Featured Fabric: FreeSpirit Flourish & Bloom by Helen Prior

Pattern Designed and Sewn by: Elaina Sabado

We’re already into a new year, why not make a new bag! Lately I’ve been seeing a ton of cute quilted patchwork bags being advertised online (yes, the algorithm knows me well). Only, I want to try making it myself, you know how that is. That’s what inspired me to design and stitch up this fun tutorial, and I’m really excited to share it with all of you using the beautiful FreeSpirit Flourish & Bloom collection by Helen Prior! This bag pattern features quilted patchwork throughout, a convenient front pocket, shoulder strap length handles, binding for the finished edges, and it’s fully reversible, so it’s like 2 bags in one! If you’re new to bag making, I hope you’ll give it a try. If you’ve made lots of bags maybe this pattern is for you, too!

Fabric Requirements

A PWHP010.Alabaster-1/3 yd (.30m)

B PWHP003.Coral-1/2 yd (.46m)

C PWHP003.Green-fat 1/8 yd (.11m)

D PWHP008.Red-fat 1/8 yd (.11m)

E PWHP007.Blue-fat quarter (0.5m x 0.55m)

F PWHP001.Pansy-1/2 yd (.46m)

G PWHP007.Coral-fat 1/8 yd (.11m)

H PWHP009.Mint-fat 1/8 yd (.11m)

 I PWHP004.Glory-1/2 yd (.46m)

J PWHP005.Blush-fat 1/8 yd (.11m)

K PWHP007.Blue-fat 1/8 yd (.11m)

Tools and supplies

Scissors

Rotary cutter

6” x 24” quilting ruler

Pins

Needle for hand sewing binding (optional to machine sew instead)

Blue water-soluble marking pen (or your preferred erasable marking tool)

Iron

Binding clips

Thread (I’m using Aurifil 50wt cotton in color 2314)

Pellon Fusible Fleece 45” x 60” package

2 washable white glue sticks (Elmer’s school brand works well)

505 Spray basting adhesive (or safety-pins as a substitute)

Let’s get started!

Instructions:

Front Patchwork Panels

Let’s begin by making our patchwork panels for the outside of our bag. I chose to make two of the same but you may want to mix it all up and make each side unique.

We’ll be using a 2.0 stitch length throughout this project and a ¼”seam allowance.

To make the patchwork each panel (the number in parenthesis is the total to do both panels) you’ll cut from the following fabrics:

6 ½” x 3 ½” C-cut 1(2), D-cut 1(2), K-cut 1(2)

2 ½” x 2 ½” G-cut 3(6), J-cut 3(6)

6 ½” x 5” A- cut 1(2), D-cut 1(2), F-cut 1(2)

6 ½” x 6 ½” H-cut 1(2)

6 ½” x 7” A-cut 1(2)

Arrange them and sew in rows and then columns as pictured. Finished size before we trim them is 18 ½” x 16 ½”.

Cut your backing fabric one inch larger on all sides of your front panel. Cut the fusible the same size and iron in to the back or wrong side of the backing fabric.

Place the front panel in the middle and spray baste on top of the fusible and backing piece.

Quilt as desired. The fusible fleece is very easy to sew through so I didn’t find a need to use a walking foot. If you are using a thicker batting material you may find it helpful to use one. (I chose a 1” inch grid and using a blue erasable marking pen to mark my lines and to show seam allowances. I’m using the seam lines as a guide on spacing out my straight line stitching.)

Once the quilting is finished measure from the center out and trim to at  17”x 15”.

Make two.

The finished front panels after trimming are 17”x 15”

Front Panel Pocket (optional)

Pockets come in handy, and they're super easy to add. Make one for the other side, too, if you like!

From fabric A cut two 7 ½” squares and two  7 ½” x 2 1/4”strips.

From the fusible fleece cut a 7 ½” square. Make a quilt sandwich. Stack one of the A fabric face down, the fusible fleece in the middle and the top fabric face up. Quilt as desired. Trim to 7”x 7” square. Add a folded strip (binding strip) and straight stitch them to the front of the pocket, top and bottom as pictured. Fold the binding to the backside and stitch in the ditch in the seam through the seam on the front side for both strips. Set aside.

The Finished pocket is 7” x 7”

Straps

This part takes some time with all the steps, but the results are worth it!

The top or front of the straps are made from piecing a total of 18 cuts (9 cuts for each strap). Cut 1 ½” x  7” strips from the following fabrics to make two strip sets: F cut 4, K cut 2, H cut 2, J cut 2, G cut 4, D cut 2, C cut 2. Press each of the seams to the darker fabric side. Sew each set of nine strips in the order as pictured above. Fold each strip in half and trim to 29”, strip should measure 58” in length.

From the fusible fleece cut 2 pieces at 1 ½” in width and 58” in length.

With an iron, fuse the fusible fleece to the back or wrong side of the newly made 1 ½” wide pieced fabric strip.

For the back of each strap from fabric B, cut one strip at 3” wide and 42” in length and another at 3” wide and 16 ½” in length. Sew together to make the strip 58”. Make two.

With the wrong side of the 3” wide strips facing up, place the already pieced front of the strip in the center, right side up. Use the washable glue stick or pin to keep in place.

Fold the sides towards the center strap. Fold each side once to the edge of the pieces strip and then over again over the side of it to form the finished edges. (I like to iron or finger press the first fold and then apply some washable stick glue to keep the second fold in place for when I sew them down. Binding clips are helpful at this step.)

Sew the inner edge of the fold with an 1/8” seam allowance on both sides. Follow by sewing in the ditch of each side of the inner seams to add to the structure and strength of the strap. Trim excess fabric so they measure 58.” in length.

Finished straps measure 1 5/8” x 58”.

Side Panel

For the outside and bottom pieces, you will sew three of 16 ½” x 6” strips to create one long strip, you’ll do this twice to make the front and back sides. The center cut will be the bottom of the bag and the outer two will form the sides. For the front side panel cut 2 of fabric E and 1 of fabric F. Sew the two E fabrics to the outsides of the center fabric F to make a long strip. If you have a directional fabric, make sure to check if it is the right side up.

For the backside of the side panel cut 3 of fabric E and sew end to end in another long strip. Cut the fusible batting at 48” length and 6” in with. Iron and fuse it to the back of the wrong side of the front side pieced panel. Spray baste or pin the inside pieced panel to the back side and quilt as desired. If you are doing grid quilting, I found it easiest to do the short lines of stitching first and then uses those lines to make the long lengths of stitching. After quilting, trim the sides to finish at 5” width. Fold or measure to find the center of the long length of the strip, trim to finish at 45” in length.

Finished side panel measurement after trimming is 5”x 45”

Now we have all our pieces quilted and trimmed and ready for assemble our bag!

Adding the Pocket

Place the pocket in the center column of one of the front panels, 2” from the bottom. With the erasable blue marker pen, make a line where the pocket covers over the middle of the vertical stitched seams of the inner column on each side as pictured above. Stitch a straight seam along all three sides backstitching at the beginning and end of each seam. The bottom of the pocket will be a stitch in the ditch seam.

Sewing on the Straps

Make sure both straps measure the same length. Trim them if you prefer a shorter drop. Place one strap on the front panel flat with the inside edge of the straps lining up with the seams of the middle column. (If it’s the panel with pocket, just make sure the you draw an erasable line or mark where the seam lines are underneath to line it up with.) Pin or use washable glue to keep in place while you sew them on.

Stitch in the ditch on along both sides of each strap stopping 1/2’” from the top of the panel. To further secure each strap sew two horizontal lines of stitching across the strap, start sewing ¼” from the start and end of the strap, make sure to backstitch. You’ll want to go over the previous line of stitching 3 times.

Attaching the Side Panel

Line up the center bottom of the side panel to one of the front panels from the middle to the out to the edge.

Mark a ¼” seam allowance along the corner sides and along the bottom. Pin the center of the front panel to the center of the side panel. Sew a straight line beginning and stopping at ¼” from the edges of the bottom front panel. The most important part is to make sure you don’t sew over the ¼” line on any of the bottom four corners. You are sewing an inset seam. Make sure to backstitch at the starting and ending point to prevent the stitches from coming out. Make some small clips at the corners to allow the fabric some ease so it won’t bunch.

Now sew each top edge, backstitch to secure and sew down to the bottom and stop at  ¼” from edge or corner. Making small clips with your scissors will help to flatten out the bulk as you sew to the corner and make it easier to attach binding in the next step.

Binding

This project uses the double fold quilt binding method.

Cut 3 strips of 2 3/8” x width of fabric or 42”. Sew them end to end to make one long strip. Straight line stitch or miter to join depending on your preference. You will use this for the binding for the entire bag. I keep it as one long strip and trim as needed. Sew the binding along all three sides on both of the front panels and the top last.

Attach the binding to the front and side panels going slowly at the corners and pressing them flat as you stitch around the corner. Fold the binding to the back and pin or use washable glue to secure before stitching in the ditch around all three sides or you may prefer the hand stitch method here.

Attach the top binding with the same method as above, but you may need to remove some of the bulk of the finished side panel binding before sewing over it, it can be pretty thick for the machine. As you sew over those side panel bindings fold outwards from the center of the front of the panel or flatten down the middle, whichever you prefer or is easier. To finish, fold over the binding and machine or hand stitch down on the inside of the bag. It’s reversible so you may want to turn it inside out to make it easier to handle. If machine stitching, use the stitch in the ditch method from the front. The washable glue stick is helpful for keeping the fold nicely in place on the back and makes it easier to stitch it down.

All finished! Yay! Thanks so very much for following along! I hope you love the new bag that YOU made! Please be sure to share your progress and finished work and tag @siysewityourself and @on5thave. Enjoy!

Fabric Details:

To view the complete FreeSpirit Flourish & Bloom by Helen Prior & more click here.

Learn more about Elaina here