How to sew a bag in the style of patchwork

Features of work
“Patchwork” is sewing from scraps of different colors, sizes and textures. Bags in the style of “patchwork” are a trendy trend, especially if the details of the “patchwork” are added to the decor of outerwear (for example, sew patchwork on jeans at the hip and bottom, on the back and shelves of a denim jacket, etc.).


There are many styles and designs of “patchwork”, from carefully designed geometric mosaics to the style of “crazy”, which means “crazy”. The latter style is absolutely free, you are free to combine any fabrics in any order.

The charm of working in the style of “crazy” is that you get complete freedom of creativity, while geometric patterns must be executed with absolute accuracy.

In any patchwork work, there are several important rules for any style and design.


1. Usually in the patchwork style one or two sides of the bag are sewn, for cylindrical bags and backpacks - a single rectangular canvas from which the side wall is built. After finishing the patchwork, this part of the bag is considered prepared, and then you sew the bag according to the usual rules for flat, volumetric, cylindrical and other models.


2. It is advisable that you have a drawing or photograph of the result you wish to receive. For the style of “crazy” this is not necessary, but first you need to disassemble your shreds by color and color combinations. In simple designs, for example, in various stripes, you can do without a drawing, but a full-size pattern is also desirable. With it you will check how steady the dimensions of the future bag are.


3. It is desirable to cut the patches, focusing on the length or width of a piece of fabric. The fact is that with the diagonal orientation of the fabric, it becomes tensile. Because of this, when stitching, the fabric will deform, and complex geometric patterns will not match in individual details. Regarding simple designs and crazy styles, this rule is not always necessary.

Slight deformation of the fabric can be eliminated by cutting the edges and adjusted in the process of stitches. However, if the patchwork pattern should have a clear vertical orientation, trimming will lead to its violation. So for a strip design, it’s better to keep the cut direction.


4. The stitching in the “patchwork” is optional, but it gives the product volume, strength and fixes all the flaps in place. Thus, she performs decorative and applied tasks. To complete the stitching, you need to put the finished patchwork part of the bag on a synthetic winterizer sheet (if you want to achieve a larger volume, take 2-3 synthetic winterizer sheets).


Then a fabric part is added from below, this “layer cake” is fixed with pins around the entire perimeter, center and preferably in the center of each patchwork part. For stitching, choose monofilament (transparent or black) or a thread matching the color of the main details of the bag. Quilting on a typewriter or manually all layers of fabric, trying not to dislodge it.


5. In all styles of "patchwork", for any design you need to follow the correct order of work. The fact is that in the "patchwork" the details are sewn only with a straight line (except for special cases of the use of a V-shaped seam). This means that all parts are numbered in the sewing order so that the straight-line rule is respected.


 By stitching the parts in the wrong order, you can end up with a zigzag edge of your patchwork part, which will lead to difficulties attaching other parts and aligning the sizes. For geometrically correct work, this is important. Stitching parts in order will allow you to work with pleasure and avoid many unnecessary problems with joining parts and the planned appearance of the product.

Design options

The design “Vertical stripes” for the front of the bags can be implemented in three options. The first is a combination of two strips of different fabrics connected vertically. There are no tricks, measure the dimensions of the parts according to your sketch, cut and sew.

The second option is the connection of three strips of fabric. Cut out all three parts according to your sketches, then sew 1 and 2 parts and the assembled part obtained - with part 3.

This design can be easily changed to "Horizontal stripes." The stitching technique is the same, the changes concern only the length and width of the strips (how they will fit along the length of the front of the bag). Try to cut the fabric in length or width in accordance with rule 3.

The “Diagonal Triangles” design will allow you to beautifully beat the wealth of textures of the selected shreds. The combination of denim, velveteen, silk and brocade looks especially good.

The first option is two diagonal triangles cut according to the sketch (allowances for seams 1 cm). Sew these parts together without stretching the fabric. Especially stretchable fabrics must first be glued with non-woven fabric.

In the second version of the three triangles, first sew parts 1 and 2, then sew to them part 3 with a diagonal line.

The third option is very similar to the second. First, parts 1 and 2 are sewn together, then 3 and 4, after which the obtained prefabricated parts are connected by stitching along the diagonal. In this case, the direction of the pile of fur and the relief of the velvet should be taken into account.

The design “Diagonal stripes” looks interesting on denim fabrics of different colors. The stripes may be the same or different in width. If, according to your sketch, life-size strips are thin (less than 3 cm each), try to combine fabrics with small and large patterns, separating them with plain fabrics. Corduroy fabrics in this design lose because their relief is lost.


It is important to note that strips need to be cut out not on the diagonal of the fabric (as it seems, when looking at the sketch), but along or across. Start stitching strips not from the edge, but from the longest strip in one direction. Then from the same strip to another. If the strips are long, first sew them, then smooth the resulting part, attach to the pattern and cut to the desired shape. The second and third options are sewn in the same way.


First sew the “striped” sides of the bag, then connect them to a single central part. Check the direction of the stripes on the front of the part according to the pattern. See that the stripes are directed the same way, according to your plan. It is technically difficult to use fur as strips. It can be used in the central part, and thin strips of fur can be sewn by hand after finishing the stitch.

The “Custom Stripes” design is great for fabrics with different textures. It resembles a stained glass window. On a full-size pattern, the drawing you intended is applied. It is important from the very beginning to carefully consider the selection of tissues. The more complex your design, the more accurate calculation you need to make.

For example, thin strips separators of your “stained-glass window” should be made of smooth and non-textured fabrics, plain or with a very large pattern (satin, denim without relief). Otherwise, the strip will lose its appearance as a separator, and a small pattern will capture the impression of larger parts of the bag. In such a bag you can use fur for one or two small details.


Using brocade, try to cut parts from different angles. Then the glare of metallized threads will play beautifully, shading adjacent details and giving the bag an original relief. Such a bag can also be sewn from brightly colored light summer fabrics. Despite the fact that in the "patchwork" they traditionally give preference to cotton fabrics, viscose is perfect for simple compositions.


A variety of patterns of this fabric will help you to assemble bright shreds into a single whole. As separators (they are blue in the figure), you can use any kind of denim, preferably lightweight. Experience shows that such a fabric of blue and light blue shades in combination with bright colors of viscose looks better than a dark denim in combination with dark shades of fabrics.


"Arbitrary stripes" are great for bags of any size and shape. However, on flat and volumetric bags of a rectangular shape, this particular design looks better than on cylindrical bags and backpacks.

Performing a square frame around a part with a pattern, beadwork or stitch, embossed fabric is one of the best ways to emphasize the beauty of your work. The frame will make the bag more practical, as well as decorate its front part. Gold and silver, twisted and smooth cords, short or medium-length fringe - all this looks great at the junction of the central part and the frame.


 Thus, the frame is one of the important elements in the design of the part made in the patchwork style, thanks to which the whole product will look stylish and neat. The rectangular frame consists of four parts - two short and two longer. Stripes are cut out from a fabric that is suitable in color and texture and sewn in the form of a frame framing the central part. Since this part is not yet quilted with synthetic winterizer, if necessary, you can smooth it with an iron.

The patchwork block shown in the schematic drawing is very popular. It is called a "house", "well", "brickwork" and many other names. This unit is perfect as a central part for a patchwork bag. It may look different, depending on the types and amount of tissue. This is one of the reasons for his popularity in patchwork. Such a block is easily sewn from rectangular stripes. First of all, you need to make a full-size sketch, according to which you can calculate the size of each flap (do not forget to add 1 cm on each side to allowances for seams).


The block is sewn in accordance with the diagram from the central part 1. First, sew on part 2 to it, then on parts 3 and 4, and so on, according to the attached diagram, to the resulting block. It is not necessary that all the strips be the same width. The full-size sketch-drawing, drawn in detail, will help you create a block of the size you need to create a bag.