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Myog Backpack
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Hi Justin,
Ah yes. Tricky bit that. Make sure You have plenty thread in the machine and a sharp new needle. Turn bag inside out and pin the fabric. Use a narrow foot on the machine and sew one Seam at a time. Persevere and swear a lot. If junction of several directions leave needle down lift foot and change orientation of fabric drop foot and then move off in the new direction. I remember this being very fiddly and the narrow foot is the best single help.
Good luck
Paul
I agree with what Paul said plus add extra seam allowance to make sure you can get a good stitch in all off the material edges. You can always trim off any excess. I’ll also add pin, pin, pin..along the seam.
It ultimately depends on the shape of the panels and of the angles of the areas where they all come together (rounded bottom panel, for example, vs. rectangular; shallow vs. steep rise, if a a rise at all, on the bottoms of the side panels; and so on), but in general I find it is easiest to use 1/2″ seams, attach front and back panels to bottom first (or front to back/bottom or back to front/bottom if bottom is continuous with either panel), then to begin with a top corner and sew a continuous seam all the way around.
If the seam is truly difficult, I hand baste the panels together by hand with dental floss (because it is easier to work with in my opinion), then go from there. Sometimes you might find you need to lay a few seams with each one edging closer to your desired seam, or at least close enough. The beauty here is that when you flip it right-side out you may not notice the “shorter” seam.
If you have a hip belt permanently attached to the back panel, you will likely find it to be in the way, especially when sewing up the other side. A real PITA, for sure.
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