New tutorial- Sewing grids on faux leather bags

Have you seen my latest pattern, Heart Harmony? Click here for details. It features woven heart designs on faux leather and many other options.
Here are a few projects:

The back panel of the bags is “quilted” with different grids, so I thought to show you how to quilt these grids because some challenges appear and it is good to know how to avoid them!

Here is a tutorial on how to sew grids on faux leather bags.

If you are a beginner and afraid to sew with such material, I hope this tutorial helps.
This tutorial is full of tips, here is:

TIP #1

I used a faux leather so soft, with a texture like velvet! It is so beautiful but it is not the type recommended for a beginner.

You may need to read this guide if you need more info and tips for sewing faux leather:
The Ultimate Guide to Sewing Faux Leather Bags

TIP #2
Still, I was able to stitch my panels beautifully, thanks to the teflon foot I used (usually I use the walking foot). Also, if your machine allows, adjust the pressure of your pressing foot, it helps a lot!

Here is what you need for sewing a grid on a faux leather panel:
– a piece of faux leather ( I used a piece 20” x 17”)
– a piece of foam; instead of foam, I used a thin layer of felt. If foam is not easily available to you, felt is great!

TIP #3
Use a generous amount of adhesive spray to glue the layers together, this is important: if there is a good bond between the layers, your sewing will be better and easier.

You need masking tape for marking the stitching lines- this is the easier way for me, I do not bother with different kinds of markers.
If you have tapes of different widths, you can create more interesting designs.

If your tape is too wide for your needs, just stick it to the cutting mat and trim it to the desired width.
If it is too narrow, use 2 tapes, next to each other.

How to stitch an on-point, rectangular grid on faux leather bags

Align the 45-degree line of a long ruler (marked with yellow below) with the bottom edge of your piece.

Place a piece of tape against the ruler as shown.

Stitch along the tape, aligning the left edge of the foot with the edge of the tape.

Once the first stitching line is done, align a piece of tape with this stitching line, and stitch the next line, in the same way described above.

Continue sewing in the same way until you stitch the entire panel.

MISTAKE TO AVOID when sewing grids on faux leather bags

Here is a mistake I made many times and now that I understand what it does I avoid it.
Here is what you have to do to avoid this mistake: stitch the entire design in the same direction (either from top to bottom or bottom to top).
It is tempting to sew one line in one direction then rotate the piece and sew the next line in the opposite direction. Or half of the design from top to bottom then rotate the piece and stitch the other half from bottom to top (in this way you don’t have much material under the arm of the machine).
But the problem when sewing in both directions is this: if your panel does not feed evenly and easily under the foot, little puckers might appear. Stitching in different directions from line to line can amplify this effect, and it will be visible in the final piece.

IMPORTANT
If you want to avoid the problem above, you will have to stitch to the right and left of the tape, so keep the needle in the center position and you will be able to sew at the same distance to the right and left of the tape.

Now align one of the short lines of the ruler (marked here with red) with one of the stitching lines. In this way, the ruler stays perpendicular to the sewing lines and you will create perfect rectangles.
To make rectangles you also need to use a narrower tape than the one used in the previous steps. If you use tape in the same width, you will create squares. Place the tape against the ruler as shown.

Sew along the tape.

Continue in the same way until the entire panel is stitched.
Your panel should look like this.

Here is a bag stitched in this way:

How to stitch a 60-degree diamond grid on faux leather bags

Align the 60-degree line of the ruler with the bottom edge of the piece.

Place tape against the ruler as shown.

Sew the entire panel in the way described previously. Sew all lines in the same direction.

Align the 60-degree line of the ruler (marked with tape in this picture) with one of the stitching lines.

Place tape against the ruler.

Sew along the tape.

Align tape with the previous stitched line.

And continue… your panel should look like this.

Here is a bag made with this design (just smaller):

I hope you will give this material a try!
In many bags, you can use faux leather even without interfacing. Faux leather gives a drape and body to a bag like no other fabric+interfacing combo – I tried many!