Angela’s Diaper Bag

Hi, my name is Melissa Mortenson and I’m very excited to share the tutorial for this fun diaper bag! It is made from 1 charm pack and 1 layer cake… that’s it! No other yardage required … just some interfacing and fusible fleece! I made this for a friend, Angela, thus the name.

I hope you enjoy it! I loved making it. Stop by my blog the polkadot chair and say hi!

1 Charm Pack- I used Santorini by Lila Tueller

1 Layer Cake

Fusible Fleece

Timtex/Peltex (fusible)

Heavy Weight Fusible Interfacing (I used fuse-a-shade)

Wide ribbon

1 pkg fabric lamination sheets- I used Heat n’ Bond Iron on Vinyl Matte. It comes in a package and is sold at the fabric store next to the Heat n’ Bond products.

1 hand towel
1/4″ wide elastic

This bag uses 1 layer cake and 1 charm pack. You will use almost the entire package of both. So to begin it is VERY important that you lay out all of your pieces. I think it’s easiest to open the package and put “similar” prints and colors together. It helps with sorting.

First lay out the pieces for the front and back of the bag.

These are charm pieces. (5″ pre-cut squares)

You will need 8 uncut charms for the front and 8 for the back

You will then need 4 additional charms for the top border.

Cut these pieces in half so that you have 8 2.5×5″ pieces.

Stitch together bag front and back pieces.

Set aside. You are done with the charm pieces

*note : I have an embroidery machine. So I decided to add a monogram to the front. If you do this, do it after the pieces are stitched but before you complete any other steps.

Next the layer cake pieces. Hold on this one’s a biggie!

Put piles by color or pattern. You will have several that you have 2 of the same pattern but different colors, you will also have several that are exactly the same. Match those up. Put in piles.

You will need:
2 matching/coordinating layer cake (LC) pieces for the side panels
2 matching/coordinating LC pieces for side panel lining
1 LC piece for side panel & side lining border
2 matching/coordinating LC for the outer pockets
2 matching/coordinating for the LC outer pockets lining
2 matching/coordinating LC pieces for the bottom of the bag (outside bottom)
2 matching/coordinating LC pieces for the inside bottom of bag
4 LC pieces for front and back lining
1 or 2 LC piece for front and back lining border (up to you if you want the same pattern on all the border- I used 2 different pieces)
12 LC pieces for inside pockets (I just used a variety of pieces for this, none of them were the same)
2 matching LC pieces for bag divider side 1
2 matching LC pieces for bag divider side 2

Okay now you are going to cut some of your Layer Cake Pieces. SAVE ALL of your scraps. We will use some of them later. (note: in this photo the pieces look to be different lengths, they are not, they are both 10″ long, they just are laid out and not sewn yet that is why they look different)

The side panel of the bags are 8” wide.
Cut the following to 8” wide (do NOT cut the other edge, leave it at 10”)

2 side panels
2 side linings
1 side panel border
1 side panel border lining

Next Cut the side panel border piece to:
8” x 2.5″- you need 4

Cut 2 side pockets to:
8×8
Cut 2 side pocket linings to
8×8

Now for bag lining pieces:

Cut front and back lining border- to do this, Cut 1 layer cake piece into
4 pieces each 10”x 2.5” (you can use 2 different patterns if you like, that is what I did)

Now you are ready to start sewing!

Start with the lining:

Sew front lining piece (uncut layer piece) to lining border piece (10×2.5) Press seam up.
Sew 2nd front lining piece to lining border piece. Press seam down.
Matching seams sew 2 lining pieces together. (you will end up with a piece that is approx. 19.5 wide x 12.25 tall)
Repeat for back lining pieces & borders.

Due to seam allowance differences you need to trim the bag front piece (made out of charms earlier) and the lining piece to the same size.

Match centers and lay bag front over bag front lining. Trim excess off bag lining so it is the same size as bag front.

Repeat for back lining and bag back

Sew side lining pieces (8×10) to side lining borders (2.5×8)
Press

Sew 2 layer cake pieces together to make bag lining bottom.

Next cut heavy weight fusible interfacing the same size as ALL lining pieces. Iron on. Set lining pieces aside.

you should have:

1 bag front lining

2 side panel linings

1 bag back lining

1 bag bottom lining

Next move to the outer bag pieces:

Sew 2 uncut layer cake pieces together to form Bottom of bag.

Cut a piece of fusible fleece the same size as the pieces and iron on to the following pieces:
Bag Front
Bag Back
2 side panels
2 pockets (8×8) do NOT put fusible fleece on the pocket lining pieces.
Bottom of Bag

Make the outer pockets:

Baste a 8” piece of piping to the top pocket
Pin pocket lining piece to pocket right sides together

With fusible fleece facing up…stitch pocket to lining on the SAME stitching line you used to baste the piping on.

Turn right side out and press.

Place pocket on top of side panel. Match edges and baste pocket to side panel

Sew bag front to side panel
Sew same side panel to bag back
Sew 2nd side panel to bag back
Sew bag front to 2nd side panel
(photo shows bag front, 1 side panel and bag back)

PRESS seams so that you get crisp edges.

You will get something that looks like this:

Next sew bag bottom on. Sew 2 long sides first stopping ¼” from the edges. Then sew short sides.

This will complete the outside of the bag.

Set aside

Next inside pockets.
Repeat the following steps for inside pockets for front & back of bag

Sew 3 pocket pieces together. (uncut layer pieces)
Press seams
Sew 3 pocket lining pieces together
Press
(photo shows pocket lining side)

Sew inside pocket pieces to pocket lining pieces at top (right sides together)
Press seam open. Turn right side out.

Measuring down ½” from the top of the pocket sew a casing for elastic.
(photo shows pocket side)

Cut a piece of elastic 19.5”. Thread though casing. (Adjust elastic if necessary so that pocket lays flat when pinned to bag lining.) Stitch elastic securely at both sides.

Lay pocket onto bag lining

Match side seams centers and bottom.

Form a pleat in the bottom of each pocket so that the top and bottom are the same width

Baste bottom to hold pleats in place. Baste sides.

Making sure to back stitch several times, sew down each panel to divide pocket into 3 separate compartments.

Sew lining front to side lining

sew side lining to lining back

sew lining back to 2nd side lining

sew 2nd side lining to front lining

Press seams open very well.

Sew lining bottom into lining.

Make handles:

You will need 8 scraps of layer cake (these are the pieces you saved from cutting earlier). Each piece should be 2×10

Sew 2 pieces together at short seam. Do this so you have 4 pieces 2”x 19.75

Press seams open

Apply heavy weight fusible interfacing to 2 of the handle pieces.

Sew 1 handle piece (with out interfacing) to one with interfacing. Sewing along one long side. Press seam open. Press raw edge of handle piece under ¼” on both pieces.

Fold in half (wrong sides together) and top stitch down both of the long sides of the handles.

Assemble the bag

Cut a piece of fusible peltex to fit inside of the bottom of the of the bag.

Pin & sew handle to front and back of bag. Sew over handle several times since this is a “stressed” area of the bag. Lining them up with the seam of the 5” squares

Pin & sew ribbon (cut it long, you can trim it later) to front and back centers of bag

On BOTH bag lining piece and bag pieces press under top seam ¼”

Insert peltex into bottom of bag

Put bag lining into bag. Match top seams and pin well. If for some reason the seams do not match up… adjust the side seams so that they do.

Very SLOWLY and carefully… top stitch bag to bag lining. Being careful not to catch the handles or the ribbon in the seams.

Put your iron INSIDE the sewn bag. Iron the inside bottom of the bag to fuse the peltex to bag and bag lining.

Make the divider:

Measure the width of your bag. Mine was 17.5. Cut a piece of peltex 17.5×9.5.

Take your 4 matching LC pieces. Sew 2 pieces together forming divider front and and 2 pieces to form back.

Sew divider front piece to divider back (right sides together) piece along 3 sides. (leaving short side open). Press well.

Slide peltex into divider.

Fold raw edge of divider in. Press. Top stitch around all 4 sides of divider.

Place divider inside finished bag. By hand, whip stitch divider into place at the top and bottom corners.

Optional Changing pad: You have enough pieces left over so why not make one? 🙂

Cut 1 layer cake piece into 4 pieces, each 2.5 x 10

Sew to edges of 2 LC pieces.

Sew 2 pieces together and Press .

Laminate using iron on lamination sheets according to package directions.

Place laminated/pieced fabric on top of hand towel. Cut hand towel to size of laminated fabric.

Attach 2 loops of ¼” elastic to top of changing pad. Stitch down and back stitch… (these pop off easily if not stitched down properly)

Put right sides together and stitch changing pad to towel. Starting and stopping between elastic pieces. Turn inside out.
Press again (you will need the pressing piece from the lamination to be able to iron it- otherwise you will melt the laminate).

Whip stitch opening closed.

1 Diaper Bag

Summer Swing Skirt

This swingy summer skirt is made with a one-size fits most design, but can easily be adapted to plus sized by adding a square or made smaller by removing a square from the top layer of the skirt. It’s just that easy! Look for easy size changes in italics.

1 Santorini layer cake
1 Santorini Jelly Roll
1/2 yard of any Santorini fabric
1 package of 1 inch no roll elastic

This skirt is made in three layers. The first layer is 5 pieces of your layer cake. Seam allowance is 1/4 inch through out this project.

Pam: Just grab any five!

Elizabeth: Uh, no. Of course you don’t grab “any five”. You need to stare at all of them for awhile…stripes are slimming, but you can’t have nothing but stripes…hey this one with the green I think is my favorite so it has to be on the front…gotta get the combination of colors just right…so keep agonizing until Pam shoots you a dirty look and tells you she could have the skirt halfway finished by now.

Stitch your five layer cake pieces together forming a tube. This is the top tier of your skirt.

Unroll your jelly roll strips and gaze at them a bit. Doesn’t Moda do a nice job with these fabrics?

At this point you should try it on and make sure it’s not too big or too small. Add on a square to make it a plus sized skirt. Subtract a square or a portion of a square to make it smaller.

Ruthlessly cut them in half at the fold.

Pam: Randomly pull strips from the pile and stitch them together.

Elizabeth: OK, this time you try to be totally random…so you get into the spirit of just grabbing prints, until Pam tells you that you’re about to have a big blob of green in the middle of your skirt. So I guess you sort of randomly pull strips. They all go together quite well, and it’s fun to see combinations of prints you might not have thought of trying, but avoid blobs of one color. At all costs.

You will need 50 strips for this tier. For every 1 inch you added to the top tier, add 1 strip. (one layer cake square equals 10 strips) For every inch you removed, remove 1 strip.

Press seams in one direction.

Once your strips are all stitched together, stitch into a tube.

Trim to length. For our ‘maxi’ skirt we trimmed to 19 inches. Total length of the skirt is 38 inches. This is the perfect time to measure a skirt you love pick your own perfect length. Most purchased tiered skirts are between 34 and 36 inches long, as a guideline. For an average length skirt cut at 18 inches.

Gather your tier using your ruffler attachment, or your favorite method of gathering.

Ours was gathered using the ruffler foot set at 6 and stitch length set at 4.3. Yours may vary.

Pin your ruffled strip to your top tier. Stitch together.

Woo hoo , it looks like a skirt now doesn’t it!
Randomly select 20 layer cake pieces from your remaining pile for your last tier. For every 5 strips you added to your second tier, add 2 layer cakes pieces. For every 5 strips you removed subtract 2 layer cake pieces. Its not critical that you add or remove at this point. Its going to be ruffly regardless.

Gather at the same settings used before. Attach gathered layer cake tier to strip tier.

How cute is this?

Hem your skirt by turning up bottom tier 1/4 inch, then again 1/4 inch, for a nice small hem. For a more casual look, stitch 1/4 inch from the pinked edge and let it get that frayed look. Its summer fun, go for it!

From your 1/2 yard of waistband fabric cut (2) 2 3/4 inch strips. Stitch short ends together for one long strip and trim to 48 inches OR the measurement of the top of your skirt, if you made any alterations.

Elizabeth: Pam’s measurements and instructions are exactly right–but be sure to use a very accurate seam allowance when you stitch the waistband to the skirt and when you top stitch the top of the waistband make sure you stitch very close to the edge…because it might be a tiny bit difficult to thread the elastic through the casing. And if you tell Pam that the waistband should be cut maybe a little wider she’ll tell you “no”. If you don’t think you want to be that precise, you could cut your waistband pieces maybe 1/8″ wider, and Pam probably won’t find out.

Stitch into a tube leaving a 1 inch opening in the seam as shown. This will be the opening to insert your elastic. Fold right sides together and press.

Pin your waistband to the right side of your skirt with the opening facing away from the skirt.

Top stitch at the fold very close to the edge. This gives a nice professional look to your garment.

Insert elastic into your waistband and adjust to fit comfortably.

Stitch elastic ends securly everlapping for a flat finish.

Whip stitch the casing closed.

Pam: I used contrasting thread so you could see the stitching!

Elizabeth: Psst! Just between you and me? She used green thread because that’s what was already in the needle.

Your swing skirt is done! Go on, celebrate!

One very swingy summer skirt!

Summer fun brought to you by Elizabeth and Pam!