Grid Philly - March 2009 - (Page 10) grid Rags to Bags M Large format printers manufacture posters, billboards and signage with images ranging from luscious burritos to bold graphics and text. Standard banner vinyl is a nylon-reinforced, non-woven material that is flexible enough to form and shape and is suitable for sewing. Banner vinyl is printed up to 16-feet wide and is made for outdoor use, so it’s waterproof, durable and fade-resistant. how-to how to make a lovely vinyl accessory out of trash by reesha grosso y years as a seamstress at Viv Pickle Custom Handbags have photos by paul romano conditioned me to see anything flat and flexible as a potential bag or accessory. So when a friend offered me some vinyl test prints from her workplace, I knew just what to do with them. Printers frequently discard banners with imperfections that render them useless to the customer. With a sharp eye and a bit of sweettalking (or bribery with baked goods), they could be yours for the taking. When sewing vinyl, remember that punctures are permanent. Backstitch no more than necessary to prevent perforation and weakening of the material. Instead of pinning things in place, I use three-quarter-inch binder clips. I recommend using a workhorse of a sewing machine, with all metal parts if possible. Use caution—your needle will get hot from friction during sewing, and you may want to use a denim needle to prevent breakage. Vinyl is very resilient and will fight you every step of the way; in order to wrangle it into submission, you may need to apply a cool iron. Use a press cloth (undyed cotton) and crack a window to avoid inhaling the fumes. Finally, aim for abstract imagery to avoid using copyrighted material in your work—the enormous scale of the prints should pretty much do this for you. Now that you’re armed with the basics, let’s get sewing! Supplies you will need: ■ ❑ ■ ❑ ■ ❑ ■ ❑ scrap vinyl 12-inch zipper ruler scissors or a rotary cutter ■ ❑ ballpoint pen ■ ❑ binder clips ■ ❑ cardboard corner ■ ❑ sewing machine 1. Select the choicest cut from your vinyl. Look for an area with bold contrasting colors—in this case, a slice of each layer of cheeseburger. cut a 9x12-inch piece of vinyl. Since you are using a scrap, don’t assume that any edges are squared. If you don’t have a cutting mat, you can draw guidelines on the back side of the vinyl and cut with scissors. choose thread colors. There will be two topstitched lines on the accessory, so choose different colors for the machine and bobbin for contrast. Fold over the 9-inch edges of the vinyl. Finger-press a half-inch down using the presser foot as a guide and a third hand, and tack down at about a quarterinch from the edge, repeating on the second side. Flip over and attach the zipper to the first side. Place the folded edge of the vinyl right up against the zipper teeth. (attaching the vinyl an inch or so from the bottom of the zipper will make the next step easier.) at one-eighth-inch seam allowance, attach the zipper to the body of your accessory. g r i d p h i l ly. c o m 1 2. 3. 4. 4 5 5. 10 march 2009 http://www.gridphilly.com
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