Bag #12: Child's Easter Bag

It's Easter at the end of the week and I'm looking forward to some time off work for some serious bag making. There were several suggestions for what I should make with this gorgeous 100% cotton Easter fabric.  I chose to go with this child’s bag for an Easter egg hunt and here it is, just in time for Easter. The finished size is 9” (at the widest point) x 7” (excluding the handles). Although, with longer handles, this would be a great size for a handbag, or make it larger and it would be a good shape for a tote bag. You could add pockets inside and maybe a magnetic fastener.  I used a cotton lining which was very easy to work with.

I lined it with foam so that it holds its shape, but it would work just as well with fleece or wadding. As fleece and wadding are thinner than foam, you would need to cut the handle fleece/wadding the same size as the outer fabric handle pieces, attach it to the wrong side and sew through it, turning through and then follow the rest of the instructions.  To give the handle more shape you could wrap the handle around thick piping cord or rubber tubing when folding it in half lengthways and use a zip foot to sew along the edge.  This would give the handle more shape.  It wasn’t necessary with the foam which is already quite bulky.

I wondered whether to make the handles of a contrasting fabric to make it more interesting but decided to stick to the Easter fabric in the end. Was that the right choice?

I used ¼” seams and my machine’s usual stitch length on the seams but lengthened it from 2.5 to 3 for the top stitching.

This project could be made from a fat quarter of the outer and lining fabric and a 7 ½” strip of stabiliser (either foam, wadding or fleece).

This would be a good bag for a sewist who is new to bag making as the stages are fairly straightforward.

Skills used in this project:

• Making bag handles
• Using bag foam

Step 1: Cutting out

Cut out the following pieces:

For the bag body, cut 10 ½” x 7 ½” Outer fabric, lining and foam (cut 2 of each).

For the base, cut 6 ½” x 2 ½” outer fabric, lining and foam (cut 1 of each).

For the handles, cut 12” x 2” outer fabric (cut 4) and cut 11 ½” x 1 ¼” foam (cut 2).

Step 2: Making the bag body

Attach the foam body to the wrong side of the outer body fabric by ironing (if using iron-on) or pinning.  Sew outer bag body pieces together along side seams, right sides together.  

Pin and sew body lining pieces together along sides seams, right sides together.

Step 3: Attaching the base

Draw round a curved object to create the rounded corners on the base outer fabric, lining and foam, then cut along these lines.  I used a coin to give an even shape in each corner.

Attach the foam base to the wrong side of the outer fabric base (as above).  Pin right side of base to right side of body, using lots of pins to ease the parts together.  Sew. 

Pin and sew lining base to lining body, right sides together.

 

Step 4: Making the handles

Round the corners of the foam handle as you did for the bag base.

Place the fabric, right sides together with the foam sandwiched between them.  Using a zip foot, sew all round the foam (but do not sew the foam – you are just creating the shape to ensure that they are a tight fit), leaving a gap to turn through.  Pull out the foam through the gap.  Trim the ends with pinking shears.  Pull the fabric through so that the right sides are facing out and push the foam back into the handle casing.  Hand sew the gap.

     

Fold the handles in half lengthways, matching the side seams and pin.  Leaving 2” at each end, top stitch along the edge, just inside the side seams.

Step 5: Attaching the handles

 

The handles will be attached to the right side of the body with the seam facing inwards.  Pin one end of a handle with the end 1 ½” below the top of the body and the centre 3” from one side seam. Do this for all the ends.  Sew.

Step 6: Attaching the lining

Pin the top of the lining to the top of the outer fabric/foam, right sides together, matching the side seams and ensuring that the handles are tucked between the fabric as you do not want to sew over them.  Sew round the top leaving a gap for turning of about 4”.  Pull the fabric through the gap and sew it up by hand. 

Top stitch around the top seam, making sure not to sew over the handles, to create a professional finish.  This also ensures that the lining stays in place.

Wait until Easter, hide Easter eggs around your house or garden, give an Easter bag to each child and send them off to find the eggs while you put your feet up and have a well earned rest.

In this project I learnt:

• I was a big scared of making fabric bag handles and have always avoided them before, but as with most fears, they were completely unfounded.  I took it slowly and used a profusion of pins to ensure that everything stayed where I wanted it and sewed slowly and carefully. I was conscious that the stitches at the ends of the handles would be very visible, so rather than backstitching at the beginning and end, I left long threads  which I pulled through to the wrong side and knotted together. They were then hidden by the lining.

• I’m fairly new to using foam in bag making.  It’s very bulky and sometimes my sewing machine objects to the thickness but I like the fact that it gives bags a really nice shape and enables them to stand up by themselves. It’s more expensive than fleece or wadding, so I wouldn’t use it unless it made a visible difference. I found it easier to use lots of pins to make it do what I wanted and it worked a treat. Being able to use pins in this fabric made it much easier, unlike in the sewing of faux leather when pins can't really be used because they leave long term holes.