Thread Choices and Bag Progress

 

After trimming the front and back and rounding the corners on the Ultimate Travel Bag, I was rummaging through the pieces to find what came next when I realized I still hadn't done the bag stabilizer sleeve. When was that supposed to be sewn in? I had the impression that it needed to be done after the buttons, but so much time had elapsed since I paused the project in order to purchase buttons that once I got the buttons sewn on, I just skipped to the next stage without watching that whole video. I didn't figure I needed to watch the instructor sew on buttons by machine when I intended to sew them on by hand, and I had forgotten about the sleeve. Fortunately, I hadn't started putting the bag together, aside from the side and zipper strips. So it was still workable to fit the sleeve in. When I made my grandson's laptop carrier bag, the stabilizer sleeve was separate, sewn as a wide tube into which was inserted the stabilizer, and it was then put into the bottom of the bag. But this one is just one side sewn - not a tube - into the bottom of the bag and the stabilizer is to be inserted once the bag is finished. I'm waiting to see how that turns out. And my stabilizer choice is different this time as well. The pattern recommends plexiglass, foam core board or heavy cardboard, as it did for the laptop bag. And I really didn't like any of those options. Plexiglass seems too rigid and heavy - not to mention expensive (not that bag making is cheap). And I also had concerns about how sharp the edges might be and whether it would wear through the fabric. And the other options just didn't seem very durable to me. I opted instead to use plastic canvas. I was going to use that again for the travel bag, but opted instead to try the foam core board. We'll see how that goes. If Damian decides he doesn't like it, I can always replace it with plastic canvas. Personally, I've never worked with foam core board before. 
But back to the sleeve - it had to be finished with a ¼" folded hem on each end, and then stitched into the bottom of the bag with a ⅛' seam along both sides. Since the zipper strip was already in place, I skipped placement markings and just centred it between where I had attached the pockets. When I attempted to sew down the hems, I had the regular needle plate on my machine (I was using the Janome 8200, so I didn't have to change the thread and bobbin on the 6000 - that's one of the advantages of having more than one sewing machine), and the hem ended up forced down through the hole and got stuck there. I wasn't sure what was holding it there, but I couldn't get it out. I opened the bobbin compartment, removed the bobbin and snipped the bobbin thread. That didn't help. Then I snipped the upper thread, also didn't help. I removed the bobbin case, then the insert that fits around the machine in its table and then popped off the needle plate. I then had a needle plate attached to the stabilizer sleeve. I had to pick out some threads in order to release the bunched fabric and was finally able to remove the needle plate from the stabilizer sleeve. And then I switched to the straight stitch needle plate and finished the hems. I then switched the bobbin thread to black to coordinate with the outside fabric and completed the ⅛" seams. I'm beginning to feel that this bag has created just too many adventures. 

And on the subject of thread, I have 3 different-coloured threads that I'm using with this project (plus a couple that I used on the longarm). 

The two large cones on the left are the threads I used on the longarm: Bright Gold in the bobbin and Aqua on top. The others are used on the sewing machines.

And I have bobbins in each colour as well, so that the thread matches whatever colour fabric it will show on. And that means that I have often been sewing with different colours on top and in the bobbin. And I've been constantly switching back and forth, depending on what part of the project I'm working on. But since I do have several machines, I don't know why I don't just leave one colour in each of three machines and just switch the bobbins when necessary. However, the end is in sight, and I don't think I'll need to use the gold thread any more. 
I got the bias binding cut into strips, but I've run out of steam, so it can wait for another day to get stitched together. I opted to use 2½" strips as I've used 2¼" bias binding on bags before and it was really a stretch to wrap it around all of that bulk in the seams. I also will be pressing my binding. While the instructor recommends pinning it because she says that pressing it gives her wrinkles and creases that she doesn't like, I have not found this to be the case and I have found pinning my binding for previous bag projects from the same instructor to be cumbersome and annoying. Not to mention the fact that any time I use pins, I can pretty much guarantee that I will get poked. And I also tried using my quilt clips on the binding instead of pins and that gets pretty heavy... Besides most of this binding will be on the inside of the bag, so what's a few wrinkles and creases where no one sees them, even if they actually did happen?