This Conference sew along is PAUSED For the Moment.
I'm so excited because the first ever So Sew Easy Sew-Along launches today. It's been months in the making and finally you all get to join me in this project. Let me explain to you about the bag we will sew and about how the Sew-Along will work.
The finished size of the bag is approx 12 inches wide, by 4 inches deep and 10 inches tall.
The schedule
The Sew-Along will last for 10 days, with new lessons being released each day, comprising the pattern, materials list, tips on interfacing and then step by step sewing instructions each day with photos and a video.
All throughout we'll be sharing what we make at each stage, showing off our fabric choices, asking questions and sharing advice over in the Sewing Chat Group and I am really looking forward to it so much. I want to see what fabrics you'll be using, ask us if you aren't sure which combo works best, and following along with your progress each day until we all share our finished bags there at the end. So if you aren't already a member, come and join us now.
Sewing Chat Group
The schedule is flexible and lasts for 10 days whenever you sign up, so if you don't read this until next week, next month, next year, you can still join us at any time and work on the bag. Of course you may miss in the big sharing of bags 10 days from now, but that's OK, we'll always be delighted to see what you make, whenever you get it finished.
Pick your own pricing – and why…..
Just recently you may have noticed that some of the downloads have been ‘pay what you think it's worth to you'. Through our chat group I've become increasingly aware of how the internet has changed the world, brought us all closer together in some ways, and yet in real practical ways we are still all a world apart.
Just discussing the price of fabric, we find in Singapore it seems like a bargain, while in the UK it seems really expensive, when we convert all of those prices to our local currency. $20 for a tote bag pattern / sewing lesson in the US/UK might seem quite reasonable, while to others in different parts of the world, that might be completely out of reach. We all love to sew, and I want to bring that enjoyment to as many people as possible, without restriction based on your comparative wages and cost of living. It's important for me to be aware of how my ideas can be made affordable to as many people as possible.
Readers come from all over the world
So far this year, the site has registered visitors from 235 different locations. Visitors from closer to home in the USA and Caribbean and then much further away such as Antarctica, Kiribati, Eritrea, Togo, Bhutan to Tuvalu. (We tried to think of every possible country and there were visits from all of them, but not one visit from Vatican City. I guess they don't sew their own clothes. Or maybe they are big fans and Google just doesn't show them separately?)
So this tote bag pattern and sew-along is on a ‘pick your price' basis so that I hope everyone can take part. Pick a price anywhere from $3 to $20. The course content is exactly the same whichever price option you pick. I hope its not confusing, and that I will see you ALL there sewing along with me.
To sign up for the Conference Tote Bag Pattern Sew-Along
There is a brand new site where I'll be hosting the sew-along and also some future sewing classes too (watch out for these coming up), on a new site for Courses-So-Sew-Easy. If you click in the box below, you'll be taken over to the site and the page for the Conference Tote Bag. My silly video is there on top to tell you all about it if you've not watched above.
Read through the explanations, then scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and pick your price from the drop down box here…
You'll get an email confirming your purchase and login details. Then you'll also get a welcome email from me, giving you the login link, and some screen shots about how to navigate around the new site so you don't miss a thing.
Then I'll be dropping into your inbox every day for the following 9 days to tell you about the latest lessons released so you can login and check out the next steps in our sew-along. Thank you so much for reading ALL this info. Sorry there's a lot here but I wanted to make sure no one was going to get lost along the way.
I'm very much looking forward to sewing-along with you all soon.
I really would love for you to join me in the 10-day sew-along project for the Conference Tote Bag - everyone is welcome. Click to come on over to the courses site and pick your own price. Pattern included.
how can i sign up?
Hello Can I still do this bag?
Not at the moment Roxanne, I am having difficulties with the site.
Hi Myra,
I was fishing around and found the conference bag tote! I have just started sewing and have 3 unfinished projects in the works! I am already addicted to fabric. Anyway, I love this tote. Working full time and a very busy after work schedule, I’m sewing in little bits and pieces. If I purchase the course, how long do I have to go back and forth to it? I’m a Continuous subscriber to Blueprints and like that I can go back time and again to the videos. Can I do the same here? By the way, $20. is still a bargain. Thanks, Rosemarie
You can go back after the end of the sew along but please write down your email and password so you don’t have to get a new one in a year from now. What you can not do is watch the whole thing in the first day, it is a sew along so it takes a few days to finish the project.
Would love to make another conference bag but am unable to log into the site. Have I left it too long to access the course again?
Dear madam,
Are you have it as seamstress job online at home.
Where are you located Norisah?
Hello. I purchased the conference bag sew a long but when I try to download the pattern etc I just get a page full of letters and symbols. Please please help. Thank you
Hi Georgina, thanks for getting in touch. We’ve had many thousands of students through the conference bag sew a long course with no issues so I’m pretty sure it’s all working ok. Are you doing this only from a mobile device? It should still all work but that may contribute to an issue. Can you try from a PC?
Georgina-Same happened to me. SAVE the file, then open with Adobe Acrobat.
I paid to join the Conference Tote Bag Pattern Sew-Along mid December… I had some life things happen and never did get to start the sew-along. When I was able to get back in the swing of things I can not find any e-mails from you to begin. Is there a way I can get in the sew-along and pattern? I have two addresses but did look into both and did not see it in either of them. One is sewingbysherry@bellsouth.net and the other is sewingbysherry6@bellsouth.net
Hi Sherry, not sure what happened there but I have added you manually to the course. You should get the emails now and I’ll send you a separate email with the logins. Please enjoy!
I previously made the conference tote with the sew along. I loved, but I don’t have the pattern. I want to make another one as this one is finally wearing out. I’ve tried to login with no success. Can you help?
Hi Debra, unfortunately, I can’t find that email address nor name in the class list. Where you using a different address or name at the time? Please let me know and I can reset your password.
Love the look and design of this bag! I registered for the sew along and would like to go much faster to complete this project as a graduation gift and am under a time crunch. Is it possible to get access to the whole course at once rather than over the 10 days?
Hi Dawn, the material in the emails is the same as in each day/step in the online course. You can progress forward or back up at your own pace in the online course. If you’d like to finish in one day, you can certainly do it all at once. Hope that helps, good luck and happy sewing!
When I attempt to go to the next step it on line tells me it it will be available on December 12th. Am I missing something?
Please try again now and let me know if you have access to all the days. Thanks and kind regards, Mayra
Got it now. Thanks so much for all of your help Mayra!
I paid for Conference Bag Sewalong through my paypal,but can’t find a way to watch the sewalong, maybe it is no longer available,I noticed the date on the post is quite some time ago.
Hi Judy, the sewalong is definitely still available and many people are going through the course every day. I can see your payment in Paypal but you don’t see that you claimed your class. I’ll send you an email with the details.
I too am having trouble getting logged in – it does not recognize my email even though I have followed your emails for a long time, downloaded free patterns and purchased patterns thru craftsy. It also does not seem to have a place to create a new sign in. HELP
Hi Rusty, I sent you an email separately but you need to register for the sewalong here if you want to follow it: https://courses-so-sew-easy.com/course/the-conference-tote-bag-sew-along/
I just made a payment for the conference bag pattern of $5. Im from India. paid through Paypal and got a confirmation. The money is deducted form my credit card as well. But the payment on paypal didn’t lead me to any link or id. can you pl help. the payee on my credit card shows “SOSEWEASYPT”
Hi, Parna, you need to log into the course, PayPal and the course are not the same accounts. The info you gave to Paypal is not shared with us, make a username and a password to be able to log in. Kind Regards, Mayra
Hi, I love the size and shape of this bag! I don’t have the internet at home. Can I make this bag by reading the emails?
No, sadly is not possible.
Boy, I’m having a hard time getting the contrast pieces to fit on the required 3/4 yd. of fabric. Is there a cutting layout for the contrast pieces?
Do I need to download a pattern, or is it given in the 10 day sew along?
Hi Sidney, the pattern is part of the sew along. Hope you enjoy it.
Would like to know if you can start this anytime, do you have to do it all in ten days, and can you go back on parts you done quite don’t understand? Thanks
Hi Estela, you can start this course any time. You will get emails for 10 days with the daily course work but you can take as long (or as short) as you want to complete the course. You will have continued access to the course forever. Hope that helps!
Hello from Texas, USAI just bought this tutorial. looking forward to doing the conference bag. I want to add extra padding for my laptop/tablet. I make the cross body bag. It was a hit with my daughter, she ask for one for each season. I’ve made 3 so far. She uses it has a diaper bag too.
I have two problems, i don’t know where to log-in. I logged out and now I can’t figure out how to get back in without going through this page. My other problem is, I can’t print the PDF files either, Can you email them to me, thanks
Hi Sandi and hello to Texas! To log in, just go directly to our Courses site at: http://courses-so-sew-easy.com/ and log in from there. Please let me know the issue with the PDF files. The ones you can download from the site are the same I would email. I have checked them and they all seem fine. Kind regards and happy sewing.
This sew along is what gave me the confidence to carry on and make numerous other bags and wallets.
Absolutely brilliant
That’s fantastic Linda. Great to hear that. We have a lot of other patterns on the site that you might want to try. Here’s a link to our showcase: https://so-sew-easy.com/showcase/
Happy sewing.
I’m so happy to see a sliding scale fee set-up! Life’s not always so easy (money and otherwise). I love getting lost in a good pattern (sewing or knitting) or a good book. This looks like it will satisfy so much of what I like about learning something new! Thanks so much for sending sunshine my way (it’s snowing here today – MA is April; all is normal!!)
Hi Lynn, please enjoy. I hope you like the course. Kind regards, Mayra
WOW Lynn, where are you? Snow in April? I thought it was spring!
Hi Mayra, I’m in Massachusetts, known for “don’t like the weather? wait 10 minutes and it will change…” and it has! We have about 2″ of snow and now the sun is breaking through! The temperature is supposed to stay low and chilly. We’ll see…
I would love to make this bag, but it won’t let me order anything.
What am I doing wrong?
Hi Debra, please just click on the orange link in the pink box towards the bottom of the post. This will take you to the Courses site where you can purchase and sign up for the Sew-Along. Please let me know if you’re having any further difficulties.
Hi! I’m new here, but I’ve been reviewing some of your posts and really enjoying them. I started sewing a few years ago, but am still learning. I think I want to try this tote – summer travel plans are my incentive to find the time. I do want to ask, because I ran into a little trouble with another project, if my little Brother LS590 would be suitable? It’s a game little machine, but doesn’t have the power for dense materials. I ran into trouble before with multiple layers of fusible fleece. And would I need pieces larger than 18″x20″? I have a fat quarter stash that is embarrassing considering I haven’t yet attempted a quilt. But some of them would make a really fun tote.
Hi McB,
Have you tried to use a walking foot?
Would this bag be suitable for carrying a laptop, please?
Hi Jacquie, the bag will definitely hold a laptop. Perhaps you could put some extra padding in the main compartment to further protect it. Depending on the size of the laptop, you could certainly carry it one of the side pockets but you’d want to be careful of potential theft I suppose. It’s a very versatile design. You can really carry pretty much what ever you want.
Hi ..what a beautiful bag to make. Congratulations to all the peoples lovely bags. Good tutor as well . I am from South Africa -Centurion and only now noticed detail on this course. Is it still available.. how.. and the cost of it. Greetings on a sunny day in SA, Mariana
Hi Mariana, the course is definitely still available. Please go to this link and sign up: https://so-sew-easy.com/conference-tote-bag-pattern/ There will be a series of daily emails and videos to guide you through the project. Please enjoy!
Hi Myara.
Thank you for your reply.
I have now tried many times using your link to the coarse. Fortunately I get to ‘Join sew-a-long’ at which point I don’t get any further than that- no respons at all.
Any other way to do it?
Greetings
Mariana
Hi Mariana, sorry you’re having difficulties. We’ve had 40+ people sign up over the weekend so I’m confident the systems are working well. In the article you linked from, towards the bottom of the page, there’s a big pink box. In that box, click on the link that says “Join the Sew-Along”. That will take you to the courses-so-sew-easy.com site. Otherwise, just click here: http://courses-so-sew-easy.com/course/the-conference-tote-bag-sew-along/ Please do let me know if you’re still having any problems. I know you’ll love the course so anxious to get you involved.
Yepee. I eventually made it..:-) that is now to register for the course.. 🙂
The problem is not on your side Myara. I now used another internet path and success story.
Thank for your patience.
Greetings
Mariana
That’s great Mariana. Terrific to have you along. Please enjoy the course. We welcome your thoughts and feedback.
Just saw all the pictures of this bag. It looks great. Can’t wait to try it. It will be my first bag. Have lots of stash mateerial to choose from, but will have to wait till next month to get the pattern (soc.sec. only goes so far,you know and doctor’s visits add up). I’ll definitely see you on the first of the month.
Looking forward to it. There have been plenty sewing along as their first bag so I know you’ll do great, hopefully pick up some new skills and knowledge and have a great bag at the end of it.
Hallo Deby. I am all the way from SA. Although I am not going to make the Conference Tote now I really enjoy the sew-along. You are a very good teacher and I already learned a lot of things I can use in other projects. I am staying in a small town and there is not anyone around to help me with sewing, so I depend on the Internet to learn. Thanks for your sew-along. Me and my husband are sewing mainly Messenger Bags, but are now starting to sew other items like yoga mat bags. Thanks again and I will surely follow you.
I’m just trying to catch up with this sew-a-long and am struggling to figure out how the outside pockets go together. I’m not trying to jump ahead, but my feature fabric has a large print that I’m going to want to centre on the pockets. There are four front pocket pieces – do they all show from the outside?
Only two will show on the outside, the other two pieces are the inside of the pocket and can’t be seen to you don’t have to worry about the design placement on those.
I am away from home looking after my parents (Mum is in hospital) so am missing my sewing machine! Just love your patterns Debbie and I am looking forward to making this when I finally get home!
Awesome job!
The Sew-along will always be open so you can join at a later date too. Hope your Mum is better soon.
oh it’s a shame the chat group is only on facebook.
I did try another seaprate Forum and it never worked, people didn’t visit and they all asked for FB instead. Sorry, its the only place where its easy for a large group of people to all chat and share together. You can still take part in the sewalong though and make the bag.
I swore I’d never go on FB after hearing so many bad things about it. But with the So Sew Easy chat being there, I had to use fb or not be part. It was the best thing ever, Lynda, because Deby’s site is brilliant and you don’t have to look at anything else.
Thanks Marg, I agree. You can just use the sewing chat group and ignore anything else that goes on there.
Hi Deby. Enjoy your site. Will the sew along classes be available to participants even after the sew along is over? In other words will I be able to go back and review parts as needed in the future? Thanks for all you do!
Absolutely Robin. As long as the site is there, you’ll be able to access it again at any time.
Frustrated, can’t seem to get in. Asks for password, is it Sew so easy or Facebook
Hi Jane, you have to purchase and register first and then you login with the user name and password you picked when you registered. Have you clicked the purchase button and registered your details? If you are stuck, drop me an email and I can give you a complete step by step.
Hi Debu, I’m so excited to work on this bag. I love the option to pay what you can afford. If anyone is struggling with being able to buy fabric and supplies to make this bag I’d be happy/willing to send what it takes for this project. Please just contact or reply!
That’s an awesome offer Chrissee, thank you for your generosity.
I’m wondering how many pages the pattern is. I don’t have the internet at home. I’ll have to travel to the library, get on the internet, and pay to print the pattern (per page). Also, are the bag pieces measurements, or bits to tape together? (Directions? I don’t know how.) Hope I’m not the only newby! Thanks, Lodi
There is only 1 page that needs to be printed, and even that one you can skip if you just want to sketch out the simple shape yourself.
That is very doable! Best of luck with your new project launch! Lodi
Wish I could sew along now, but am trying desperately to finish a baby quilt for my next grandchild. I want to have it done so I can send it with someone who will be visiting, since I don’t dare trust it to the postal service here. We live in South America and our daughter is in the U.S. Our visitors will take the quilt back with them and mail it to her — I do trust the U.S. postal service 🙂
But I have pinned it for later!
Look forward to seeing everyone’s version!
I can’t seem to be able to contribute to their the
class don’t know what I’m doing wrong
Can you drop me an email Brenda – deby@so-sew-easy.com and I’ll try to talk you through the steps. If you are getting any error messages etc, please let me know.
Sounds like great fun. If I can get into the site.
Let me know if you have any troubles, but hopefully it will all be straightforward.
Hi Deby!
I so wish I could join you on THIS sew-along!!! But I am in the middle of wedding preparations for my daughter. My dress, the flower girl dress and all the fabric flowers you can imagine, including the bride’s bouquet. As soon as I am finished I WANT to join you on one of your guided sew-along’s! So, PLEASE keep them coming when you can! You are an amazing teacher/instructor! Awesome project! Have fun!!!!
Sincerely,
Danita
Your pal in Maine, US
P.S. You look lovely, by the way! 🙂
Hi Danita, sounds like you have your work cut out! Even if you can’t sew along at the same time as others, this will always be open for you to join it later on, so don’t think you’ll miss out. I still want to see your bag when the wedding is over 🙂
Do you have to be a Facebook user to participate?
Not at all Elaine, you can take part in the sew-along with out the Chat Group, but being a member there does help us all to stay in touch, ask questions and share our projects. If you aren’t on FB you can always email me with any questions that arise.
When is the first lesson? I’m just going to be heading out for holidays but might still want to participate down the road.
The actual sewing won’t start for a few days yet, but if you sign up now, it will all drip drip out to you a day at a time, and then when you are ready to sew, the lot will already be live and you can sew at your own pace then, slow or fast. Have a good holiday.
I’m interested in exploring the bag class possibility. It’s been so long since I registered for your site, I don’t remember my sign in name or password. My email address didn’t work for retrieving my password. Suggestions?
This is a new site launched today Sheila so you won’t have an existing login for it, so you just sign up as a new user. If you get stuck, drop me an email to deby@so-sew-easy.com and I’ll try to help out.
That sounds like a lot of fun – can’t wait for the first lesson!