Sewing School Bags

IMG_5993

My kids started school last Thursday.  I started sewing school bags for them on Wednesday and optimistically thought I might be able to finish their bags that day.  But I didn’t.  It took me until Sunday to get them finished.  And it wasn’t because they were hard…  they weren’t.  In fact they were really fun and easy to make.

It was the design that had me stumped.  Emma wanted an owl on her bag.  Lily wanted first a butterfly, then a hedgehog and finally a squirrel.  Lily’s fabric (above) had a lot going on, so the design really competed with the fabric.  Emma and I disagreed on the owl.  She liked one with feet and sort of a side view… I liked a front view design.  It was her bag… so I did what she wanted (and we are both pleased with the result.)

The bag pattern I started with was from a totally wonderful and well illustrated free Messenger Bag pattern from Larissa at mmmcrafts.

The bag wasn’t perfectly suited for a school bag however, so I made a few minor modifications.  Larissa’s finished bag is 12″ x 12″, not quite wide enough to hold school books.  So, I added an extra 2 inches to the width, and an additional 2″ width to the inside and outside pockets.  I added two pencil holders to the inside pocket, and because the girls will be toting around books in their bags I used a Pellon Fusible Fleece to give the bag more weight and stability.  Some other minor changes was to add a small loop near the side handle because my girls love to hang key chains or small toys from their bag.  I also made the strap two colored, but that was because I was a little short on fabric. I had 3 inches to cut the long 45″ strips and I did not want narrow straps!   So I used the lining fabric on the reverse, and I love how it looks.

Here’s what you need for this project:

  • 3/4 yard of  home weight fabrics (54″ wide) for the body
  • 3/4  yard of  home weight fabrics (54″ wide)  for the lining
  • Pellon fusible fleece (16″ x 25″ piece)
  • a small amount of fabric for decorating plus rick rack, and buttons
  • HeatnBond lite for the design

Here are the dimensions of the pieces for the bags I made:

  • strap, cut 2-  3″ x 45″  (For Lily and Emma I had to cut the strap down a lot…  You customize the length when the bag is nearly done.)
  • body and lining, cut 1 each- 16″ x 25″
  • Pellon fusible fleece, cut 1 – 16″ x 25″

IMG_5902

  • flap and flap lining, cut 1 each- 14″ x 13.5″  (I used a cereal bowl to round my corners, Larissa recommends a 6.5″ circle.  I placed my fabrics right sides together, traced the rounded edge of the bowl and cut out the rounded corner of both the flap and the lining at the same time.)
  • outside pocket, cut 2 – 11″ x 7.5″  (again I cut one from the body fabric and one from the lining fabric)
  • inside pocket, cut 2 – 11″ x 5.5″ (ditto)
  • key chain loop, cut 1 – 1.5″ x 3″ (press in half, wrong sides together, then press a hem on both sides evenly.  Stitch close the the edge)

IMG_5919

For the design of the bags I stumbled upon a wonderful template for the squirrels at The Long Thread.  The owl was a bit more tricky.  I had trouble finding a nice template.  With the popularity of owls I was really surprised.  I found this one from Martha Stewart.  But Emma didn’t love it.  I ended up drawing the owl free-hand based off an owl stamp Emma liked… and drawing the branch and leaves as well.  (If anyone is interested in the design, I can make a template.)

IMG_5924

Start by tracing your design onto the smooth side of a piece of HeatnBond light or Wonder Under.  Iron the design to the back of your fabric.  Keep in mind that your design will be reversed when you cut it out.  IMG_5896

Using good scissors carefully cut around your design.

For the squirrel bag, I used a strip of brown fabric to offset the design.  I also used rick rack on the top and bottom of the strip.  Here is the technique for sewing on the rick rack.

IMG_5913

Line your rick rack along the top edge of your fabric and stitch down the middle of the rick rack.  I sew to the right of center, but still in the middle section.

IMG_5917

Press the outer edge of the rick rack under.  This flips the inside edge to the outside.

IMG_5927

Now lay out your design and fuse your design pieces to the front flap.  Using a decorative stitch, stitch around your design pieces.  I used a machine blanket stitch.  You can also blanket stitch by hand.  Or use a machine zigzag… whatever you fancy.

IMG_5919

For the owl bag, I used buttons for the eyes.  You’ll want to finish stitching and embellishing all your design elements before you assemble your bag.

Once you have had fun creating your design… and sweating over it like me… it’s time to assemble your bag.  Larissa at mmmcrafts has done an amazing job diagramming each step.

The only major change I made to her instructions (other than the changes to size) was adding the fusible fleece.  I did this by fusing the fleece to the liner of my bag after the inside pocket had been added.  Then when I was sewing the liner together in step 7, I changed my seem allowance to 3/8″ to give a little extra room with the added padding.  I squared the corners according to her instructions, but I had to trim the corner piece off after sewing about a 1/4″ from the seam.

IMG_5996

The last small changes I made were adding in the little loop for a keychain (slightly out of focus above,) and sewing two seams in the inside pocket for pencils.  I made the pencil holders by measuring in 7/8″ line and stitching along from the outside seam of the pocket.  Then I measured one more.  Stitch down the line, making sure to back stitch at the top of each seam.  You could add a loop with a snap.  But for the girls I just added a small loop.

IMG_6000

The girls can’t wait to fill the nice big pocket on the outside of the bag.

IMG_6014

Emma’s off to school.  The girls love their new bags… now I want to make one for me.  Wait, wait… did I mention the fabric cost me $4 a bag?  Isn’t that the coolest?

69 Comments

    • that litttle girl is so stinking cute! forget about the bag, i want to buy her! just kidding… haha. but she is reallly cute :)

  24. I am in awe of your creativity (and patience). I especially enjoy how you worked color and pattern, using the subordinating color of the background as the dominant color on the owl. Lovely daughters as well!

  26. These are the the cutest bags ever and I am definitely saving this project for a rainy day. Your fabric is so cute! I wish there was somewhere were I could find fabric like that.

  28. The are both spectaculor. I love the way the squirrels look part of the overall fabric. My children (21 and 15) are the only ones who give me specific designs but it is good to see that they always turn out well too. Good to trust the kids but sometimes it is hard for our creative juices to include their thoughts. Cherrie

  29. I love your blog! You are so talented and inspire me to be more creative. I love these bags and me and my sister want to make them for ourselves. I’m wondering where you found your fabric at? Did you find it on clearance because we went to JoAnne’s and the fabric there is $10 a yard. Thanks!

    • Thanks Heidi. I did buy the fabric on clearance at a quilt shop in Salt Lake City called Pine Needles. They had put a large selection of home weight fabric on sale for $4 a yard. I am kicking myself for not having bought more! I used scraps for the design fabric (For better or worse, I never throw scraps away!) My suggestion if you found fabric you like at JoAnn’s is to get a hold of a coupon. They run 40% one cut of fabric often. I am not above going back a few times and using multiple coupons to get what I need. I signed up to receive coupons in the mail, but you can also google JoAnn’s coupons and print. You can also check Hancock Fabric. They run sales that can be very good. Good luck! Calli

  44. Hey I really love the bags I am even thinking of makeing one for my younger daughter and I think she will like it a lot because she is into sewing her self an we both just started sewing a few mounths ago.

  45. hi guys,
    anyone added a zipper or some sort of fasten device on these messenger bags? i am making one for my soon to be 5 kindy starter…and dont want his ‘stuff’ to fall out.
    thanks for the tute!
    ang

    • Angelina, My 7 year old twins have used their bags for the whole school year and they are quite secure without any zipper or clasp. Something about the shape of the bag and the flap keeps things inside. But if that doesn’t work, you could put a magnetic clasp in the bag fairly easily. good luck, Calli

  47. I just finished my bag and I love it, thanks for the tutorial! The only problem was that 1/2 yd of fabric wasn’t enough. The blog you link to also states to get a 1 yd of both the main and lining. Thanks, Heidi

    • Heidi, I was using home weight fabrics, which is 54″ wide and ended up being plenty of fabric. I’ve just noted that in my post. I appreciate you bringing it to my attention. I’m glad you liked the tutorial. Larissa’s tutorial is awesome. I love her illustrations!

  49. Like Heidi, I didn’t have enough fabric using 1/2 a yard of 54″ fabric because the width isn’t the problem, the height is. With only 18 inches of fabric, the 16×25 body must be cut with the design on the fabric going sideways, and even that leaves only 2 very tight inches for the strap to be cut across the top of the remaining fabric, unless you only want 29″ of strap. 3/4 of a yard of each fabric would definitly be helpful.

    • Hi Saralyn, I will make that edit to fabric requirements in the post. I really appreciate your feedback. The direction of the print on your fabric makes a big difference, as does the length of the strap. I definitely made their bags out of the specified amounts in the post. But my girls are so petite, I made their straps 30″ in length. There is nothing more frustrating than making a project and running out of fabric! Sorry for any trouble… or unnecessary trips back to the fabric store I may have caused! Plus… I always find a great use for any unused scraps… it’s better to have more than less. cheers, Calli

  50. hi, may i know what is a flap and flap lining?
    im new to this:D

    and also, a loop and snap?
    please help me along, :) thanks:)

  52. thanks for the instructions and pictures, especially the applique ideas. I made two of these – a princess bag and a mermaid bag – and they are beautful.

  54. […] In the end I came back to what was comfortable and easy, and made the wonderful free pattern from Larissa from Mmmm Crafts.  It’s the same pattern I used two years ago, the last time I made school bags. […]

  55. My daughter said she didn’t like lugging her backpack around, so after a very quick search on line I found you article. I had to widen it another 3 inches to accommodate her stuff but it turned out awesome. I put a mustang on the flap to represent our HS team, and used a row of 4 in rag quilt for the strap, very cute, can’t wait for Monday so she can show it off.

  57. If I used quilting fabric on the outside and then used heavy cotton with the fleece for the inside, would that work?

    • You can use a quilt weight both on the inside and the outside, but it won’t last quite as long, especially if you follow my directions for adding a fusible fleece to the bag. If I had to choose, I would have the home weight on the outside and the quilt weight in the in. My bags always wear out on the corners of the outside.

  59. Hello.Can u please tell me ALL the parts of a school bag??
    Some parts may be the zip, side/ front pocket, etc..
    There is a bag that i have to label the parts and i don’t know all their parts.. It is a school bag not having a shoulder strap. It should be put on the back.
    Help me please!!
    Thanking you in advance! :)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *