Mending What the Dog Chewed Up (Part Two)

In the last post, we looked at a technique on How to Mend What the Dog Chewed Up, Part One.

In that scenario, I mended a few small spots on two Vera Bradley bags that a customer brought to me to fix.

Her dog had chewed them both to pieces.

Today, let’s look at one of the bags.

It has bigger issues.

This big bite came out of the pocket on the front of the bag.

Good job, Fido!

This one needs some serious surgery.

You can see that there is a binding on the edge of the pocket in the photo below.

So, we go to Plan B (Technique #2).

First, I hand sewed the area just to draw the raw edges closer together.

Because there were holes all over this chew area, I needed to cover the bite marks up!

I had some leftover seam binding in my notions box. You may find something similar in yours or you may have a scrap piece of fabric that you can use to cover this hole.

I like the seam binding because it comes with a pre folded edge to it.

Also, there are no raw edges to deal with.

But if fabric is all you have, just press the edges under like you see in the photo below:

I cut the bias tape a little longer than the area I needed to cover.

Then, I trimmed the width, because it was wider than I needed.

That’s the thing about alterations. You can use all sorts of odds and ends and make them work.

Then I stitched the long, unfolded edge of the seam binding to the edge of the bag.

I sewed it right sides together and then flipped the scrap fabric over to make sure I had covered the torn edge with my stitches.

Then I flipped the fabric patch to the other side of the bag and pinned it in place:

Then I stitched close to the edge.

Next, using the stitching technique from the first bag, on Mending What the Dog Chewed Up, Part 1, I tightly stitched the ends as shown.

If you don’t like how the tight stitches look at the ends, you can always turn under those short ends before you sew on the patch and then the last step would be to stitch straight across those ends.

But, I felt this bag needed the extra reinforcement.

And do you know what?

The customer called and profusely thanked me for making the bag look so good.

Wasn’t that sweet of her?

That kind of consideration just makes your day, doesn’t it?

Now, go and fix that ripped and torn item you’ve had sitting around for weeks or months.

It will make your day!