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Fast Archie


Mini "Arch" pouch, pattern by Diane Spencer-Ogg. 6.5x5x2.5-inches

by Linda Theil

We needed a dozen pencil pouches to put in the backpacks we are filling for the annual "Backpacks for Kids" project organized by the Livingston Educational Service Agency of Livingston County, Michigan. 

I thought Diane Spencer-Ogg's new "Arch Zipper Pouch" would make a cute pencil pouch if I reduced the "medium" pattern option to 80-percent of the original. That reduction made a pouch measuring 6.5-inches wide, by five-inches high, by 2.5-inches deep.

Since I had to make so many pouches, I looked for ways to simplify the already perfect design to reduce the drudgery of so much repetition. Although the pattern has a beautiful two-color option, I decided to make the one-color option, reducing the number of pattern pieces to one piece for the body of each bag, and two identical pieces to construct each zipper placket. I also eliminated the lining, and the interior patch pocket. 

For the bag body, I used a half-yard piece of faux waxed-canvas from Sally Tomato. I was able to jigsaw the main pattern piece across the 58-inch width of the fabric. Using this method, you can cut one body piece for each 10-inches of fabric, and have room to cut the two placket pieces in the scraps at the bottom of each cut. 

After sewing the zipper to the placket pieces, I zig-zag-stitched along the edge of the zipper taoe to finish and secure the inside of the zipper placket. I also bound the seam where the zipper placket is attached to the body of the bag.

Interior of mini "Arch" bag showing zig-zag finished zipper insertion, bound placket seam, and finished interior seam created by reverse seaming of main seams.

To save time and energy, I interfaced the canvas with a woven fusible interfacing before drawing around the main pattern piece along the width of my fabric, then cutting all the pieces out with pinking sheers.

To add a bit of youthful fun and to properly finish the unlined interior, I stitched the two main seams of the bag with wrong sides together, creating raw-edged seams on the exterior. I zig-zag stitched over both exterior seams to strengthen the seams and  prevent fraying.

I included a 3/4-inch d-ring attached with 3/4-inch nylon webbing to which the student might add a carabiner for carry-all convenience.


All these modifications allow this version of Spencer-Ogg's "Arch Zipper Pouch" to be created in about 90-minutes or less for many makers.

Here is the two-color version I made with scraps from my leftover fabric -- the yellow fabric is regular cotton canvas.


The secrets of sewing a gusset to a curve
The curves of the "Arch" pouch are gentle, and easy to sew; but, even easily sewn curves demand some attention to detail when stitching a straight piece of fabric (the gusset) to a curved piece of fabric (the front, and back pieces of the pouch). Here are some rules I have often been told, but have had emphasized by my repeated manufacture of this simple "Arch" bag.
  • Shorten your stitch length: I typically sew with a long stitch length of about 10-12 sttiches per inch; shortening that length by even a little bit makes it easier to stitch around a curve.
  • Narrow your seam allowance: a scant 3/8 will make it easier to maneuver a curve than 1/2-inch or larger.
  • Use a narrow foot: I accidentally found that the narrower width of my 1/4-inch piecing foot, as opposed to my regular seaming foot, makes it easier to maneuver around a curve.
  • Use clips, pins, or hand basting to secure your fabrics in correct relation to each other before stitching.
  • Clip your curves: even a tiny clip or two in your gusset at the apex of a curve will ease the straight edge of your gusset into the curved fabric piece.
  • Sew with the gusset side of seam uppermost going through your machine.
  • Use a stylus to control your fabric going through the machine.
  • Go slow.
  • Overcast your finished seams with zig-zag stitching, or bind to finish and secure.
Note:
I have written about this pattern in other AppletonDance posts at:

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