Don't be Melon-choly (Kwik Sew 0216 Watermelon Purse Review)

Hello everyone! This week's post is another fruity-themed project. Fruits are my favorite food group, and this past week I was able to celebrate one of my favorite summer fruits with this cute bag pattern from Kwik Sew. In this post, I'll review Kwik Sew 0216, describe the sewing process, and give my overall thoughts on the finished product. 

THE PATTERN 

Kwik Sew 216 includes patterns for three different fruit slice shaped purses. Bag A is the smallest bag and is shaped like a lemon slice. Bag B is the medium sized purse shaped like an orange slice, and Bag C, the option I made, is shaped like a watermelon slice. Note: An alternative number for this pattern is 684, which my own pattern has printed on the cover in place of 216. I believe this is the display number for Kwik Sew patterns in the rotating racks (at least when I bought it from Hancock Fabrics a few years ago). 

Available here.

On all versions of the bag, the fruit slice look is achieved by applique-ing fabrics onto the main pattern fabric piece. Fusible web is used to aid in this process. As per the pattern instructions,the main pieces are interlined with fleece, but I actually opted to use a thick home decor interfacing instead. I felt like this gave the bag more support than fleece alone, but a thick fleece or fabric may work just as well.

This is what the piece looked like before stitching anything down or applying the rickrack. 

Normally when I machine applique something, I use EZ Steam II, the double sided pressure sensitive fusible web that's a little thicker. I've always enjoyed using this type, but I know others dislike its thickness. But the sheets of EZ Steam II I had were not large enough for me to use with the red piece on the watermelon. So, I was able to try and compare Wonder Under for the first time. Wonder Under is thinner overall and it leads to a less rigid finished product. This would be suitable when working on a project with many layers of applique or a lightweight project. It's one downside is that I found the paper backing harder to peel and separate from the glue webbing. Also, I found that webbing didn't feel quite as secure as the EZ Steam II webbing. Overall, either one works. I prefer the stiff and secure feel of EZ Steam II. Both products are made by Pellon and generally work the same, so I recommend trying both!

Here's what the two sides of the bag look like after the zipper is sewn in to connect them. Also, I started using an adjustable zipper foot for sewing non-invisble zippers, and it has made my life so much easier! 

The bag is lined on the inside and the inside seams are finished with bias binding. The pattern calls for 1/4" binding. Even after trimming and trying to grade the seams a bit, the 1/4" binding wasn't wide enough to fit over the thicker portions of the inside seams. This process could have been made easier by using a bias binding foot, which I don't have. I used an open toe foot and Wonder Clips to hold the binding in place, but I ended up hand sewing some of it. Oh well, you live and you learn! I probably found this to be the most difficult step. I'll definitely stick with wider bias binding in the future!

You can see all the problem areas if you look too closely. 

This was my first time using a Kwik Sew pattern in quite some time, and I always appreciate the white pattern paper with colored lines. I also really appreciate the instruction tips and illustration style. That being said, for this pattern specifically, I found a few minor errors in the instructions. First, there is a type for the zipper for Bag C. On the outside of the pattern, it lists an 18" zipper as required for the watermelon bag, which is the correct zipper length. However, on the instructions for Bag C, it says a 12" zipper is required and gives instructions for shortening the zipper. It's obvious this portion of the instructions was copy and pasted from the section for Bag B.

The second mistake I found is the lack of reference steps for Bag C as well. All three of the bags share steps, and the majority of the bag is sewn the same way for each version. So, for example, the instructions for Bag B start with "...follow Bag A procedure, Steps 1 through 6, omitting rick rack." Bag C lacks these kind of instructions, so the section for Bag C doesn't actually explain how to sew the bag together. If you have sewing experience, it's not really hard to figure out by flipping through the previous pages. Overall, the construction process is fairly simple and straightforward, but there are a few typos that may be confusing to a beginner. For this reason, I wouldn't recommend this pattern to a beginner. However, I'm very grateful that this pattern exists, and I think it's a unique and fun design. 

Here's a couple pictures of the completed bag.



I didn't stuff the bag for any of the photos, so I think it holds its shape decently well. It does occasionally wrinkle a little bit in a few places though- the 3D seams are a little tough to press.

You can more clearly see the wedge slice shape in this photo. 

Also, all of the fabric and materials used in this project is from JoAnn Fabrics. The fabric is all basic cotton!

OUTFIT DETAILS

I paired this watermelon dress with my fruit dress by Lazy Oaf. As you can probably see, it's a denim dress with chenille patches shaped like bananas, strawberries, and watermelons. It's one of my favorite and most comfortable dresses. I probably wear it once a week when the weather permits (which is frequently here). I also paired the outfit with white and nude platform sandals and put red and white heart ribbons in my hair.



Here's a couple more views of the bag.





CONCLUSION

Overall, I'm generally happy with how the bag turned out. I'd recommend the pattern, but it's not a beginner level project. The different fruit shapes are perfect for summer and will complement any summer fruit outfits well.



Thank you so much for reading this far. Let me know if you have any comments or questions down below.



If you're interested in seeing more of my fruit projects, click here.
If you're interested in seeing more of my Kwik Sew reviews, click here.