Having sewn the side seams, I now have six vaguely bag-shaped pieces. Today is a pressing day. (Or depressing if, like me, you always burn your fingers on the steam.) First step: get the iron heated up and ready to steam. The canvas doesn’t hold the press very well without heavy steaming.

First of all, turn all the bags right-side out and press the side seams. Then turn all the bags right-side in again.

Fold 1/2" all around the top of the bag toward the outside (wrong side of the fabric), and press it down firmly. This is a pain, but it will save you on pinning when you sew.

Now fold another 1" over all around the top of the bag, in the same direction as the first fold, and press it down firmly. What you have now is a 1" hem with no raw edge showing, on what will be the inside of the completed bag.

Find the center of each side of the bag by folding the two sides of the bag together and marking the center point on the front and back with pins.

On the front of one bag, insert each end of one handle under the folded hem so that the end is flush with the fold and the inside edge of the handle is 2 1/2" away from the center pin. (There will be 5" total between the handle ends.) Make sure you don’t twist the handle. Repeat this step with the back of the bag, and then repeat for the front and back of each remaining bag.

Tomorrow I’ll sew the hems and the handles in place.