I had a thought, tried it, and it worked just fine. The thought came when I was hand sewing lining into a Fat Bottom Bag. I thought, "There's GOT to be an easier and faster way to do this! What would Mom do?" That's when the thought came to me. Mom would have used Freezer Paper and sew it on the machine!
The problem I had when trying to sew the lining with the machine before this was unfruitful. It came out horrid because the pressure foot kept tugging and catching on the crochet work I did and the thread would all bunch up making one hundred stitches in the same exact place - the work would not move forward.
All I had to do was put freezer paper between the pressure foot and the crochet work and TA DA! No more catching, bunching, and each stitch went exactly where it was supposed to, one right after the other in a neat line. Yea. Thanks Mom!
You'll need:
Freezer paper, or Parchment paper would work just the same
The fabric lining for your bag (or other crocheted item)
Your crocheted bag
A sewing machine
Several of you have asked about stitch length....
**Set your stitch length to one you would use for everyday, medium weight fabrics.** I haven't tried a zig zag stitch yet, nor have I tried a top stitch setting (where the machine makes a triple stitch) but I'd like to try and I'll let you know how it turns out.
Just put the paper next to the teeth that push the material along (for which I cannot remember the real name of at this moment! ack!) , under the presser foot. The place your work, with the fabric lining pinned into place, on top of the freezer paper, underneath the presser foot as well.
As long as you don't go off the fabric, don't stray onto the crocheted part of your work, this trick should work just fine.
Once the lining is sewed in, just remove the paper, one side at a time, tearing it carefully away from the machine stitching.
(I don't have an example shot just yet of this action because I didn't think to share this with you until I was all done with this bag but next one, if need be, I'll post the photo of actually pulling the paper away from the stitches. For now, this is what it looks like to pull the paper away from stitches I made in an hand towel. lol)
That's It! I hope this made something easier and quicker for you. I do like the results of hand sewing my linings in my bags but when it comes to being cost effective for a boutique sale or craft fair, machine sewing is the only way to fly. We spend enough hours on our crocheting - my doctor figured out I get about 12 cents per hour for my crochet work at the prices I sell my items for. Save time, save money, save your fingers, save yourself. Use the machine whenever you can! ;-D
If you found this post to be useful, please indicate by leaving a comment below. Also, if you found it to be boring or dumb, please feel free to say so. I like to share my secrets but don't want to if I find out everyone already knows everything! lol
Do you have a question about crocheting or sewing that we can help answer for you? Is there something that's been on your mind that you've always wondered about either of the two? Let me know in the comment section below and I'll see what we can do to find the answer for you. Maybe it's something you just discovered yourself, put that in the comments too and I'll create a post for and by my readers that shares tips like this one (without the photos and extreme explanations). It would be nice to help each other by sharing our knowledge, don't you think? It'll be kind of like Heloise's book of household tips except it'll be this blog and about crocheting. We'll see. Maybe we could get together a book like that - I don't believe there is one out there. We'll see.
Gotta go!
Have a great day, God bless you!
