This is a fairly simple question about a fairly simple job, but being as I have no real idea what I am doing I could use some help. I am making a small (maybe six inches by six inches) pouch. OK, that much just means some simple seams. I can do that no problem. It also will have two zippers. Again, no worries. It also needs a piece of material, different from the exterior, dividing the interior in two. This I am having trouble with.
I cannot think of an easy way to use a sewing machine on this part. With the basic pouch I can just sew up the seems, turn it inside out, and voila! The interior partition makes this much more difficult though. Anyone with sewing experience have a simple solution?
Hmm, perhaps this question belongs in IMHO, but I am hoping that there is a generally used technique that I am just too ignorant to be aware of.
Oh, in case you were wondering, I am making a modified sugar glider bonding pouch. I am having trouble getting a new little friend integrated with the two I have, and I figured if I had them sleeping next to each other, with only a plastic mesh separating them, it would speed the process.
The basic pouch looks like this. Mine will have a divider down the middle of the inside of the same material as the front mesh, and a separate zipper to access each side.
I have NO sewing experience, so take this for what it’s worth. But you said normally, you take two pieces of fabric, run a seam around the edge and turn it inside out, right? Well why can’t you take three peices of fabric (the different one on the outside), run a seam around the edge and then turn that inside out, pushing all the fabric up though the similar materials). ITSM that you would wind up with what you’re looking for…I think.
If it helps, go find something with a divider, anything a duffel bag, a purse, another pouch like you want to make. If you don’t have one at home, go to a store and find one, or just make one with some fabric and a stapler (do it the easy way, lay the fabric the way you want it to be and connect it with staples of pins). Okay, got your item. Now turn it inside out, that’s how you’ll want to sew it…I think.
That’s exactly what you have to do.
Make a sandwich of:
Divider material on top
Outer material - good side facing down
Outer material - good side facing up
Sew and flip inside out which will give you the Outer, divider, outer finished project.
That’s exactly right. If you need a little roominess inside, then cut the two outside pieces a little larger than the middle and match the edges - the middle will essentially bow the outsides a bit, giving it a slightly (or dramatically, if the difference is large) rounded shape and room in the pockets.
If the divider material also has a good side and a bad side, you could make two pouches, each with a piece of outer material and a piece of inner material, then make a megapouch using each of the dual-material pouches as one piece.
You can also do this with a lining, so that there aren’t any exposed seams for your sugar glider to get curious with. Just make a simple pouch of the outer fabric, then make a fabric sandwich with your divider fabric as the filling, sew around three edges, then baste it to the pouch. Install the zipper, treating the lining and the outer shell as one layer.
You’ll want to finish the top edge of the divider fabric before sewing it all together no matter what you do. You’ll also want to make it shorter than the outer shell so it doesn’t get caught in the zipper.
Thanks for all the replies. I think a few of you may not quite understand what I am doing, and I am sure I do not fully understand what at least one of you have told me. First, when I say divider I am talking about a quite small piece of material. When the pouch is laid flat it will be about 8 inches by 8 inches. The divider would only be 8 inches (the full height) by maybe 2 or at the most 3 inches. Even when in use the pouch is mostly flat, it never bulges out a great deal. I want to make it so the divider does not fold over on itself much at all, as that would make it easier to chew through.
As to the specific suggestions: Joey PI am right at your experience level. I just understood what you meant (and what it seems most everyone else meant) right now. The only problem with that is that it would create two pouches just as wide, yet half as deep. The zippers would be one on the front, one on the back. My initial intention was to create two side-by-side compartments with zippers on the right and left, but both on the front. I may have to go with this if I cannot make my way work fairly easily.
OK, now that I finally understand what you meant, all the other posts make sense now.
What I am looking for is WhyNot’s suggestion taken to the extreme. Actually, that exact thing may work quite well.
Lastly, baste? Miss Purl McKnittington, if I hadn’t just seen that word while looking around at other sewing sites I would think you had suggested attaching the pieces together with hot meat juices. Do you have somewhere you could point a complete newbie to give him an idea of what that means?
Basting, when it comes to sewing, is like pinning but with thread. You basically use running stitches to hold something in place while you sew it on the machine. It’s more stable than pins, and you don’t have to worry about jabbing yourself in the hand while holding the piece. It’s useful for things like sewing in zippers and when you’re sewing with multiple layers. This is a good explanation.
I totally misinterpreted what you were doing. Well, not totally, but near enough. I have an idea about how you can go about this pretty easily, but I’d need to draw pictures to explain it, and I have to go out and do chores now. Can you hold on for a couple hours?
No problem. So long as I know that help is on the way, I will hold off a bit. Thanks for your help, and with a name like McKnittington, I know I am in the right hands.
