McCall’s 5600 Review: Sew a Hanging Garment Bag

The completed hang up bag!

After my successful attempt at making a Vera Bradley knock off duffel bag I decided to tackle a hanging garment bag.  Once again I just couldn’t justify spending so much money on something that I could probably make myself.  😉  I chose to use McCall’s Pattern 5600 which also includes various organizers for your closet.  (Someday I plan on sewing a shoe organizer or purse organizer.)  For this project I sewed View A-the longer length hanging garment bag.  Since I usually take a dress or two along with me when I travel this just made sense.

I lined the inside with a soft flannel fabric.

I did find myself very confused about what exactly it meant by sew-in interfacing.  I tried repeatedly to contact someone at McCall Pattern Company and ask them but they were no help at all.  I couldn’t talk to an actual person after calling three times and could not get an answer when I emailed them.  Lesson learned: stick with Simplicity patterns.  They have the best customer service ever!  I have called Simplicity at least 3 times this year with a question and they have been super helpful.  I ended up using a soft green flannel as the sewin-in interfacing.  You could also use regular sew-in interfacing (Pellon type) but then it wouldn’t be as pretty when you opened it up.  It just seems like it should be lined with fabric in my opinion.

Sewing in the zipper was the hardest step of this project.

I also had a VERY difficult time sewing in the huge scary zipper. ( Once again it would have been great if McCall’s had a 1 800 help number.)  I sewed the zipper in WRONG and had to rip it out!  Yuck!  I ended up sewing step 5 after step 1 (whipstitching across zipper).  Then I skipped steps 2,3,4,6,7 and sewed it my way.  I folded over the fabric 1 1/4″ and then sewed in the zipper.  Much less complicated this way.

I was so pleased at how the upper front turned out.

Once I correctly inserted the zipper the rest was pretty easy.  After step 9 I added a step.  I flipped the piece over and sewed along the edge and again 1/4″ from the edge.  I also found it helpful for step 11 to be careful not to sew across the small circles.  I also sewed the opening at the top by hand.

The finished product.

Overall I was very pleased with the finished project despite the difficulties with the zipper.  My only regret is that I did not add handles to the top and bottom of the bag.  I doubt I will be making this pattern again anytime soon but if I do I will be sure to add the handles.

I couldn’t resist adding this sweet picture of my happy helper. (He thinks sewing is so much fun.)

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