Building a Backpack Tutorial!

So I’ve just reached a bit over 200 followers on Instagram and I’m super stoked about it! It’s so awesome to see how many people are actually interested in what I do, and the folks who chat with me when I post images of w.i.ps(works-in-progress) for outfits and fun things to add to my dolls’ wardrobes/housing.

So, since I’ve gained so much, I figured I’d like to give back as well with a lovely Boho style high-low dress for MSD bjds giveaway on my Instagram account and I think that I’ll post a tutorial (-le gasp-) here for a DIY Rucksack! It’s SUPER simple, but you can make it more complicated or not as you like, and it’s pretty easy even if you barely know one end of a sewing needle from the other 🙃 So if ya want, follow along!

Pattern-Making

To make a doll bag is pretty simple, bags are generally 4-sided rectangles or squares, with a flap, straps(shoulders, etc) and snap/clip/button/ties to close it up. So the measurements here are simple to adjust for any size of doll.

Start off with your doll, a sheet of paper, a ruler, and a pencil/pen. I tend to use grid paper more often than not since I am crap at getting a straight line 90% of the time without a guide. I brought out Amara, my YOSD Bei from ResinSoul and used her to show the basic measurements, but I intend the backpack to be for Shizuru, who is my MSD Rong from Resinsoul, so the photos are slightly off at the beginning, just follow the instructions and you'll do fine.

To make a backpack for your doll is super easy, and just requires a couple of measurements to get it right! I honestly recommend doing these if you're learning to sew, since it doesn't take long and you can do a few backpacks in a matter of a couple of hours if you want to sell them(please credit me if you do, I made this from scratch just by looking at rucksacks for humans on Amazon)

So! Moving along~

Materials

You'll need:

Pencil
Paper(any kind, I prefer grid)
Scissors
Ruler/flexible measuring tape
Fabric(of course)
Facing material(For thinner fabrics like cotton, which tends to fray easily, this stuff is a miracle and cheap to get!)
An Iron if you use facing
Fabric scissors(don't use these on paper! -shudders-)
Sewing needle and thread or a sewing machine
Embroidery thread, an embroidery/sewing needle, and a few beads

And of course, your doll!

I'm not using a facing for this tutorial since I'm going to use some grey-blue suede which is thick enough to not need it. An iron is still a good idea, as well as an ironing board though so it's handy to have available to you. Have a parent help you with those if you are young or have never used an iron/ironing board before too, just because those things can get dang HOT.

Building the Measurements

Got your tools? Got your doll? Great! Here's what ya measure:

Back Width (Generally from one side to the other in as straight a line as possible. This becomes the BAG width.)
Back Length (How long do you want the bag to be? A good rule of thumb is to take the measurement from the shoulder to just above the bum. This is the BAG length.)
Shoulder Width (Measure their shoulder width to see how wide the straps should be. The Straps for your doll should be long enough to loop over the shoulder and attach at the bottom-back of the bag, with room enough to let him/her get the bag on without having to dislocate their shoulder joints, Shizuru's straps were around 10cm long initially, but I ended up boosting them to 12cm just for a bit of extra length. Here's where the flexible ruler comes in handy.)
Flap Size (A bag flap is generally about 1/2, maybe a bit less, the length of the backpack since it will fold up and over the top of the bag, even when it's full of stuff, so for Shizuru's bag I made the flap the same width, and around 3.5cm long.)
And for extras (not included here) you can measure out rectangles for pockets to add to the bag, or extra straps to clip things to like you find on hiking backpacks and the like.

Got those numbers? Great! Now make the rectangles you need to create a Bottom(the width of the bag and length),

Sides (length of the Back and how wide, ie. fat, you want the bag to be),

Back and Front(same measurement as the Bottom using the Width of the Back and Length), Straps (Shoulder width plus however long you want them to be),

and the Flap measurements.

BUT!

Before you starting cutting out your precious fabric, the patterns need some seam allowance. It's what let's you sew and get the right measurements anyways in the finished product.

Here I added a full 1cm to all widths of the pattern pieces EXCEPT for the Shoulder Straps. TRIPLE the measurement Widths of the shoulder straps, you'll see why in the Assemblage section.

If you want to make a YoSD sized bag, go with 1/2 cm(.5cm) and if you want to use an SD, just stick with 1.5cm or so. You can use whatever you like for a seam allowance, I just find these easier to work with personally, and it's better to have a slightly too-large bag than a too-small one your doll can't wear.

Still following me? Great! Now that you have the pattern pieces and their seam allowances, cut 'em out!

You can now pull out your fabric and facing. I use chalk when it comes to marking patterns onto fabric, but you do you guys 'n gals! Mark out your patterns onto IRONED fabric. You DO NOT need facing for your Straps.

Caution: A lot of fabrics will shrink a little bit if you iron them, and make SURE your fabric is washed before you try to cut out a pattern, ALMOST ALL fabrics are put onto the rolls/boards need to be washed before you can do anything with them, just in case of shrinkage.

If you got that done, then go ahead and cut out those pattern pieces! Here's How many of EACH piece you need:

Flap: 2

Side: 2

Back/Front: 2 (not of each, just 2 pieces since they are the same size)

Strap: 2

Bottom: 1

It's generally best to write how many pieces you need, plus whether or not you'll need interfacing, onto the pattern pieces so you won't forget in the future when/if you make more.

If you use interfacing: Iron that interfacing onto the WRONG sides of the fabric, don't use the sew-on stuff since it's a pain to deal with if you're not doing a liner in the bag. If you plan to add a liner, go right ahead...but it's still a pain in my humble opinion.

Next up: Assembling!

ASSEMBLING!

Straps: Take your triple-wide shoulder straps and fold them half length-wise. Iron it down to make a crease, then OPEN them up, and fold them into thirds, using the middle crease as a guide. Iron again. This will make the strap nice and straight once you sew it down along the folded section. Do that to both straps, and set them aside.

Back-Side-Front-Side: Sewn the back to a side, then sew that other side to the front, then the second side piece to the other side of the front panel. Have your bottom piece set aside as that will be the last piece you sew. Iron those sewn lines down flat, it'll help keep the bag shape.

FLAPPY-FLAP: Sorry, couldn't help it. Next up, you sew the two pieces of the flap together, trim the rounded edges(if you opted for those) and flip it inside out. Iron it flat(if you can, mine decided to be fussy).

Now sew that flap end to the bag Back!

I pinned this section with the flap at first, to hold it down and then sewed it with my machines since that was about 4 layers of suede... Just a single sewn line works well enough. Iron everything flat after this as well. Once more, the suede was argumentative --__--;

Sew on the straps~!

Just a single line works well since I don't plan to make the bag carry a ton or super often, if you plan to use the bag a lot with your doll, I'd suggest 2 lines of stitches overlapping each other for better attachment. Sew these in a V-shape, it lets the backpack sit easier on your dolls' shoulders and looks nicer in profile in photos in my opinion. Though of course you can sew then vertically too if you want to.

Fold those straps down and tuck the ends up so you have a folded strap on the bottom section of the bag. Sew those straps down carefully, since you'll have 5 layers of fabric to go through per strap, be especially careful with suede or leather...it's easy to break sewing needles in machines if you sew too fast at the start....^^; I broke 2 before figuring out the right speed (snail pace lol) and VOILA! Your bag back is finished! Now to sew on the Bottom section and side to make the bag.

Sew the bottom piece to the sides/back/front slowly, making sure you get decently straight lines. I don't sew this all in one line either, I tend to sew the bottom part of a bag with 4 lines of thread, one for each side. Overlapping the corner threads a bit(1-2 stitches) helps the corners to stay tight and solid over time as well. Once the bottom edges are sewn up, sew up the final side-to-Back pieces together and turn that new backpack right-side out!

Now you have a SUPER BASIC BAG! You can use the embroidery thread and need I mentioned earlier to add some 'ties' to the upper part of the backpack, use a couple beads on the ends to open/close it easily, so it tucks under the flap as 'weather protection' for the valuables inside the backpack. Here too, you can add a snap to the flap and a closure tot he bag body if you want to. In the gallery below I'll show you what it looks like all finished, with Shizuru taking time out of her busy day to show it off for me. I re-discovered the 'embroidery' setting on my sewing machine and tried it out. The first line is a bit messed up since I sewed the metal snap closures onto the flap first and should have done that after I had done the embroidery section. Almost lost another sewing needle! Learning lesson, learned!

Butterfly Dolls BJD