A new day... After making adjustments on my pattern pieces for a slightly larger base, a wider silhouette, a more shapely strap holder and more curvature at the top of the bag, I set out sewing up prototype #2.At this point, I'm still using junk fabric, strictly cotton, with very little fleece or interfacing involved. I'm still just after shape & silhouette for now. As you can see from the picture on the left, the squarish silhouette is gone, that's good. I came up with a different way of ruching the sides, which I feel is not only more effective, but also easier to document & illustrate later on.
While these Strap Holders are a definite improvement over prototype #1 (pictured & described in step 3), they still need more work. I'll tweek this somemore in the next sample.
The biggest difference in this prototype however, is pictured on the right. You can notice immediately that the sides which close the bag (I call them Vents), are completely different now. (No more peek hole.) I actually placed two different Vent variations on this prototype to see which looked & functioned best. On this side of the bag, I placed a flat Vent. I kinda figured it wouldn't function the way I wanted it to, but I still like to try these things just to work thru the process.
Contrast the flat Vent above, with the shaped Vent pictured on left. I know that the patterned print of this fabric makes this a little difficult for you to see, but if you look at the bottom of the Vent, (in the "V" if you will), you can detect that the shaped bottom encourages the Vent to be concave, which is what I had in mind.
I tested the Encore Insert in this prototype, and of course the new Vent style and bag silhouette produced a smaller bag opening, smaller in fact than I had anticipated. Now it was somewhat difficult to get the Encore inside the bag. Once inside, the fit was fine, but that opening was just too small.
So where does this leave me? I need a more generous bag opening, that's for sure, but I also need to accomplish this while maintaining the flattering silhouette that I like about THIS prototype. That means I'll need to do some overall enlarging of the bag itself, and then there's those pesky Strap Holders...
So what do you think? Do you have a mental picture of what tomorrow post might look like?
Come back tomorrow and see if you're right. See 'ya then!
Kat -- Waiting for a couple of key lime pies to cool before going to bed. I love this blog.
ReplyDeleteThis is on track and looking so cool. I wonder whether curving the top of the sides - slightly lower at the center and then a small rise to the sides might keep the neat silhouette but provide that extra little bit of top room for the insert.
Anna in Albuqerque
PS. Your junk fabric still looks good!