BERNINA Corporate Blog -
Sewing instructions for an elegant laptop bag
Hidden behind the 19th window of the 2021 Advent calendar is an elegant laptop bag that I would like to sew with you today. As it is very quick to sew, it definitely has potential as a last-minute gift. Decorated with beautiful crystals or similar and thanks to its stylish closure, it looks particularly smart – perfect for Christmas.
Free sewing pattern for the laptop bag:
The size of the pattern is designed for 13-inch laptops. The dimensions of my laptop are 30.5 x 21 x 1.5 cm. If you want to sew the bag in a different size for a larger laptop, you will need to adjust the pattern to fit the size of your laptop.
You can download the pattern here for free as a PDF in two formats (A3 and A4):
Download the A3 laptop bag pattern
Download the A4 laptop bag pattern
When printing out the pattern, make sure you use the actual size. After printing out, all you have to do is stick the pages together edge-to-edge. There is no border to cut away! If you print the pattern onto A3, you only need to stick sheets 1 and 2 together. For A4, stick sheets 1 to 4 together.
The 1 cm seam allowances are already included. Make sure you coordinate the markings for the closure with the materials you are using.
Materials and accessories
For the outside of my laptop bag, I used a synthetic leather. You can of course also use other materials for the outer layer, such as SnapPap, cork, canvas, etc. For the inside, I used a light quilted fabric, which I also reinforced with a layer of Vilene H 250. However, the reinforcement is optional as it ultimately depends on the outer material used.
The following materials and accessories are required:
- Outer material approx. 65 x 40 cm
- Lining fabric approx. 65 x 40 cm
- Optional reinforcement, e.g. Vilene H 250
- Fabric and paper scissors
- Pins and fabric clips
- Turn clasp and relevant tool (screwdriver, etc.)
- Double sided adhesive tape (e.g. Stylefix)
- Crystals
- Matching colored sewing thread
Cutting out and preparation of the outside of the bag
Cut out the outer material and lining fabric according to the pattern. If you want to work with a reinforcement, iron it onto your lining fabric.
Now place your laptop on the inside of the outer fabric to make sure it fits and check the size.
It is now time to embellish the outside of your bag. You can give free rein to your imagination. I used two studs and several teardrop-shaped crystals from the Inspiration Kit. This box is available as an accessory for the special Crystal Edition versions of the BERNINA 590 Crystal Edition and BERNINA 790 PLUS Crystal Edition. I positioned the crystals to form small flowers.
Place the crystals and the closure on your laptop bag as they are to be attached at the end to check the overall effect.
When positioning them, make sure they are a minimum distance of 2 cm from the outside edge.
To prevent the crystals from slipping, I stuck them on with Stylefix before sewing them on.
To sew on the studs, I used Button-sew-on Foot #18, which is also included in the Inspiration Kit.
I used the following settings to sew on the small studs.
I sewed the remaining crystals onto the outside of the bag by hand.
Now take your turn clasp and draw the slot for the turn key in the center.
Carefully cut out this marking.
Now use this hole to mark the position of the turn key on the opposite side of the bag. Pay attention to the marking on the pattern.
Then cut small slits for the back of your turn clasp according to the markings and attach your turn key.
Sewing the laptop bag
Now place the prepared pieces of outer material and lining fabric with the right sides together and pin everything together carefully. If you use synthetic leather or similar, you will need to insert the pins inside the seam allowance so the resulting holes cannot be seen later on. Leave a turning opening of at least 12 to 15 cm at the top edge (see red marking).
Now sew the outer material and lining together with a 1 cm seam allowance. To make the corners more robust, I reinforced them by sewing over them several times.
Then carefully cut back and trim the seam allowances.
Now turn your assembled laptop bag through the opening.
Push out and shape the corners, edges and curves well and secure everything in place with fabric clips.
Also place clips along the turning opening by neatly folding in the seam allowances of the outer material and lining. If you use slightly thicker synthetic leather, I recommend using a plenty of clips for this rather than too few.
Now topstitch the edges approx. 3 to 4 mm from the edge, which automatically closes the turning opening. For precise topstitching of edges like these, I like to use Edgestitch Foot #10.
Here you can see the settings on my machine that I used to topstitch the edges.
Now fold the bottom section of the bag upwards, ensuring there is plenty of space for the laptop inside and secure the two sides with fabric clips. Then sew the sides together the same distance from the edge as you previously topstitched the edges.
Last but not least, all that’s left is to mount the top part of the turn clasp.
And your elegant laptop bag is finished!
I hope you have lots of fun sewing your own laptop bag! Have a lovely Christmas with your loved ones.
See you soon. Warm wishes, Janine
Love this pattern, Lots of ways to upgrade and add to it. Thank yoou.
It’s gorgeous, but I honestly think it needs a handle or a shoulder strap. I learned heaps about placing the clasps, thank you for that. I’d also add a cellphone pocket to it; stitch a pocket to the lining in the desired place before ironing the lining onto the fabric. Thank you for this idea, I’m off to my sewing stash to see what I’ve got because my daughter needs a new laptop case. cheers, Lee