4. To finish the job you will sew the lining and the hem down on each side leaving the
bag open along the seam thus creating the secret opening needed for the effect. Tuck the lining under the hem of the outer bag and sew the hem down by hand.
The nice thing about sewing it down is you can just position the
material to the right place and make a stitch or two without worrying about keeping everything
in place as you work. In other words, I just work on a small section at a time and reposition the
lining under the hem as I sew. Keep the original shape of the bag as you sew the hem down.
5. The Stitch used to sew down the hem on each side of the bag is one designed to
leave the minimum amount of thread showing on the outside of the bag. This hides the
thread from view while displaying the purse. I move the needle to a new stitching spot while
the needle is on the inside of the purse. My stitches are only about 1/8" apart. I push the needle through the hem to the outside of the bag, then I push the needle back to the inside
by putting the needle back into the material very close to where it came out. This leaves a
very small stitch on the outside of the bag. I move over an 1/8" and do it again. I sew the
hem down on one side of the bag before moving over to the other side of the bag. I make
sure the hem I am sewing down can't stick out to catch the cigar or gum going past it during
the secret loading. You want the hem to stay down flat. I take plenty of time to make several
trips across that hem to make sure it is down and down flat! I finish up over at the corner
and use a lock stitch to finish off with. I also stitch the sides of the bag at that time to make
sure it can't continue to rip open along the seam. I put several stitches from side to side
over there. That strengthens the bag so it won't rip open during use. Yes you can see those
stitches but they are kept to a minimum.
6. The shape of the bag can be kept quite easily since the hem of the original bag is folded
over before they originally sewed it down. So use the crease of the bag as a guide to keep
the bag's original shape. That way the two purses can be swapped out and they will look the same.
7. Now you should have a nice big hole in the bag at the bottom because you
opened the seam and then sewed the hem back down on each side. The sewing you
performed was only to sew down the hem of the bag on each side. So your bag is
now open along the seam. A roll of lifesavers should fit through the hole. It might be
a tight fit, but it should go through if you have ripped the seam over far enough on
the side of the bag. If the hem of the bag gets in the way of the secret loading, just
stitch it down some more where it interferes. The whole process takes me about
a hour and a half.
After reading all the instructions are you discouraged? Too complicated for you? I offer this suggestion, order a set already gaffed from the menu. It will save you lots of frustration. However, if you follow the instructions you can succeed in making a great prop!
GAFFING YOUR OWN PURSE
I charge twenty dollars to make the purse alteration for customers who don't
want the bother. These instructions are free. Nice guy eh? Well, I do request that if you are going to use my idea, that you purchase your
purses from me. Not too unreasonable. I don't claim much in the way
of originality in magic, but this idea is one I have not found anywhere
else. It may turn out that somebody else had thought of it first, but until that time, I request you honor my wish and not use this idea
for your own personal gain or with some other purse. Thank you for that respect!
John Rogers
Take one of the purses out of your two purse set that you purchased from me. One of the purses is left as is, and one of them is hand altered. The altered one has the bottom seam ripped open to create a secret entrance into the purse for cigars, lifesavers, certs or a pack of gum.
The seam opening involves opening the lining as well as the outside bag material. There are two problems with the purse in this condition. One the lining will fray terribly as it is opened up. Two the hem of the bag will get in the way of the secret opening you are creating. The hem and lining problem must be fixed before you can use the purse.
READ ALL BEFORE YOU BEGIN!
1. Turn the purse inside out and using a seam ripper open the lining up on its seam.
The lining must be opened up to within about 1/4" of the frame on each side.
2. Open up the bag material on its seam. You can't see the bag material seam until you
open up the lining first. That seam also opens up to within 1/4" of the purse frame on each side. Remove all loose threads and clean out all of the old stitching
on the lining and the velveteen bag material.
3. Sealing all the raveled threads on the lining is a necessity. The lining material will unravel quite
a bit while you are ripping the seam. It must be repaired or it will continue to unravel as the purse
is used. I use a wood burning tool to melt the material to seal it. The material melts quite evenly
and is easy to control the melting action right down to the original seams crease. Any hot tool will do, but a wood burning tool is easy to handle and does a great job. I melt the material down to just below
the original seam crease. The lining will show a crease where it was originally folded over to create
a hem. Melt the lining down to the crease and a little past the crease. The lining material will go under the hem of the outer material when you are hand sewing the two back together. The hem of the velveteen
bag does not fray and needs no attention to it at this time.
If you leave the lining too long it will buckle against the crease of the hem and the buckled material
will end up in the way of the secret load. That is the reason I melt the lining slightly below the crease
line when I am melting it down to seal the lining from unraveling.
Push all the material back through the purse opening to return it to the
condition it started in. (turn the purse right side out - instead of inside out)