There is a point in making when the work stops being about putting things together and becomes about being willing to take them apart.

I have been working through the construction of the WOOLBORNE Petite, and this week has been full of those moments.

The zipper installation is finally becoming easier. After doing it again and again, I finally understand the construction concept. I am designing this myself from scratch, and that involves trial and error — getting my head around the math, but also learning how very different materials behave when they are forced to work together.

Fleece is thick, stretchy, and not especially cooperative under a sewing machine. I need to allow larger seam allowances and build that into my calculations. It behaves so much better when I do. I also have to switch back and forth between my industrial sewing machine and my home Brother.

It is not a simple matter of just running a stitch.

Cork has its own personality. It is smooth and resilient, but it wants to spring back to flat. If I need it to hold structure, it needs support.

I accidentally grabbed the cork strip without SF101 interfacing instead of the prepared piece and immediately saw the difference. The unsupported cork began to wrinkle while the stabilized piece stayed smooth.

That is huge when I am using the cork as the mouth of the bag and part of the zipper structure.

A clear revelation.

Noted.

Cotton, on the other hand, is a lovely constant.

Thank you, dear cotton.

And then there was the zipper itself. I understand the mechanics better now, and I am definitely getting more comfortable with them. Zippers have always been a nemesis of mine — zippers and buttonholes — going all the way back to when I was a kid sewing.

So I sat in the studio and ripped the zipper out.

And then sewed it back in.

Not using a pattern or relying on someone else's construction knowledge gives me a much better understanding of how things are built — and why.

I see where the fleece resists, where the cork needs support, where something needs more room, and where an idea that seemed perfectly reasonable in my head simply does not work once it becomes a physical object.

The materials have their own nature.

Unique by Nature — my WOOLBORNE tagline.

Very true here, too.

So I rip out the stitches, make the adjustment, and try again.

Eventually, I will get through the construction problems and back to the part I am really waiting for — deciding what this bag wants to become.

In the meantime:

Stitch. Rip. Adjust. Repeat.

~ Karen