Skip to main content

Backpack-ettes

by Linda Theil

Jess on the Oklaroots YouTube channel created a video titled, "The cutest bag I've ever made! The Bitty Bug Pack -- Carolina Little Stitches will have you OBSESSED!"

I ordered the PDF "Bitty Bug Pack" pattern from Carolina Little Stitches, and the pattern included a link to another sew-along with The Crafty Reporter. While the pattern is comprehensive and nicely presented, inexperienced crafters will find the videos very useful.

The pattern includes many options and features to make the tiny 3.5x4.5x1.5-inch backpack an ideal copy of the real thing, but I stripped mine down to basics, eliminating straps and exterior pockets and trims. I am not normally a fan of creating tiny things, but Jess at Oklaroots was right, I am obsessed.

My version of the tiny backpack includes a single, exterior loop and D-ring that can carry a carabiner or wristlet; and a single interior slip pocket that can include a feature badge or label. 


The bag is finished by binding the two interior, gussetted seams. I recommend sewing 1-3.8-inch bias strips to the raw edges of the gusset before sewing the gusset to the front and back panels, then finishing the binding by hand instead of machine. This procedure cuts down on the number of times you have to use your sewing machine within the tight confines of the tiny bag. For one of the bags I made I experimented with eliminating the binding altogether, and zig-zag stitched the finished interior seams instead. I can't say it hurt the looks of the bag at all, although the hand binding does add a sweet touch to the finished bag.


Shown below is a tiny backpack made from a panel of quilted cotton without a lining except for the gusset which was not quilted. I zig-zag stitched the interior seams to finish. I also added a wristlet strap so that the little backpack could be carried separately, or attached to the exterior of a larger bag as a bag charm.

Update: August 29, 2024


Here are two more pared-down mini-backpacks -- this time in fabrics from the "Jubilee" collection by Tone Finnanger for Tilda. They sport riveted zipper-pulls in Mora faux leather.

Update: September 26, 2024

This mini-backpack matches the reduced-size Sandhill Sling featured in a previous post. The bulldog feature was made the same way discussed in the original post:

"The fabric is cotton from "Imaginary Flowers" collection by Gingiber for Moda. The bulldog panel was created by cropping a photo of a family pet, sending it through the Waterlogue app . . . I made a word processor file using that photo, and printed the file with an ink-jet printer on purchased fabric sheets made for for ink-jet printing. The ink-jet print is stable after setting ink with an iron."







Comments

Cathy said…
So adorable! Love it, your description, and the construction!!

caj
7/31/2024
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Diane's Archie

by Linda Theil Diane Spencer-Ogg, owner of Spencer-Ogg, Ltd. in Greater Manchester, UK, released a new mini-duffle pattern she calls "Arch Zipper Pouches" in two sizes with printable pattern pieces and video tuturial. Her video introduction can be viewed at the end of this post. As always, Spencer-Ogg has hit the ball out of the park with the elegance of her design and the precision of her process. I have made two of the 10x8x4-inch large-sized Archies -- as her  fans have dubbed the new pattern. The bag shown above is made of Mora Faux Leather in grape from Emmaline Bags of Alberta, Canada. The interior, shown below, is cotton from the "Art History" collection by Marcia Derse for Windham Fabrics. For my second Archie, I quilted a panel from the "Guess How Much I Love You" collection by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram for Clothworks. With this new design, Spencer-Ogg debuts an updated pattern-production method that provides printable pattern pieces and a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Starbucks mini-sling

by Linda Theil A bagmaker from the Kandou Patterns Community on FaceBook posted a bag featuring the Kandou "Mini-Traveler Sling" pattern using a Starbucks coffee bag as part of the fabrication. I am from Pittsburgh, so perhaps it comes naturally that I am intrigued by the use of iconic advertising in works of art, so I asked Alisa to please buy me some Starbucks coffee so that I could sew with the bags. I am also a fan of this slim, six-by-twelve-inch sling pattern that has three pockets and no inside! Alisa was particularly fond of the "Brown Sugar Cinnamon" limited edition bag, so I used this pink and gold bag for my first Starbucks sling. For the body of the bag, I used a cotton from the "Seedlings" collection by Katarina Rocella for Art Gallery Fabrics. The lining is Roccella's "Stacked Stones" design from her "Abstract Art" collection, also for AGF. "Stacked Stones" from "Abstract Art" collection by K. Rocc...
1 comment
Read more

Journey duffle

Mini-camper bag charm by Linda Theil This small duffle is the fourth Weekend Bag from the "Escape Pod Travel Collection" by Diane Spencer-Ogg that I have made. The bag is a gussetted duffle made using a double-birthing method that is, in my experience unique to Spencer-Ogg designs. The small 16x12x6-inch size was designed specifically to fit the carry-on requirements for ultra-low-cost, Irish airline, Ryanair. This "Journey Duffle" was made for a Michigander traveler who needs a roomy stash for haircare products and equipment, The jaunty bag is made from the "Joy in the Journey" collection by Dani Mogstad for Riley Blake Designs. The front and interior pocket panels are from the "On the Road Again" four-placemat panel by Katie Doucette for Wilmington. The straps are 1.5-inch-wide Tula Pink designed webbing. The rumpled look of the bag exterior is due to a mistaken use of a "craft" type interfacing that I mistook for my regular Pellon no...
Post a Comment
Read more