Cutting the bags out

[flowejoe]

Maybe this has been brought up before or maybe others have worked it out for themselves ...
I don't cut two pieces of material for the back and front of the bag, I cut one long piece which I fold in half - this then becomes the bottom of the bag and I have one less seam to sew. It seemed so obvious once I thought of it but I had made nearly 30 bags before it occurred to me!

[sazziej]

I try to do this whenever possible.

I cut two pieces if the fabric has a pattern which only runs one way up though!

[beattie]

Hi flowejoe, thanks for writing - how nice to hear from you I think most of us make bags from double-sized bits of fabric whenever the piece is big enough. If the design on the fabric has a definite direction I make the fold instead of a seam at the side instead of the bottom. You just need to offset the handles a little bit so that they are symmetrical in the middle of the bag when it is finished.
If I'm making bags out of a duvet cover I use the corners opposite the opening as they are. That saves two seams - even better!
Why not have a look in the tips section - it's possible to make the ironing speedier by doing two layers at once, for instance, if the material is not too thick.

[Offcuts]

Or you can have the fold at the side if the pattern has a right side up

[beattie]

There are lots of tips in this thread -
http://www.morsbags.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=563
as well as others - have a look, you may get more ideas