Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Backpack
Materials:
1 1/4 yard fabric for outside (heavier fabrics like twill work best)
I used 1/2 yard of the printed and 1/2 yard of the bright pink
1 yard fabric for liner
3 yards piping-you can find it with the notions or use this tutorial to make
your own
1 yard heavy duty iron-on interfacing
1 14” zipper
2 1” Strap adjusters, like this
Thread
Heat N Bond, heavy weight, just enough for the pocket
KEEP GOING, THERE’S MORE.....
Heavy duty needle (these usually say “jeans” on the package) and
regular needles
Zipper foot for your machine
Pattern Pieces
Print out your pattern pieces. Make sure your printer is set
for “no automatic page scaling” (or something similar).
When you print measure the mark on the left side of the
page to make sure it is 1”.
one piece 28” x 2 1/2” for the straps (I make both my straps at one time
then I cut them in half-if you don’t have enough continuous fabric you could use two pieces
of 14”x 2 1/2”)
We’ll put piping along the shortest edge (it will be the top of
the pocket). Put the piping in between the two layers of
fabric -the rough edges should all be together. Pin the three
layers together. Cut the piping so there is a little overhang
out each end-about 1”.
Then we’ll baste the piping into place. When you’re doing
piping it’s easiest to use your zipper foot on your machine.
{Note-your three edges should line up-the front of the pocket,
the back of the pocket and the lining. I used leftover binding
for my piping which was too wide-I had to have some hanging
off the edge. See Pic Below}
Hooray!
Let’s put together the front of the backpack.
Lay down your full front and put the pocket on top. Using
that long basting stitch, sew the pocket on. Sew as close to
the rough edge as you can.
Then pin the piping around the edge, rough edges to the
outside. Start at the bottom in the middle leaving and inch
or two of piping hanging over the edge. (Look two pictures
ahead for a better view of the piping)
When you get back to the beginning, cross the end over each
other.
Baste using that really long stitch and your zipper foot.
Okay, so now we’re going to sew together the sides and
bottom of the bag. you’ll need to put your regular foot back
on the machine.
Get your bottom piece, the two sides, and zipper top. Lay
them out with the bottom in between the sides.
Now we’ll attach the zipper top to the piece you just made.
Lay the short edge of the zipper piece (with the start of the
zipper, not the end) on one of the short ends of the sides.
Pin. Open the zipper a little so the tab doesn’t get in the way
of sewing. Sew.
Open flat, press your seam away from the zipper. Topstitch
below the zipper.
Chocolate maybe?
Ice Tea?
A nap?
Deadliest catch? (My vice)
Pin. See the blue dots above? You want to sew between
these two points. It’s about an inch from each end-where the
curve starts. Keep in mind:
1. You don’t need to get too close to the piping, you’re just
going to stick it in it’s place right now. We’ll go back later
to make it pretty, I promise (: I sewed it about 1/4 inch
from the edge.
2. I didn’t use a zipper foot because there is so much stuff
being sewn together it didn’t really make a difference.
And I found that my regular foot helped keep it flat.
3. Be sure not to sew over your piping edge- it’s kind of hard
to feel under all that stuff.
4. It doesn’t need to be pretty. See my line? Not even
straight.
Now we pin.
(I had to toss all the pins I used in this projects-they all bent)
If you take the time to pin it well, it will come out fine.
Start pinning from the bottom and then around up to the
side. I found it easiest to fold the fabric as I went.
Sew around the corner and up the side til you get to the
panel with the zipper in it. Again, you don’t need to get too
close to the piping at this point.
Then do the other bottom corner the same way. This time
when you sew up the side stop before you reach the pocket.
(You should have about 1/2” of loose side fabric
After you’ve basted the bottom into place you need to sew it
in, this time crowding the piping. Go slow so you can feel the
piping with your fingers along the way.
When your done with this check the piping to see if there are
any more spots that need to be crowded.
So now sew the top (the zipper portion) around the top of the
bag the same way. This should be much easier than the
bottom since there’s no interfacing.
Make sure you leave the last inch (or so) free.
Press flat.
Sew straight lines at quarter inch intervals along the long
edge of the loop piece.
Now sew your straps. Sew this the same way you did the
loop piece. After you sew it cut it in half so you have two
straps.
Find your ring holder piece. Do the same thing with this as
you did for the loop piece above.
Cut this in half so you have two ring holders, each about 2”
long.
Take one of the two inch pieces, wrap it through a
rectangular ring and fold it in half. Sew the ends together
close to the edge.
then holding on to the fabric (not the pin) pull the whole
thing right side out.
Clear as mud.
With a cool iron press. Don’t press too much or you’ll melt
your batting.
Lay the strap pads out. Decide which end should be the top
and which should be the bottom. On the bottom mark 1 1/2”
from edge:
At quarter inch intervals sew the long way from the top to
the bottom of the strap pad stopping at the mark you made.
Now get the front half of your backpack and open your
zipper.
We’ll be sewing the back onto the sides of the backpack the
same way we sewed the front on.
Starting at the bottom, pin together-right sides together.
Sew between corners (remember the blue dots?).
Turn right-side out and look for “loose” piping-go back and
crowd this piping where needed.
Pin to the liner side/bottom along one edge. Put the pieces at
the width you measured above. After it’s sewn you can trim
it down.
Trim zipper liner sides so that this piece is all one width.
Now we’ll sew the side piece on to the larger pieces of the
liner. Starting at the top, pin zipper liner to one of the large
liner piece. Pin and sew.
Pin and sew corners.
Move around fabric pinning and sewing until you get to the
ends. Make sure you leave these free.
We’ll sew these together the same way we did with the
outside of the backpack. Line up the end edges of the liner
side and zipper liner and pin into place.
Sew.
Topstitch along the lower edge folding all the fabric on the
backside of the lining down.
Finish sewing the side of the liner to the larger piece.
So here we are.
Now we’re going to pin the other large pice of the liner in
place. I did the whole thing at once.
Now pin the liner to the edge of the zipper. Don’t get too
close to the zipper teeth.
Topstitch from the outside being sure to catch the liner in
your seam.
Now you’re going to take the end and thread id back through
Play Fair!
Make all you want for yourself and for friends.
Want to do a craft fair? Go for it!
Want to mass produce it? Please don’t.
Visit me at:
ThatCraftyMrsV.blogspot.com
toodleloo!