Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Paleontologist Pack!

As much as I'm trying to cut back on posting for the holidays, it was killing me not to have a tutorial to go up today! It is Wednesday after all!

So, I'm bring home a tutorial I did for the Sewing Rabbit Fall Collection.  When I first learned about the fall collection, I was a bit at a loss of what to do. But when Jessica mentioned it would be great to have a boy's accessory, I immediately thought of my son. He is obsessed with dinosaurs, and loves 'man bags' (as we call them). I knew he needed a little paleontologist bag for all the fossils he finds everywhere!



This bag sports a handy outside pocket that are perfect for pencils and a notebook as well as a cute dinosaur applique. The foldover closure at the top of the bag keeps everything inside the bag while being easy for little hands to open and close. Want to make one for your little man? Lets get started! 

Materials:


The best part of this bag is that it requires no hardware, so you probably have everything you need in your sewing room right now! 

You will need:

Bag:
2- 16x 13 inch rectangles outer fabric
2- 16x 13 inch rectangles lining fabric
4- 16x 13 inch rectangles interfacing

Pocket (optional)
1- 7 x 13 inch rectangle pocket fabric
1- 7 x 13 inch rectangle pocket lining fabric
 2- 7 x 13 inch rectangles interfacing 

Handle:
 1 30x4 inch rectangle outer fabric. 
Applique:
Fabric scrap in the color of your choice. 

Sewing Instructions:


Interface all your pieces with the appropriate fabric. You'll notice I skipped interfacing my outer fabric since I was using a heavy corduroy. If you are using a quilting cotton or similar, I strongly reccomend interfacing each pattern piece. 


Next, sew the pocket pieces right sides together along one long edge. If you have a directional print, keep in mind that the sewn edge will become the top of edge of the pocket.
 Stack the pocket piece, outer pieces and lining pieces as shown. Cut a 2 inch square from the bottom corners.
 Then, pin the pocket into place on to one of the outer layers. Topstitch a few pencil slots on to the edge of the pocket as shown.
 Now, placing right sides together, sew the two outer pieces togeter a long the bottom and sides. Then pinch the corners together and sew making sure to match the bottom and side seam. Do the same for the lining.
 Making sure right sides are together, stuff the outer bag into the lining. Sew around the edge leaving an opening for turning. Turn the bag and topstitch the opening closed. Press the bag well.


Make the handle by pressing the long ends towards the middle, and then in half again (as though you were making bias tape. Then stitch the handle to the outside of the bag, roughly 6 inches from the top, making sure to fold in the raw edges.  Because the fabric was so thick, I found it easiest to safety pin the handle to the bag to hold it in place while I sewed.

And there you have it! If you want to add an applique, I used the method described in this applique tutorial. It's a great way for adding an applique that you might want to remove later. I used the dinosaur applique shape I found at the blog What I Live For, but you could use a car, train anything that your little boy loves.

Now all that's left to do, is to fill it with some favorite (dinosaur related) goodies.


If you liked this bag, check out some of my other bag patterns like the Cake Clutch and the Tulika Tote. Leave me a comment or send me an email if you end up making one of these bags for the holidays! I love to see what ya'll have created!