Making a Backpack

It’s Spring and I’m adding to my bag collection with a new project…

If you follow my journal you might remember that I have made a few bags that are starting to form a rather lovely collection of luggage. It didn’t start out that way, but as time as gone on, I have added pieces and loved every minute. I use these bags all the time, for weekends away, for days out, for classes, for holidays. I don’t really ever have the next project lined up but I just wait for the idea, inspiration or need to arise. The bags I have made so far are all from Sew Sweetness patterns and you can read about the Ansel Camera Bag, the Yarn Minder Bag and my Explorer bag with these links or by looking under the heading bag making on the journal.

So it came about that I needed a new backpack. Over the last 35 years I have had two leather backpacks which I have used till they were so wrecked that all that was salvageable was the bag hardware. I would love to have new leather backpack but they are expensive and I wondered about the challenge of making one. I cast about for a pattern. Unfortunately Sara Lawson didn’t have the right style for me this time as I like the drawstring and flap kind of rucksack. I bought a pattern on Etsy that had a youtube video to accompany it. I will say here that it was not a good pattern - the paper pieces were inaccurate and I would not recommend it at all. However, I did like the shape and size of it and decided to take matters into my own hands with all the experience that I have gained and alter it to suit my needs. I was soon on the case.

The feature fabric I have used on these bags is based on a Gustav Klimt painting and I simply love it. It is long out of circulation now, but I still have some pieces left (lesson learned - if you love it, overbuy!) and was able to cut the flap with the design placement carefully selected.

It was all relatively straight forward once I had got passed the wrong size of the base pattern piece and made the decision to add a lining and quilted side pockets.

I really liked the look of the bag as it was coming together and as always recommend using good quality fittings. I like Emmaline bag hardware from Sewhot. I had some leather pieces in my stash which always add a smart touch with gold rivets. I realised as I was working out how to line and put this together that experience is key once you go off piste. I made a fundamental error in not stitching the usual ‘Soft and Stable’ foam interfacing to the main pieces. This was in part because I didn’t have any left and also because I thought the denim with interfacing would be stiff enough. It wasn’t. I cast around for an alternative and bought some felt placemats in the Supermarket that were about the right size.

Having cut them to size, these were actually a surprisingly good alternative. However, I had already constructed the bag and the lining so I had to just insert them rather than stitch them in and this was a bit annoying. I had to secure them to stop them moving with some hand stitches and it all feels much more secure and the bag holds its shape, so even though I know it’s not perfect, I do think it is functional.

The eyelets were hard work and I am not sure how long they will seriously last. If I made this again, I would make the lining shorter and out of the way of the band with the eyelets in. As it was, the there were four layers of fabric to hammer through and two of them were heavyweight denim. We shall see how it goes. At first I used a narrow leather cord to thread through, but it was not substantial enough and in the I cut off the leather tie from my old rucksack and used that and it looked really much better.

There were some ups and downs and brain wracking with this project, but actually it has turned out rather well in the end. It sits happily with the other piece in my luggage set and the way I figure it, the hardware is never wasted as it’s reusable and hopefully by the time this one wears out, I will have saved up for a new leather one.

I’m rather proud of this photo I must say. Sewing is such a wonderful and practical pastime - don’t you agree?

Until next time, Ruby xx