Straight off the bat I decided to do something that might seem a bit crazy to attempt… I wanted to pattern match the underside of the flap on the outer bag. If you look at the photo above then you’ll see just how busy this fabric is, I wasn’t deterred by this though because it really is super simple. I wanted the Marauders Map design to be front and centre on the outer of the bag which is why I wanted to pattern match the underside of the pocket flap to keep that flow of the fabric pattern. I started by drawing the seam allowances onto the pattern pieces so I knew what I was going to lose in the seam allowances when I started sewing, it’s important to note here that you need to do this with the curved edge of the pocket flap pattern piece at the top and the straight piece at the bottom (the way the flap would look when it’s opened) because this is where the flap will join to the bag. I used a light box underneath the fabric and then placed my pattern pieces on top and picked some key elements that I could trace onto the pattern pieces to help me match up my fabric later. To get the pocket flap lining matched up to the main body I took pattern piece A and placed it on the fabric matching up those reference points that I traced onto the pattern piece earlier and then I placed the pattern piece for the pocket flap on top matching up the centre points and the seam allowance lines I drew on earlier, then holding down the pattern piece for the pocket flap I removed pattern piece A and voila that “should” give you a fairly decently pattern matched pocket flap!! I matched the main body (pattern piece A) and the main pocket piece (pattern piece B) as well for that completely seamless pattern look using the same method, I just placed pattern piece A on top of the fabric once again lining up those reference points, then I put pattern piece B on top of pattern piece A matching up the bottom edges and then holding down pattern piece B I slowly removed pattern piece A and then traced a few key reference points onto pattern piece B (that way I can use it to match up the magnetic snap pocket too).

If you haven’t seen Harry Potter then the Marauders Map is a magical object that is a plain piece of parchment until you tap it with a wand and say “I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good” then that plain piece of parchment turns into an interactive map of Hogwarts that shows everyone’s movements around the castle by showing disappearing footprints and ribbons showing their names. With this in mind I decided to try incorporate it into my bag… because the pocket flap comes down and covers up quite a significant portion of the design on the main bag I thought this was the ideal place to incorporate this phrase and also the perfect opportunity to try out some fabric painting on cork. I cut out the cork trim pieces very economically so I had very little wastage however there were a few odd size and shape scraps that I was able to do some tests on, I’m pleased to say that if you want to do some customizing then you have few options here on how to transfer and  execute your design. 

If you can draw well or your desired design is simple and you feel confident enough then you can just go straight ahead and freehand the design straight onto the cork and either just go straight in with the fabric paint or draw it on and then paint over it. For a paint free option I tried to use heat transfer vinyl and while it did adhere to the cork it kinda went a bit wrinkly (as you can see in the photo above) I’m not sure if it’s because I did a few layers in this design but you always have to keep in mind that it could peel off, because cork isn’t woven the glue from the heat transfer vinyl will just sit on the top of the cork so if you want to try this then definitely test it out using your chosen design, you could possibly add the heat transfer vinyl after the bag is constructed, then you don’t risk ruining the design when you turn the bag the right way out but this will be at your own risk as it’s not exactly something that you can test. Another option if you want to use the fabric paint but aren’t that confident drawing is carbon paper or possibly a iron transfer pen/pencil (I haven’t tried this method personally because I don’t own one so 100% test this out first! But I can’t see why it wouldn’t work) If you’re using cork like me and you want to use the carbon paper method then you’ll need to press down a bit harder than you normally would, because the cork is slightly spongy it needs more pressure to transfer, I wanted the phrase to be in a specific font so that’s why I used the carbon paper rather than free handing my design. With all of these methods you will want washi tape to hold the cork and the design still, I secured mine in 3 layers, first I taped my cork piece to my cutting mat, then I taped the carbon paper on top and then I finally taped my printed design on top, this might sound a bit overkill but I genuinely didn’t want to risk any of the layers moving and ruining my design!!

When it came down to painting the designs I used Deco Art Crafter’s Acrylic and Glamour Dust mixed with their Crafter’s Acrylic Fabric Medium, this meant I had complete control over the colours I wanted because I was able to mix them before adding the fabric medium, you can of course use any fabric paint just make sure you test it first! My initial plan was just to have the phrase on the pocket flap, some of the disappearing footprints and then a name ribbon…  Well… I might have got a little carried away when the paint was out… and before I knew it every single piece of cork had something painted on it… including the strap!!! Some fabric paints need to be heat set, this particular one had to be left to cure for 24-48 hours then I  covered it and ran the iron  over it on  the 2 dot setting for maybe 10 seconds? Obviously check the instructions for whatever paint you choose to use and make sure to test even this stage on your cork scraps, you  don’t want to risk anything going wrong just because you didn’t run enough tests.

If you’ve got this far then hooray and thank you for sticking with me and reading this far, I hope you have found this post informative and inspiring!! Keep your eyes peeled for part 2 of this blog post where I’ll be talking about the construction, reviewing the pattern, the hardware and showing off the finished bag… I know what you’re all thinking… did the pattern matching work?? How crazy did she go with the fabric paint?? Well all these questions will be answered and more, stay tuned!!

Lily x

"Thanks Lily for a great blog post and we at R.j.F.Makes are looking forward to the finish bag post in the next blog post."

"Drop us a  comments below and let us know if you like the look of changing plain simple cork into your own design and making the bag more your style."

"watch out for next weeks blog post where we will be picking up the blog post 3 on the Quilt along with Becky on the Bird Panel quilt"