free pattern by Saremy Duffy the designer behind SewSewLive:
Ideal Bag designed by Viewers and drafted by Sew Sew
The viewers did an amazing job drafting their 'Ideal Bag'. It is full-featured and designed so you can pick and choose what you want in your bag. You can design yours to suit your needs but here's an overview of what the Viewers requested and their reasoning:
- Five Pockets on the Front:
- Two Gusseted with elasticized tops (one with a flap) each to hold a phone or eyeglass case and keep them secure.
- Two zippered and one hand pockets to hold items to be easily accessed.
- Two Pockets on the Back:
- One that can hold papers and a smaller next to it (this pocket can be divided however you need).
- There's also a handle to make... well... handling the bag even easier.
- Interior:
- A full-sized Lap Top sleeve, two zippered pockets to hold 'precious' items like an Epi Pen or other items you always want to have on you but maybe don't want them in the way of all the frequently accessed parts of your bag.
- The Precious Pocket sits on top of the Cord Pocket - a place for all those things that are now a necessary and annoying essential to keeping us connected.
- Lastly a simple sleeve to hold your water bottle!
- Messenger style strap
- Two Flap Options:
- Elastic Flap with a top that hugs the sides to keep the contents secure.
- Pocket Flap with a zippered hand pocket
Sewing
While this bag may look a little intimidating to sew, it was drafted to make sewing it the simplest and straight-forward. You will have a bag you are definitely proud you made! If you want to build your sewing and bag making skills, this is a great project. The video walks you through each section in chapters. It will be easy to sew this and walk away from it if you need a break! Just organize it from the beginning and follow along. You got this!
Sewing Level:Intermediate or Adventurous Advanced Beginner
Fabric: Choose fabrics that are somewhat sturdy with good body for the Outer Fabric such as canvas, twills, denim, and waxed canvas. For the lining, you can use a variety of weights but try to select something quilting cotton weight. Remember you'll be shoving stuff in your bag and it needs to withstand edges and corners of objects. You can reinforce many fabrics to get the weight you need. See below for fabric amounts and tips for adding stiffener, padding and/or interfacing.
Sizes:
Regular Sized: 14" wide x 9.25" tall x 3.75" deep (front to back) Cream bag in photos
Full Sized: 16.5" wide x 11" tall x 4" deep (front to back) Wine colored bag in photos