It’s been a while since I’ve had a sew along here, so I figured it’s time for another one. Janelle at Emmaline Bags tells me she thinks a sew along for the Castell Day Bag would encourage some of you to give this pattern a try.  It may look a little overwhelming, but I’m hoping by breaking up the pattern into several days and steps, it’ll be easy for everyone to get through, and you’ll have a gorgeous, unique, functional bag when you’re done!

What’s a Sew Along you ask? I’ll be sewing up the Castell and taking pictures and adding my own tips along the way, and explaining some of the steps that can seem tricky. Your job is to sew along with me! Not really, you’ll be at home of course, and I’ll be over here, in your computer. Once the sew along starts, I’ll post a schedule of the all the blog posts so you’ll know what step we’re at and when. If you miss a day or get a little behind the sew along schedule, that’s totally fine, you can always access the blog posts and see which steps I went through that day. You don’t need to sign up for anything to join in, just come back to my blog (right here) and follow along at your own pace.

Even if you don’t really need a different perspective on the pattern (which actually provides awesome instruction on its own), sew alongs are great motivators because it’s so fun to see how everyone else is doing. Feel free to share your progress on Instagram or Facebook so others can see. On Instagram, use #CastellSewAlong and to share on Facebook, join the Emmaline Sewing Patterns Group.

Emmaline Bags is offering a discount for the pattern, and prizes for participants…yay!! Discounts and prizes make me happy! Use code castellsew20 to save 20% on the Castell Day Bag pattern (both PDF and paper patterns are eligible for the discount).  There will be 3 prizes of Emmaline store credit ($20, $15, and $10) drawn randomly, and I’ll give more details on how to enter once the sew along starts. The code is valid until August 31, 2017, so don’t wait too long to grab a copy.

We are going to get started on August 18, so you’ll need to gather all your supplies before then. If you don’t have the pattern yet, you’ll need one of course. Choose either the PDF pattern or the paper pattern. You’ll need to get style C frames for this bag too. Check the pattern listings for the materials list. You can have lots of fun with the optional hardware and look through the tester photos to see how they’ve been used. My version will use the metal edge trim on the pockets, but feel free to use the snappy edge clasp on yours, or skip the optional hardware altogether. I’ll also be using strap ends, purse feet and rivets, so I’ll go over installing all of those.

Picking the fabric will probably take you the longest. You could decide to have a fairly uniform exterior, or choose to make your pockets a main focus. Stuck on fabric sources? Check out my Canadian Sewing Links tab, or the Sales tab for some of my favourite shops and any deals I’ve found. 

See you back here on August 18th!

Update: the Sew Along is completed now, so you can skip to any part you need in the schedule below
Day 1: Getting started – cutting and fusing pieces
Day 2: Starting Exterior of bag 
Day 3: Finish Exterior of bag
Day 4: Make the Lining 
Day 5: Finish the bag!