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Children's Backpack With Pockets | Back To School Sewing Pattern

Quick Links: What you'll need Project steps

Sew a functional child's backpack with Debbie Shore's sewing pattern and video.

For school or weekends away, this children's backpack sewing project has lots of pockets to help keep the kids organised! Make it in brightly coloured plain fabrics or prints in their favourite cartoon characters. If this is a school or sports bag, how about making it in the teams’ colours?

I’ve used cotton canvas for my bag as it’s a sturdy, strong fabric. Denim would work well, and quilting cotton could also be used but may need firmer interfacing to give it more structure. (There’s no harm in adding a medium-weight interfacing plus fusible fleece to the fabric if you need to.) I’ve used a fusible fleece (H640) to stabilize my fabric. Foam would give a firmer bag but may need trimming back to the seams to reduce bulk. If using a sew-in firm fleece, you may wish to adhere it to the fabric with a basting spray such as Odif 505.

Finished size: 10½ x 12½ x 3in (26.75 x 31.75 x 7.5cm)

Note: Use a ¼in (5mm) seam allowance unless otherwise stated.

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You will need:

Equipment

• Sewing machine
• Fabric shears, or rotary cutter and cutting mat
• Paper scissors, for cutting the template
• Safety pin or bodkin, to thread the elastic
• Fabric clips
• Optional: walking foot, when sewing the outer bag and bag lining together

Materials

Gather:

• 24 x 14in (61 x 35.5cm) of fabric 1 for the front and back: mine is blue
• 44 x 34in (112 x 86.5cm) of fabric 2 for the sides, pockets and lining: mine is yellow
• 25 x 12in (63.5 x 30in) of fabric 3 for the straps: mine is red
• 35 x 18in (89 x 46cm) of fusible fleece
• Two 7in (18cm) square pieces of mesh fabric for the side pockets
• Two 4in (10cm) lengths of ¼in (5mm) wide elastic for the side pockets
• Two 1in (2.5cm) rectangular rings
• Two 1in (2.5cm) sliders
• 20in (51cm) zip: mine is red to match the straps
• 14in (35.5cm) zip: mine is red to match the straps

Cut:

• Use the pattern to cut two bag pieces in fabric 1 (blue) for the outer (front and back) and two in fabric 2 (yellow) for the lining 
• Two 11 x 3½in (28 x 9cm) rectangles in fabric 2 for the base (one for the outer and one for the lining)
• 13 x 11in (33 x 28cm) rectangle of fabric 2 for the back pocket
• Two 11 x 6in (28 x 15cm) rectangles in fabric 2 for the lower section of the front pocket 
• 11 x 3in (28 x 7.5cm) strip in fabric 2 for the upper section of the front pocket 
• Four 17 x 1¾in (43 x 4.5cm)  strips of fabric 2 for the zip panel (two for the outer and two for the lining)
• Four 3½ x 7½in (9 x 19cm) rectangles of fabric 2 for the side panels (two for the outer and two for the lining)
• Two 11 x 12in (28 x 30cm) rectangles of fabric 2 for the inside pockets 
• 4 x 2in (10 x 5cm) rectangle of fabric 3 (red) for the hanging loop
• Two 4in (10cm) squares of fabric 3 for the strap tabs
• Two 25 x 4in (63.5 x 10cm) rectangles of fabric 3 for the straps
• Two 4 x 3in (10 x 7.5cm) rectangles of fabric 3 for the zip tabs

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