Lisa has a lot of information on interfacing. She has information on every component of bag making that you can think of.
In fact, that is why I love this book so much (from her blog post of 9/13):
"My bag making book is written more with a focus on bag making techniques. Before I sat down and did any writing I looked through as many of the other bag making books that I could get my mitts on. On reading them I noticed that none of these books concentrated on how to make the various parts of a bag. They were more likely to be 'how to make 20-30 bag designs'. I wanted to do something completely different to the other bag books so I wrote about how to construct the different parts of a bag; like how to do/how to understand linings, pockets, handles, structure, piping, interfacing and stuff like that."
I buy probably 95 percent of my fabric from my favorite online retailers. Then I use my 40% coupon to buy the non-fun but necessary stuff from Joann's. Here's the thing about interfacing. At least at my local Joann's, it is behind the counter so you have to tell the clerk what you want (lightweight, medium, nonwoven, etc.) and hope they are well-versed in interfacing knowledge. What I really want to do is go behind the counter and feel everything for myself. Barring that, I would like to have a stack of bolts brought to me so I can be the judge of what I want. Not a good idea when you have a line of people behind you with their little pull-off number in their hands, waiting for their turn, and you are standing there saying, "Hmmm... which is better? A or B? 1 or 2?" You know, kind of like when you are getting your eyes tested for glasses...
Lisa also has an online shop where she stocks all the components necessary to make fabulous bags, so of course, she has all the interfacing, etc. She lives in the UK, and while I certainly wouldn't be opposed to ordering from her shop, I started a little google search to see if I could find something comparable here in the US. She stocks a brand called Vilene. In searching a little further, it looks like Vilene and Pellon are quite similar. And then I found this on Amy Butler's website: a comparison chart. And you would be amazed at how excited I was to find that. Apparently I'm very easily excitable...
Amy wrote the foreword for Lisa's book, and aside from Amy and Lisa ringing my doorbell one morning and saying, "Oh, you're sewing the Fashionista bag today? Well, here you go. This is the interfacing that you will need for that project," and handing me a nice little package tied in a pretty ribbon (and then me fainting from the excitement of Amy and Lisa at my front door), this comparison chart is exactly what I'm looking for.
What kinds of things keep you from starting projects you really would like to attempt?
pillow available from Raindrops23
Do tell....
