Molly's Sketchbook: Music Bag

When I saw this adorable Yuwa musical note fabric I decided to give myself the challenge of coming up with my own perfect music bag. The resulting bag has a lot of features I've always looked for: A separate inside pocket for the music to slide into so it won't get jostled and wrinkled, long handles, and a small inside pocket for my cell phone and keys. It's stiff and sturdy and best of all, it's pretty cute. I used the durable and natural looking Global Weave Linen Blend for the outside, the lovely aforementioned Yuwa Musical Note fabric for the lining, and the bold Brown Sweet Grid for the accents. I love the unexpected way these three fabrics come together and I love this bag! --Molly

Materials

• One Yard- Yuwa Musical Notes in Peach- This will be the lining.
• One Yard- Global Weave Linen Cotton Blend in Latte- This will be the outer fabric.
• One Yard- Yuwa Sweet Grid in Brown- This will be the binding.
• Two Yards- Peltex Fusible Stabilizer
• Dark Brown Embroidery Thread to match the binding fabric
• A 50 mm Bias Tape Maker

Cutting

From the Linen Cotton Outer Fabric cut:

• Two 15 1/2-inch X 11 3/4-inches- These are the OUTER BAG PIECES
• One 39-inch X 6 1/2-inch strip- This is the OUTER BOTTOM PIECE
• Two 29-inch X 3 3/4-inch strips- These are the OUTER HANDLE PIECES

From the Musical Note Lining Fabric:

• Two 15 1/2-inch X 11 3/4-inch pieces- These are the LINING BAG PIECES
• Two 15 1/2-inch X 10-inch pieces- These are the LINING INNER POCKET PIECES
  
• One 39-inch X 6 1/2-inch strip- This is the LINING BOTTOM PIECE
• One 9-inch by 12-inch piece- This is the LINING POCKET PIECE
  

From the Interfacing:

• Two 15 1/2-inch X 11 3/4-inch pieces- These are the INTERFACING BAG PIECES
• One 39-inch X 6 1/2-inch strip- This is the INTERFACING BOTTOM PIECE
• One 15 1/2-inch X 10-inch piece- This is the INTERFACING INNER POCKET PIECE

From the Sweet Grid Binding Fabric:

• Two 29-inch X 3 3/4-inch strips, cut on the bias- These are the BINDING HANDLE PIECES
• Two 40-inch X 3 3/4-inch strips, cut on the bias- These are the BAG BINDING STRIPS

Adding the Pocket

The first step in assembling the panels is to make and attach the small inside pocket. Fold the LINING POCKET PIECE in half width wise and iron it. The piece will now measure 6-inches X 9-inches. Sew a zig zag stitch around the three open sides (do not sew across the fold).

Fold and iron the three zig zagged sides in 1/2 an inch as shown above.

Center and pin the pocket right side up 2-inches from the top on top of the right side of one of the LINING INNER POCKET PIECES. Top stitch the sides and bottom of the pocket in place.

Assembling the Panels

Inner Pocket Panel

• Place the two LINING INNER POCKET PIECES right sides together.
• Then place the INTERFACING INNER POCKET PIECE on top of the two LINING INNER POCKET PIECES.
• Pin the top 15 1/2-inch sides together and sew them together with a 1/2-inch seam along this side.
• Open up the panel and arrange it so that the right side of the lining fabric is on the outide of both sides, encasing the interfacing.
• Iron the panels down in this way and pin it across the sewn edge.
• Top stitch along the sewn edge of the panel.

This is now your Inner Pocket Panel.

Bag Panel

• Place one of the OUTER BAG PIECES to one of the LINING BAG PIECES right sides together.
• Then place an INTERFACING BAG PIECE on top and pin all three pieces together along the top 15 1/2-inch side.
• Sew them together across the pinned edge.
• Open up the panel and arrange it so that the right sides of the lining and outer fabrics are on the outide, encasing the interfacing.
• Iron the panels down in this way and pin it across the sewn edge.
• Top stitch along the sewn edge of the panel.
• Repeat this for the second set of BAG PIECES.

These are now your Bag Panels.

Bottom Panel

• Place the OUTER BOTTOM PIECE and the LINING BOTTOM PIECE right sides together.
• Place the INTERFACING BOTTOM PIECE on top and sew all three pieces together along one of the short 6 1/2-inch sides with a 1/2-inch seam allowance.
• Open up the panel and arrange it so that the right sides of the lining and outer fabrics are on each side, encasing the interfacing.
• Iron the panels down in this way and pin it across the sewn edge.
• Top stitch along the sewn edge of the panel.

This is now your Bottom Panel.

Sewing the Bag

Place the plain Bag Panel (the one that doesn't have the small pocket sewn to) it so the lining is facing up and the top stitched side is on top.

Place the Inner Pocket Panel on top of the Bag Panel, matching up the bottom and side raw edges. The Inner Pocket Panel will be a bit shorter than the Bag Panel.

Starting from the top left side of the Bottom Panel, pin the Bottom Panel to the raw edges of the Bag and Inner Pocket Panels, right sides facing out:

Start on the left side of the work, matching up the top stitched edges of the Bag Panel and the Bottom Panel.

Pin the Bottom Panel all the way down the left side of the Bag and Inner Pocket Panels. Then pin it along the bottom, and then finally up the right side.

The Bottom Panel will be longer than the Bag Panel and go beyond it a little bit, as show in the photo above.

Sew the Bottom Panel on with a 1/2-inch seam allowance along all three pinned sides. Make sure you are sewing through every layer (lining, interfacing, and outer fabric) of each panel.

Pin the second Bag Panel on to the Bottom Panel in the same manner and sew it down with a 1/2-inch seam allowance as well.

Once the Bottom and Bag Panels are all sewn together you can get rid of the excess on the top right side of the Bottom Panel by tucking the fabric inside of itself, ironing it down, and topstiching it closed.

The body of the bag is now done!

Attaching the Binding

Iron the BAG BINDING STRIPS into bias tape according to the directions on the bias tape maker.

Leaving a 3/4-inch tail, place one of the bias tape pieces along one of the bag's top corners, as shown above.

Tuck the tail of the bias tape inside itself and inside the bag, pinching it shut.

Using your embroidery thread, tack the top of the bias tape closed, encasing the raw end.

Sew the bias tape along the raw edges of the bag with a running stitch, encasing the raw edges as you go. Pull the bias tape a little as you go along to keep it looking smooth. Make sure you are sewing through all of the layers of lining, interfacing, and outer fabric as well as the other side of the bias tape.

When you get to the end of one side miter the corners of the bias tape: Sew to the very end of the side and then pull the bias tape towards you, creating a 45-degree angle on the outside of the tape, as shown above.

Then turn the tap back on top of itself so the 45-degree angle is intact and the tape makes a neat corner as shown above. Continue stitching the bias tape all the way around the raw edge of the bag. Hide the bias tape end in the same way you did at the beginning.

Repeat this to sew the other piece of bias tape to the second raw edge of the bag.

Making and Attaching the Handles

Iron the BINDING HANDLE PIECES and the OUTER HANDLE PIECES though the bias tape maker once, do not iron them in half again like you would if you were making regular bias tape.

Sew one of the OUTER HANDLE PIECES to one of the BINDING HANDLE PIECES right sides together along both of their short sides with a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Tuck the raw ends in toward the middle as show above.

Turn the handles right sides out so that the raw ends are encased. Pin the long sides toghether, right sides facing out, and sew around all four sides of the bag handle with a 1/4-inch seam allowance.

Repeat for the second bag handle.

Pin the handles, outer fabric facing out to the outside of the bag, 1-inch from the top and 3-inches from the nearest side.

Sew the handles on in this position with a rectangle seam, 1/4-inch from where the handles over lap the bag as shown above and you'll be all done and ready to make sweet music!

Comments

[Janet]

Great work on the music bag! I too had a challenge in the symphony when I had to be able to get off/on the stage quickly with my oboe, English horn, music, reed cases, instrument stand and all the other little tools we usually need to keep close, plus I needed something to keep the drafts off of the instrument I wasn't playing so it wouldn't get cold and therefore flat in pitch. I made a cozy (like a teapot cozy) that has pockets, a shoulder strap, and a place to easily hook up my instrument stand. After transporting everything, it then became a warm cozy to put over either my oboe or English horn to keep warm. I used a black windbreak material on the outside but found some cute music motif material for the inside like you did. Glad to see others using their creative talents to meet their needs. Your music bag is very chic and cute. Congratulations!

[Elizabeth]

Love this bag! very cute and functional.

[melissa]

Whimsical! Musical! Will definitely be making one for my little Suzuki violinist at home..

[Margarida Godinho]

Great tutorial!
Must try it!

[nicolette]

Great tutorial!! Lovely fabrics!

[wendy]

I love so many of the projects posted here, but I can't figure out how to print the information with using a gazillion pieces of paper. Is there a way to print a condensed project sheet?
Thank you!

[purl bee]

Hi Wendy,
You are not alone! We've been struggling with this same issue ourselves... Until we get it straightened out we recommend cutting and pasting the text and any photos you want to refer to into a text document and printing that.
Sorry for your trouble!

[Annette]

I am in the process of making this wonderful bag for my mother-in-law for Christmas. Your tutorial is so easy to follow and the photographs are such a help especially for a beginner like me. Thank you Molly!!!

[ILikePaperCutting]

like the linen

[Lisa]

What a wonderful bag! Still a little beyond my skills for now, but it's now on my list of "one day" projects. Also, SO nice to see musical fabric where the notes are printed CORRECTLY and not with backwards flags, or with half notes and quarter notes beamed together!

[Diane]

What a great tutorial! I have some wonderful musical fabric to use too.

Does anyone know the finished dimensions? I may need to make adjustments to accommodate my clarinet case, binder, music stand, water bottle, etc etc.

Thanks for the tutorial - I can't wait to make this!

[purl bee]

Hi Diane-

This bag is roughly 15-inches wide X 11-inches- tall with a depth of 6-inches.

Thanks for your question!

[Nina-CostaRIca]

Nice bag! and nice post

[Sarah]

What a great tutorial. I enjoyed sewing this bag for my mother-in-law. She said it works great for all her music and uses it all the time. Thanks again!