Craftsy Class: Building Better Bags

My new Craftsy class, Building Better Bags: Interfacing and Structure, is now live! I am so proud to introduce you to this class and I’d like to tell you a little bit about how the class came to be and what the class is about!

A little bit of backstory behind Craftsy. I am a Craftsy customer. I’ve purchased countless classes. Last year, I got 6 Craftsy classes as a Christmas gift to myself. I usually buy them when they are on sale but I’ve wanted a few badly enough and needed them immediately to pay full price. Most of the classes that I have in my account are for garment sewing, but I also own some for quilting, machine quilting, and photography. They are really helpful and when I watch any of the classes, I am confident that no matter which class I am watching, the person teaching it is an expert in their field and I trust what they are teaching. I am currently using several of the Craftsy classes along my garment pattern designing journey, but more about that another time.

I had been trying to pitch a Craftsy class of my own for almost 2 years. It was just one of those elusive things that I had not been able to grasp. I pitched a few times and had been really disappointed as I wanted it so badly but none of my ideas took. Maybe they weren’t good ideas, maybe the timing wasn’t right, I can’t say.

After my first refusal, I had pretty much come to terms that it just wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t good/unique/experienced enough. Rewind to before I even thought to pitch to Craftsy. My best friend, Kim, made it her part-time job to encourage me to keep pursuing Craftsy. We go to an industry trade show twice a year called Quilt Market, and two Markets in a row Kim dragged me over to either the Craftsy booth or a Craftsy employee and talked me up and had me hand over my business card (I’m really bad about giving out business cards). Every few months, I would ask for her advice in taking on a new project and she would either give it a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down and tell me, “This is what you need to do to get a Craftsy class.”

Kim pushed and pushed and pushed to the point that I was tired of hearing about Craftsy. It was never going to happen. And then one day I got THE e-mail. And I swear that day was the best day of Kim’s life (I’m kidding, but it sure felt like it that day). I am so grateful to have a best friend that wants things that will be good for me so badly that she will make it her mission in life.

I flew to Denver this past July to film the Craftsy class. Before I left, I spent about 6 weeks preparing for the class, most of the time fleshing out content. I spent about 1-2 days a week on the phone on hour-long calls to the content editor and then the producer. The content was all in my head, I just needed help bringing it all out. The outline for my class ended up being 30 pages long after all was said and done. Besides that, I also had several calls to the talent coach, who gave me tips on how I’d need to conduct myself on camera. Since few of the Craftsy instructors, as far as I know, are familiar with being on television, they are hiring people that need to be coached on how to talk in front of the camera. The week before I left for Denver, I spent every day sewing and preparing step-outs that would appear on camera.

I brought several dresses with me that I made, that I got to wear on set (such as my mustang dress above), which was really fun! I was afraid that they’d apply me with layers of make-up that would look unlike me, but I did my own make-up in the morning in my hotel room and the make-up artist just added some liquid make-up (I don’t even know what it’s called since I don’t use that much make-up to begin with, lol!) so that I wouldn’t have a shiny face on camera.

I had a great time and even though I was scared out of my wits, it was lots of fun filming. I wish I hadn’t been so nervous, I would have enjoyed it so much more. My crew was great and was composed of a producer, cameraman, and technical editor. We were closed off in the studio together for 10-14 hours a day for several days. We had a dance party every morning before filming (we actually recorded the last dance party on film). I learned a lot through the filming process which I think will carry over when I teach in person.

So my class is called Building Better Bags: Interfacing and Structure. This is a technique class, and so you will not be making an actual project during the class (but hopefully I’ll get a chance to do that in the future!). Since I’m a fanatic about interfacing, the bulk of the class is talking about and showing you different interfacings and how they come to play when making bags. Although I mostly use quilting cottons when making my own bags, I also discuss interfacings when applied to other materials, such as canvas fabric, faux leather, tapestry fabrics, etc.

Here’s one of the bag samples that I brought with me to show on camera, my upcoming Appaloosa Bag pattern. I didn’t just use one interfacing on this bag, I used three: that accordion on the front of the bag needed to be really stiff and not floppy! A favorite thing of mine is to combine different interfacings, and I talk about that a lot during the class too.

But since this is a nearly two-hour class, I decided that the class should also be about how to use other techniques in bag-making that you can apply in ANY bag pattern that you are making (or even if you are drafting your own bag). Here is a run-down of all of the lessons included in the class:

• Choosing and Testing Interfacing
• Flexible Fusible Interfacings (Shape Flex, fusible fleece, etc. How to fuse them and use them in handles, snaps, and zippers)
• Heavyweight Fusibles (Decor Bond, Peltex, stiff interfacings. How to combine interfacings, trouble-shoot thick-to-sew areas, why the crinkly look happens, and tips for cleaning your iron of that sticky adhesive)
• Sew-in Interfacings and Combining Interfacings
• Structured Reinforcements (alternative stabilizers such as duck cloth and craft foam, and how to make a false bottom and reinforced webbing handles)
• Binding and Piping
• Pressing and Care of your finished bag

What I am teaching in this class is the meat and potatoes of making a bag and can be applied no matter what kind of bag that you are making. In the Class Materials that come with the class, I have several pages of additional helpful tips and a two-page interfacing conversion chart. You may have seen the Pellon/Vilene chart that I wrote for my blog a couple of years ago, but this new chart that I assembled for Craftsy is massive and contains several different interfacing manufacturers in a helpful comparison table.

I’ve put everything that I have into this class and I think after you’ve taken it, you and I will be on the same level as far as knowing all about interfacing and the techniques I’ve shared in the class, lol.

If you’ve never taken a Craftsy class before, I also wanted to mention another great thing about Craftsy is the Craftsy Platform. This is a sidebar to the right of the class in which members are allowed to ask questions. So you can pause the video at any point and ask a question if you don’t understand something or have a question about a project that you are working on as applies to the class, and I will promptly answer it! It’s almost like we are having a one-on-one tutoring session right in your home.

I hope you will consider signing up for the class! I am happy to be able to offer you a link to receive 50% off my class, Building Better Bags: Interfacing and Structure. I think that my Craftsy class is a great value and something that you will be able to reference time and again as you make your own bags.

Thanks so much for listening! I love bag-making so much, and interfacing is one of my most favorite things in the world!!