Let’s Make A Bag

A tutorial for taking a quilt block and turning it into a bag!

I recently had the pleasure of testing my friend Abby, of Abby Maed Studios, newest pattern…..Butterflight Quilt. Let me tell you, this pattern is fabulous! I knew I wanted to test this but I had a lot of things going, so I chose to do the mini, which results in a 20” block. I actually had thought about making a couple and turning it into a table runner, which I still plan to do. The block in only 16” without the borders, so it is perfect. However, I got a wild hair and made a bag!!! Although I am a quilter at heart, I do truly love making bags and every time I make one I always ask myself….”why don’t I do this more often?”

Many of the other ladies in our test group asked what pattern I used….well, I didn’t use a pattern. I made it up! So I wanted to share a tutorial for how I made my bag with you today.

The Idea

I am a school nurse by day, and I have a 5 year old that starts Kindergarten this year. So, I enjoy having a bag big enough to carry a variety of things: my work laptop, my stethoscope, other nursing supplies if I am having to visit multiple schools that day, my lunch, and stuff for my kiddo. So, with that being said, realize that this is a BIG bag! It’s final dimensions are about 26” in length at the top, 18” in height and 4” in width. For all the super experienced bag makers, I hope I got those measurements correct. It comes with a divided pocket on the inside with three sections. It could easily be used as an everyday carryall bag, a weekend travel bag, a diaper bag, or a cute bag to take shopping at the your local Farmer’s Market or craft fair.

Supplies

• 3/4 yard of Exterior Bag fabric (I matched mine to the background fabric from the pattern)

• 1 yard of Interior Bag fabric

• 1/2 yard (18” x 28”) Faux Leather for bottom of bag and straps

• 1 yard of Fusible Fleece

• 1 yard of Fusible Interfacing (such as SF101)

Making the Bag

For starters, I made the mini size of the Butterflight Quilt Pattern which you can fine here. However, I did not add the borders right away. So I stopped following the pattern after I had my 16.5” butterfly block complete. The pattern calls for a 2” border around the block. I only added this to the sides, so I cut (2) 2-1/2” x 16-1/2” strips and sewed (1) to each side of my block. I then cut (2) 3-1/2” x 16-1/2” strips and sewed (1) to each side. I liked the continuation of the log cabin look of the block, but you could easily cut (2) 5-1/2” x 16-1/2” strips and sew only one strip to each side if you preferred.

Then, I cut a 16-1/2” x 26-1/2” rectangle from the background fabric for the back panel and cut (2) 4-1/2” x 26-1/2” from the faux leather. Sew (1) leather piece to the bottom of you front butterfly panel and (1) to the bottom of your back panel. Cut (2) 20-1/2” x 26-1/2” rectangles from the fusible fleece. Fuse to the WRONG side of both the front and back panels. Just remember, the shiny, rougher side is the fusible side. Set aside.

Cut (1) 26-1/2” x WOF strip from your lining fabric. Sub-cut into (2) 20-1/2” x 26-1/2” rectangles. Cut (2) 20-1/2” x 26-1/2” rectangles from the fusible interfacing. Fuse to the WRONG side of each lining panel. Set aside.

Cut (1) 8-1/2” x WOF strip from the lining fabric. Sub-cut (2) 8-1/2” x 20-1/2” rectangles for the pocket. Cut (1) 8-1/2” x 20-1/2” rectangle from the fusible fleece. Fuse to the WRONG side of (1) of the pocket panels. Sew the pocket panel pieces right sides together leaving a 4” gap for turning. Backstitch where you begin and end. Turn pocket panel right sides out and press. Fold seam inside 1/4” at the opening. Center the pocket panel on (1) of the lining panels. Top stitch around (3) sides, leaving the top open. Decide how big you want each section of the pocket. I chose to have 3 sections all approximately 7”. I measured 7” in from each side and marked a sewing line. This will give two divisions that are 7” and the center division will be slightly smaller. Sew straight down the marked lines starting one stitch above the pocket and ended one stitch below the pocket, backstitching at the start and finish.

Cut (2) 3-1/2” x 18” strips of faux leather. Fold each side to the center and then in half. Since you can’t really iron this, I used binding clips to hold the folds in place. Topstich down the open side creating handles.

On the right side of your exterior and lining panels, measure 4” in on both sides and make a small mark at the top. This is where your straps will start and end. Grab the front exterior panel, front lining panel and one strap. Place panels right side together with the strap in between and clip in place. sew across the top. I prefer to backstitch over my strap to give some extra stability. I also make sure that I am using polyester thread from this point on (preferably for the entire bag aside from piecing the quilt block) as it tends to be stronger than cotton. Repeat this process for the back panels.

Now you are going to open you bag up and match up the front panels with the back panels, right sides together. Make sure that your exterior panels are matched up and your interior panels are matched up. Use binding clips along all sides to hold the panels in place. Starting at the bottom of the lining panels, sew a 1/2” seam all the way around the bag, leaving a 4-5” gap for turning. Back stitch at the beginning and end of you stitching. Be careful to match up the seams where your lining and exterior panels meet and again match up the seams where the exterior panels meet the leather. These seams help you to stay square.

Before turning the bag, we are going to make the boxed corners. Pick one corner to start. Fold the bag in, where you can feel the two seams nest against each other. Finger press this all flat. Mark a 4” line across the corner. Sew along that line, backstitching at the beginning and end of your seam. Trim to a 1/2” seam allowance. Repeat for the other three corners.

Now we get to flip our bag right side out. Reach in the gap you left in the lining panel and pull the exterior of the bag out. Push all your corners our. I use a point turner, but chop sticks are another great tool! Fold the seam inside a 1/2'“ to close the gap in the lining and topstitch closed. Push your lining down into the bag and press your top seam. Topstitch around the top of the bag.

Yay!! Your bag is complete!!! Now that you have seen the basics of this bag, feel free to play with it and use different sized lone quilt blocks. I hope this tutorial can serve as a guide to help you experiment on your own and make more lovely things! And I do apologize for the lack of process photos. I didn’t originally intend to make this a blog but there was so much interest that I did. And also, when you get in your creative groove (or at least for me), you totally forget to stop and snap a picture from time to time. But feel free to ask me anything! I will always help in any way I can!!