madeleine tutorial

yay! i'm so excited to finally be able to share the pattern and full tutorial for the madeleine bag :)

you can click on the pics above to download the pattern pieces from my madeleine flickr album (instructions there for printing and sizing). full tutorial after the jump...

you will need:

• fabrics (yardage depends on whether or not you choose contrasting exterior and strap fabrics)
• interfacing (i like to use fusible for this)
• 7" zipper
• magnetic closure
• thread, needle, scissors, sewing machine, etc.

1. cut out pattern pieces and interfacing: 

• pattern piece A: cut out 2 each of exterior fabric and interfacing on the fold. 
• pattern piece B: cut out 2 each of exterior fabric (or exterior contrast fabric, if you choose) and interfacing. 
• pattern piece C: cut out two of lining fabric.
• strap: cut out 2 strips, each measuring 28.5" x 2.5" of exterior fabric (or exterior contrast fabric, or a combination) 1 strip measuring 28.5" x 2" of interfacing.
• pockets: cut 1 piece of fabric measuring 8 x 10" for pleated pocket and 1 piece of fabric measuring 9 x 12" for the zipper pocket.

2. iron interfacing to pattern pieces A, B, and one piece of strap (if you are using contrasting fabrics for the strap, fuse interfacing to the piece you want to be the outside of the strap).

3. using the dotted lines on the pattern piece as a guide, form pleats on both exterior pieces (A) and pin.

4. carefully pin pieces B to pieces A, right sides together.

5. sew together, using a 5/16" seam allowance. (if this seems random, it happens to be the width of the zig-zag foot i typically use on my machine and therefore simple for me to measure. as long as you maintain the same seam allowance for all pieces, you can easily make this either 1/4" or 3/8".) note that this is easiest to do with piece A on top, so that you can make sure that the pleats are sewn properly.

6. press seam allowance towards piece C. topstitch on piece C, close to seam.

7. pin exterior pieces, right sides together, taking care to line up the seam where pieces A and C meet.

8. stitch around exterior, again using 5/16" seam allowance. turn right side out and put exterior aside for now (after admiring your work, of course).

9. pin together strap pieces, right sides together.

10. stitch both long sides of strap pieces. oddly, this can be one of the trickiest parts if your machine tends to feed the two materials at different speeds (like mine) and you don't have a walking foot. experimenting with whether your machine works better with the interfaced side up or down may help. also, starting your stitch on the same end of the strap both times will at least allow the fabric to pull the same way for both stitches and make it a bit easier.

11. turn strap right side out and press. topstitch close to the edge along both long sides.

12. pockets! click to see the madeleine mini-tutorials on how to make the pleated pouch pocket and zipper pocket.

13. pin lining pieces right sides together and stitch around the edge, leaving a space along the bottom of the bag (about 2 to 3") for turning.

14. insert the magnetic closure.... instructions here in this mini-tutorial.

15. now we put it all together (otherwise known as "the fun part"). center your strap over the side seam of the exterior and pin on both sides to hold firmly in place. if you have used contrasting fabrics for your strap, make sure that the fabric you want to be the lining of the strap is facing out. attach the other side of the strap in the same way, making sure not to twist it.

16. place lining (inside out) around the exterior and strap. line up at sides, pin all around top edge, and stitch.

17. where the strap meets the bag, stitch within the seam allowance to secure straps (i've used a zigzag stitch here).

18. turn bag right side out through opening in lining. press the top seam.

19.  topstitch bag close to top edge.

20. just one more step! pull lining out of bag, pin opening closed, and either slipstitch opening or use machine to stitch close to edge (as shown here).

and that's it! you're done! congrats :)

did you make a great madeleine? share it with us in the imagine gnats flickr group and let me know how it went. i love to hear from you and see what you're making :)