Felt Bag – Tutorial

Felt bags and accessories are widespread and popular. They can be found in various models and designs.

I had an idea about a cool felt bag, simple design, practical and for different occasions.

If you like the bag in the picture below, you can make it too.

Felt is a durable, moisture-repellent and heat-insulating material and can be made of both, natural or synthetic fibers. It is easy to work with it, felt does not fray and therefore does not need to be serged. It can be used on both sides because both surfaces are the same.

 

MATERIAL for one bag:

• 1 m felt (the width of the fabric I used was 0,46 m, 4 mm thick)
• 1 zipper 20 cm in length
• carabiner 2 cm
• thread in the matching color

 

The finished size of the bag will be 40 x 34 cm (W x H) with the bottom of 8 cm. Handles are approximately 21 cm.

The idea of this bag was that it would be made of a solid felt that does not require additional reinforcements to form the bottom as well as the shell of the bag itself, and for this reason, a felt 4 mm thick was used. Such a fabric is robust and poorly flexible, causing slight problems during tailoring and sewing, and therefore requires a bit of experience in working with similar materials.

• You still need: sewing machine, pins, sewing clips, needles, scissors, rotary cutter, tailor’s chalk, linear, measuring tape.

 

CUTTING MEASUREMENTS:

• bag body    (1)41 x 76 cm (W x H)
• handles –  2 pieces (2) 4 x 50 cm
• zipper pocket (inside piece to cover a zipper) (3) 25 x 19 cm
• small pocket (4) 17 x 13 cm
• band for carabiner (5) 1,50 x 24 cm

!!! The seam allowances (where they are needed) are included in previously given measurements and are 0,5 cm.

First, draw all pattern pieces on the one (wrong) side of felt using tailor’s chalk.

Cut out pattern pieces using scissors or rotary cutter.

If you don’t have experience with cutting felt, be careful because it can quickly happen that something goes in the wrong direction.

When you finished with the tailoring, let prepare the bottom of the bag.

Find middle on the body part, and mark it.

On each side edge, cut out rectangular as you see in the picture below.

You can now draw the zipper opening. As so far, make it on the wrong side of the bag (inside).

First of all, measure 10 cm from the bag top and draw a line parallel with the top edge. The zipper is 20 cm length, you need to find the middle of that drawn line, mark it and from that point mark 10 cm to the left and the right.

Between these two points, mark above and below from the line of 0,50 cm.

Zipper opening is marked, let cut it.

Use a rotary cutter with a smaller blade.

Place the zipper and pin it.

Here is useful to have adhesive tape (I have used Prym Wonder Tape) to secure the zipper from moving.

Sew the zipper.

!!! Stitch all seams on the right side of the bag (outside).

!!! Zipper foot #4, plain seam #1 and the stitch length 3

(The needle is placed on the opposite side from the edge.)

To proceed, you need to sew on a piece to cover zipper and form pocket, and before preparing it for it.

You have cut out one larger piece (inside cover of the zipper pocket), one smaller (pocket), and band for a carabiner.

Stitch top edge of a small pocket and sides of the band for a carabiner.

Sew carabiner on one end of the band.

The idea of how inside piece should look like is shown in the pictures below.

NOTE: In the pictures, the larger piece is larger than given in measurements, but that piece made difficulties when sewing bottom. Therefore it is simpler to make it smaller.

Pin the small pocket and band with a carabiner on the larger piece, so that on the larger part the distance from the edge is 3 cm everywhere.

Stitch the small pocket, and then the top of the band with a carabiner.

!!! Reverse-pattern foot #1, plain seam #1, the stitch length 3

Place the finished piece on the wrong side (inside the bag), where is zipper located, of the bag, so that you marked 8 cm from the top edge, taking care that the middle of the body and the center of the piece coincide. Pin it.

 

Turn to the right side, pin it again and mark the stitching edges for a pocket, as shown in the picture below.

!!! We sew on the outside, because the layers of felt under the foot move, so if we sewed from the inside, the lines of the seams would not be straight and look nice and clean.

Stitch it.

!!! Reverse-pattern foot #1, plain seam #1, the stitch length 3

(the needle is moved to the end right position)

As you see in the picture, you will also need to use alternative ways to sew it.

Now, go to the handles.

You have cut out 2 pieces 4 cm width and 50 cm length. Mark on the ends of these pieces 7 cm.

The part between these two marked 7 cm, fold using sewing clips and stitch.

!!! Reverse-pattern foot #1, plain seam #1, the stitch length 3

(the needle is moved to the end right position)

In the pictures below are finished handles.

  

Sew on handles on the bag, so that you mark on each top edge 5 cm and from both sides edges 10 cm to the center of the body part.

Attach the ends of handles on top. I used adhesive for fabric, sewing clips, and pins.

Mark the seam lines.

Stitch all four handles ends.

!!! Zipper foot #4, plain seam #1 and the stitch length 3

Because of felts solid, it is not possible to make decorative stitches, but with these two seams on handles, they turned out very nice.

When you are finished, remain the side seams and bottom.

Connect the side edges and sew it 0,5 cm from the edge. That is made on the right side, i.e., on the outside of the bag.

In the picture, you can see what idea for a bottom is.

Here, you need some help.

2 layers of this felt are possible to sew together, they can be placed underneath the sewing foot. It goes a little harder, but you can sew it. The problem is stitching 3 layers of this fabric because that is too thick.

Because of that, cut square 0,5 x 0,5 cm from the corner at the bottom side edge. Do that at another side edge too.

Connect edges which form the bottom and stitch it, again on the outside.

The felt bag is finished.

NOTE: You can make this bag without a zipper pocket and any additional. It is also interesting and beautiful, and much simpler to sew.

As you saw, the pattern pieces are simple but cut out, and sewing of this felt requires some experience, and because of that, is this instruction required a little more knowledge of tailoring and sewing.