Birdie Sling Tutorial

As my former post explained I hit a snag with sewing a gusset in my Amy Butler Birdie Sling. Now I am no dummie but I have to admit I stared at that diagram for way to long and pinned, unpinned and pinned again. It wasn't the actual marking of measurements from the instructions that I found confusing but the diagram threw me, I think it over-complicated the instructions. I was unsure where I was sewing the curved line etc..and the thought of getting it wrong on expensive fabric, a lot of prep effort and then cutting a seam allowance.....eeeeeeeek! The minute I 'got it' it all seemed so simple...

So, as I love to share information and help out fellow gusset strugglers, I have put together a little tutorial for you! First we will start with my diagram!!

Now don't laugh but I was actually pinning this triangle underneath to the bottom of the bag and wondered how on earth I was going to sew the darn gusset! duh..

I found it easier to mark out the bag like this.

What it looks like once it is sewn, before making a seam allowance

The seam before it is cut (looking inside the bag)

Trimming the 1 1/2 " seam allowance

what it looks like inside the bag once seam allowance has been trimmed

What the gusset should look like outside the bag

The finished bag!

I decided to go with a plain colour for the lining and band and stretch Amy's lovely forest/wood fern fabric (Nigella range) as far as I could.

Yes it is a fairly large bag like everyone says but I like it and took it for a road test this morning to playgroup and it was great! I am really happy with the end result and taking the time to make something for me!

A few thoughts:

• Next time I would use the same weight fabric all over as the band was in a slightly lighter cotton and couldn't handle the interfacing - it looks ugly close up!
  
• As many others have said, I would probably lose the stiff interfacing in the strap and outside. I like the soft padded feel of a big bag and wish my handle was softer.
• I did a silly thing and clipped in 3 places instead of one as per the instructions in 7C. I did it because it didn't look right to do as instructed (go figure...), so I clipped either side of the seam and close to the middle. But I found once I had finished the bag, just under the bottom seam on the band there is a little bulge that looks odd and I am sure not supposed to be there!
• Next time before start a project - I will do some more research!!
• Here is a great post on the birdie sling by Kathy at Pink Chalk Studio
• Also, join the online sewing community for free at Sew Mama Sew and enjoy some of the great forums discussing such things as this.
  

I hope this has been useful!