Making a ’60s-style Vinyl Bag or Purse on the Cricut Maker
To me, the thing that makes the Cricut Maker well worth investing in (rather than the Explore or Air, for example) is its ability to cut fabric. Some earlier machines are able to cut fabric, but it has to be bonded first. The Maker can cut fabric – but not just squares or straight lines – thanks to its rotary blade, it can cut out really elaborate stuff! Curves!
Not just that – as it has a pen slot, you can draw seam lines on it as well!
I’ve been drafting my own sewing patterns forever, and this is SO amazing…I have to admit to being rather sloppy when cutting out patterns – especially the tedium of lining and notches. But look how easy this is!
Simply lay the fabric down (the most difficult bit is probably ensuring you cut things the right way round!)
Please do not judge me by the state of my cutting mat! I used the strong grip (however battered it is!) mat for this rather than the pink mat as it’s quite heavy fabric.
You will need:
Washable fabric pen – I used the Cricut one for this, but to be honest, the normal fine line Cricut pens (or any that fit in the machine) would have worked just as well as the seam lines are going to be on the interior of the bag -they won’t ever be seen, or washed!
Fabric 1 (main): 30cm x 80cm (12” x 32”) remnant (we used 100% cotton canvas in royal blue and white horizontal stripe)
Fabric 2 (contrast): 30cm x 140cm (12”x 55”) remnant (we used red oilcloth)
Lining: 30cm x 140cm (12”x 55”) remnant
7cm-wide buckle
1 magnetic fastening (16mm in diameter)
Plastic canvas (4xA4 sheets)
460cm (5 yards) x polyester boning (12mm wide)
60cm (24”) cord for piping (5mm in diameter)
28cm clear PVC flexible plastic tubing (16mm in diameter)
Our ‘Torquay’ ’60s Bag Sewing Pattern
Take the pattern (currently available Cricut sewing patterns are rather sparse and very simplistic – so if you want to try this bag design then it’s here). Simply create a new project, upload the svg and you’ll see this:
As you can see, there are black sections inside each, indicating that these are currently cut-out pieces. These MUST be changed, as they’re simply seam lines! So:
- Ungroup the pieces.
- You then need to click on EVERY SINGLE PIECE THAT ISN’T THE OUTSIDE LINE OF A PIECE and, in the right hand margin, click on the Scissors (or ‘Cut’) icon and change it into the Pen (or ‘Write’) icon and choose a pen. (You won’t see ‘washable fabric pen’ on the list but it doesn’t really matter which one you choose as you’re only using one pen!)
- Once you’re done, each piece will look more like this – with everything but the exterior lines marked is ‘Write’:
- Now, Click and Drag to select a piece INCLUDING its seam markings and any other marked points. Click on Attach. REPEAT FOR EVERY PIECE!
You’re now ready to cut – however, be sure to check your cutting mat before every cut to ensure everything is Attached correctly!
There is also separate sheet of pieces that need to be cut out of plastic canvas by hand (we don’t want to kill our Cricut!) But they’re really simple – it’ll take you all of five minutes! Simply print the file out on a standard printer (all the pieces are smaller than A4 size).
Now it’s all cut…all you need to do is put it together! That’s a slightly longer process, detailed in the instructions in our pattern but…much more pleasurable now that the Cricut has eliminated any need for cutting the pieces by hand!
Want to have a go yourself? Get the CraftAGoGo Torquay Nautical 60s Bag Sewing Pattern for the Cricut.
