How to Sew a Quilted Sling Bag with a Hidden Pocket | Sadie Sling Bag Sewing Tutorial

Today we are making the Sadie sling together. I designed Sadie to be the bag for your everyday essentials. I like to keep my phone wallet and keys in mine and when I'm running my errands I can bring just my sling bag or if I have a bigger day planned I toss my sling bag into a larger tote like my Jasper tote and then when I'm just running in and out to shops I can just take my little bag with me and I don't have to worry about lugging around a huge tote. Sadie is an intermediate pattern but adventurous beginners you are still welcome here. If you've kind of mastered working with zippers and quilting. I think Sadie is very doable for you. You'll be able to learn some additional skills, such as binding and working with curves. That is outlined in this video tutorial and the pattern. Sadie is a gusseted side sling bag with an elastic slip pocket on the inside and an adjustable side strap with a swivel clasp. My favorite part is the hidden zipper pocket on the back panel. Since it sits right against your body it is the perfect secret spot for your phone or your passport if you're traveling or you're going to be in a crowd. You could even take that zipper panel and put it on the front instead of the back. One of my testers tried that. I think it was a really great hack for the pattern. Gave it a little bit of a different look and that pocket's also a lot easier to access when it's When it's on the front, you can make this sling bag in two different sizes. The small size will measure approximately eight inches by five by two and a half inches, and then the medium will measure ten by seven by three inches. Today I'll be making the small size and I'll be using a cotton canvas exterior by Ruby Star for the front and back panels, as well as waxed canvas for the gusset. I purchased the cotton canvas a while back from a shop called Studio 39 Fabrics and the wax canvas I purchased from a shop called Creative Beam Designs. Both of the shops are located in Canada and I'll make sure to have the links to both shops as well as everything that I used for this pattern below. So through testing I worked with a bunch of different materials for the gusset and I really fell in love with how the wax canvas looked and worked with overall for this project. It reduced the bulk quite a bit in the seam allowance which was something that was important to me. Now I know not everyone will be able to get waxed canvas where they live. You could also use other heavyweight fabrics for the gusset like denim, duck canvas, vinyl, or faux leather. Those will all give you that same kind of structure that the waxed canvas does with relatively similar bulk. Now if you also can't get those or if you're not comfortable working with those materials you can also use lighter weight fabrics for the gusset like quilting cotton or regular canvas like for the front and back but there's going to be some additional cutting and sewing steps that are involved. I'll make sure that those are clearly marked on the screen and in the written pattern And those instructions are going to be at the very back in the end notes. For me the most difficult part of this project is the binding. I usually bind my projects by hand instead of using the machine to finish it. I'm not super great at getting all of that underneath my presser foot so I usually just opt out of the sewing machine and grab my needle. I think it's kind of fun to have an element in a project where you are working like solely with your hands. But that's not for everyone and that's totally okay, so attaching the binding you can either do by hand or by machine. In the video I will show by hand though because that's what I'm comfortable doing. This video is meant to go along with the written instructions so you will need your copy of the Sadie sling pattern to sew along. You can grab it on my website which is linked below. The labels on screen match the sections in the pattern and they'll also be written below so you can jump along to whichever part that you need. I've also put together a page of supplies and tools that that I've used to make my Sadie slings and things that have made life just a little bit easier so be sure to check that out too before we start sewing i just want to share a quick note on the templates for this project because they're a little bit different than my other patterns you'll see two lines on some pieces the solid lines are cut lines that is the starting size so you will cut everything on the solid lines first If a piece has a dashed line this is meant for trimming after quilting or fusing because sometimes those processes can shrink your piece a little bit. So trimming after makes everything end up the right shape so if a piece has a trim line you're going to cut on the solid line first and then I will tell you when we can go back to that pattern piece and use it as a trim. If you need help printing and assembling your templates I have a video all on that so you can check that out as well. At this point you should have all of All of your pieces cut out on the cut lines. All right, let's sew a Sadie. So to start off we're going to take our A and B exterior pieces and place them so that the wrong side of the fabric is facing the glue side of our foam. Then we'll take it over to the iron and we'll fuse them together using the manufacturer's instructions. Then you'll place one A and B lining piece so that the wrong side is facing the foam on the opposite side. You can optionally use some glue based and also baste this into place. I actually used regular foam that did not have glue on either side so that's why my fabric's kind of moving around. So once everything is nice and aligned you can quilt your pieces as desired. You can either do straight lines, 45 degree lines, 30 degree lines are my favorite so that's what I'm doing here. So I'm just lining that 30 degree line up with the bottom and the side of the panel. And then I'm using this tool called a hair marker to mark my lines. I like using it because it doesn't leave any marks after quilting. I don't have to worry about washing anything. I can just go ahead and sew over the lines that I've created. And then I like to use a guide bar on my machine to make subsequent lines after that. I did mine one inch apart. Next you're going to grab your A and B templates and we are going to trim this down to that dotted line to our trim line which will give us three trim pieces total. Now you can align your trim templates onto your quilted pieces. Just keep in mind if you're using a directional fabric for the exterior that you're keeping that same direction when you're trimming. I like to use an erasable marking pen to trace my templates but you can use a regular pen as well since these lines won't be seen afterwards. After tracing, you can use a pair of fabric scissors to cut along your lines to make three pieces, your A, B1, and B2 pieces. On each of the three pieces you're going to sew a stitch about an eighth of an inch from the edge just to keep all of the layers together. With a foam sometimes the fabric can shift so this just keeps all the pieces together so we don't have to worry about anything flipping over accidentally. Taking your e binding pieces we are going to fold them in half lengthwise so that the long edges are touching each other then we're going to iron to crease the fabric. These pieces are going to be used for binding the zipper edges as well as binding the inside of the bag. We'll take one of the e-binding pieces and we're going to align it with the straight edge on our b pieces and just trim it down to size. Then we'll place it on the right side of the exterior and clip it into place and sew both those pieces down. Give the binding a quick press and then you're going to fold it all the way over to the lining side and we want to make sure this piece of binding is going to cover the stitches we made from attaching it. I like to clip it in place and then we're going to stitch in the ditch and that's a quilting technique that I like to use here. It hides the stitches on the front but then secures the binding on the back. Now you're going to take the number three zipper tape and you're going to place it teeth side up behind the B1 piece lining it close to but not over the zipper teeth and I took my zipper pull off just to make this process a little bit easier but you're going to follow in that same ditch to secure the tape to the piece then you will line up the B2 piece and repeat that same process to attach the zipper tape. Then I like to add some top stitching along the binding itself. I think it gives it a really good look and then it also secures the tape down even more. Now will be the best time to add your handmade tag to your front or back panel and you also need to reattach your zipper pull if you took it off like I did. You want to take the remaining A lining pieces and you're going to place them so the wrong sides are facing each other and then you're going to place the B zipper panel on top with the lining facing the lining. Then you'll sew an edge stitch around the perimeter to secure the lining into place. Trim any excess fabric and then this will complete the exterior zipper pocket. Place your G exterior piece so the wrong side is facing the glue side of your fusible And you're going to fuse that together. Now we're going to take the G template and we're going to trim it down to the correct final size and then trace that onto the piece and cut it out. Take your short piece of webbing and you're going to thread it through the D ring. You'll bring the raw ends together and then sew a basting stitch to secure it. Bring the widest corners of the G-piece right sides together, then slide the webbing with the d-ring in between the folds, overhanging it about half an inch from the raw edge. Then you're going to turn it so the right side is facing out and give it a quick press. Place the side clip on the bottom corner with the d-ring pointing upwards. If you're planning to wear the sling over your left shoulder you're going to want to place it on the right side and then if you're wearing it over your right shoulder you want to place it on the left side. You could optionally add two of these so you can change which sides you want to put it on as well. And we'll attach this using a scant quarter inch seam allowance. To make the sling top you are going to take your long piece of webbing and you're going to thread it over the center bar of your bag slider and then you're going to fold the raw end in half an inch and then fold it in one and a half inches to the underside of the strap. Then you can sew a top stitch by sewing a rectangle with a little x in the middle. Thread the raw end of the strap through the d-ring of your swivel clasp and then thread it over the center bar of the bag slider and then out to the other side. Next we're going to place our F pieces so the exterior's wrong side faces the glue side of our fusible and we're going to fuse them together. Then we're going to take our F template and trim it down to the correct size, trace it onto both pieces, and then cut them out to create two pieces for our sling top. Center the raw end of the webbing with one of the short edges of the F piece right sides Overhanging the piece by about half an inch. Then you're going to place the remaining F piece on top right sides together and then you're going to sew along the three straight lines and optionally you can baste the piece in first like I did just to make sure nothing shifts. You can also back stitch over the webbing just to give some extra strength. Then you can clip your corners and turn the fabric so the right side is facing out. I like to use a blunt object to help poke out the corners. Here I'm just using a screwdriver to get into those corners because I don't want anything that's too sharp to poke through the fabric, but blunt enough that I can really get those corners straight. Give the piece a quick press, then taking your back zipper panel you can use the template to locate the notch at the top. Then you're also going to locate the middle point of the sling, then you're going to line Align both of these points up, making sure that the slider is facing up. Clip it into place then sew a basting stitch about an eighth of an inch from the edge. At this point the bag slider is going to kind of be in the way so I like to make it as short as it possibly can be. Then I roll it up and then wrap an elastic band around the strap just so it's not in the way when we do the attachment process later on. Now we're going to fold the long edge of our H piece down a quarter of an inch with the wrong sides together. And if you're using directional fabric, this should be the top edge of your print. Then you're going to iron to crease the fabric. Then you're going to fold the crease edge in again 3 eighths of an inch and you're going to iron to encase the raw edges on the inside. Then you'll sew an edge stitch an eighth of an inch from the inside fold, making sure that you are back stitching at the start and end. And this is going to create the casing for our elastic. Next you're going to attach a safety pin or a bodkin to one end of your elastic and then you're going to feed it between the folds of the fabric, pulling until you only have about a quarter inch of elastic remaining. Then you're going to sew the elastic down on that side to secure it in place. Then you're going to continue pulling the elastic through until the tool comes out the other end and this is going to create light gathers in the fabric. You want to stretch the elastic so it just overhangs the opening by about a quarter of an inch and then you're going to sew the elastic in place like you did on the other side. You can remove the tool if you haven't yet already and And trim any extra elastic. Place your pocket so the wrong side of the fabric is facing the lining side of your A panel. You're going to start by aligning the bottom edge with the bottom edge of the A piece, clipping it into place, and working your way around the sides. There will be a little bit of pulling because of the elastic, but this is totally normal so do not worry about that. Just try to make it as straight as you can. Once it's all clipped, you're going to want to baste it into place using a A scant quarter inch seam allowance. Okay quick pause before we make the gusset. This next part is only if you are not using wax canvas for your gusset. So wax canvas friends you can skip ahead and I will meet you there. Since wax canvas is what gives the gusset its structure we're going to add that structure back with fusible fleece and lining and you combine the exact cutting measurements in the end notes for First you're going to take your two C top gusset exterior pieces and you're going to fuse each one to the piece of fusible fleece, glue side facing the wrong side of your fabric. Next you're going to lay a lining piece with the wrong side facing the fleece and you're going to baste around the perimeter about an eighth of an inch from the edge. This keeps the three layers from shifting while we work with them. Now do the same fusing steps with your D bottom gusset exterior and fleece pieces, but leave the lining pieces aside and do not baste them. So now your gusset pieces have all the structure that they need to be similar to the wax canvas so we can continue with how the pattern is written. Wax canvas friends, welcome back. Now we are all on step 26 together. Grab one of your top gusset pieces and a binding strip. This is the same thing that we did on the zipper pocket before, so we're going to line the binding up alongside the straight long edge of the C piece and we're going to trim it to length and sew it on. Now since we can't iron our wax canvas, I like to use this tool called a seam roller and we can use it to crease our fabric without using any heat. And here you can kind of see the difference between the piece that I use the seam roller on and the piece that I didn't use it on. Now we're going to wrap the binding over to the back so that it covers the raw edge and our stitches. Then we're going to clip it in place and sew on the front of the panel in the ditch. And we'll repeat this with the remaining C exterior piece and our binding piece. Now for the main number five zipper. I prefer to work without my zipper pulls on. I find it a little bit easier for this step. You're going to place the zipper so the teeth side is up and it is behind the bound edge of one of your c-pieces close to the teeth but not covering them. Top stitch along the binding using a zipper foot and you're going to repeat this on the other side as well. If you're using zipper by the yard like I am you're going to add your pulls now before the ends get sewn closed. I like to put two pulls on here so that the bag opens from either direction so it's handy when you're in a rush. The steps are in the end notes if you need them for attaching the zipper pull. I won't go into depth on the attachment process, but you can check out lots of different YouTube tutorials for different ways to attach your pulls. Now take your D bottom gusset lining piece and you're going to fuse your lightweight interfacing to the wrong side. Next we're going to sandwich the end of the zipper panel. You're going to place your exterior bottom gusset piece right sides together with one short end of the zipper panel. And if your zipper panel isn't as wide you just want to center it as best as you can. And you're going to sew with a 1 eighth of an inch seam allowance. Flip it over to the lining side and place your D bottom gusset lining right sides together on that same end and sew again, but this time you're going to use a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Now bring the other ends of the D exterior and lining pieces around to the other end of the C zipper panel. You're basically going to make a loop here. Before you sew, just double check that nothing is twisted, then you can clip it and sew to secure. Now you'll want to flip your gusset around so that the right sides are facing out and the wrong sides are facing together and you're going to top stitch along the two seams that you made just to give that nice finished look and then you'll also baste along both of the raw edges of the d pieces of the bottom part and this will ensure that the exterior and the lining pieces won't shift when we're doing construction later. Take one of your binding strips and you're going to open up where it starts and press in the short edge down about half an inch then fold it back on its crease. We'll start with a folded end open and we're going to line the binding up with the raw edge of the lining side of the gusset and sew the first couple of inches down. Then we're going to fold the binding back on its crease and we're going to clip all the way around until we get back to where we started. I like to cut the binding about two to three inches longer than the starting point and then tuck that seam inside the fold. Sew the binding on with a scant quarter inch seam allowance. Heads up, you'll want to use a bobbin thread that also matches your exterior fabric because these stitches can show up on the finished bag, so we want to make I want to make sure that it is the most invisible as possible. And we're going to repeat the attachment process for the binding on the other side of the gusset as well. Now this is my preferred way to attach binding on projects like this, but if you have a different method that you prefer, please use the method that you are most comfortable with. Fold your gusset in half, matching up the side seams with each other, and you're going to make a small mark or snip at the top and bottom points of the gusset on both sides. These marks are going to line up with the notches on the front panel, and you're going to want to use your A template piece and transfer your notch marks over to the right side of the fabric. Start by matching the side seams of the gusset to the side You'll want to clip the side notches on your front panel in place. Then match up the top and bottom marks and clip those as well. Now you can work your way around the rest of the gusset adding more clips as you go. I like to put small snips in the seam allowance on the curved top part as well as the corners of the bag and this will help the gusset lay nice and flat when we're sewing. I like to make these snips about a quarter of an inch to half an inch apart and make sure that you're not snipping into your seam allowance. Sew the gusset to the front panel with a 1⁄4 inch seam allowance. My tip for the curve is to put the front panel down against your machine with the gusset on top. That way you can see the stitches on the gusset that we made when we attached the binding and since that was at a scant quarter inch, if you use your eye and just make it a little bit to the left that should be a quarter inch and then you know if you're sewing just to the left of those stitches that you won't be seeing those stitches when you turn your bag inside out. Also remember to go slow And stop with your needle down in the project and pivot often. And you can use something like a stiletto, or here I am using that screwdriver again as an extra finger. Now you're going to repeat that same process with the notches and matching everything up and snipping that seam allowance with the back panel. And before you do anything else, make sure that you unzip your gusset. It will help you a little bit with attaching it and then also you won't be sealed shut you'll be able to turn your bag right side out. Trim away any excess fabric then fold your binding over the raw edge and clip it in place. This finishes the seam so the inside of your bag is clean and has no raw edges. I like to hand stitch mine using a ladder stitch because it's almost invisible and it also gives me the most control around the curves. If you'd rather use your machine, I shared a couple different methods in the end notes and then I also show a few ways in my Juliet Vanity Bag tutorial which is linked below. If you've never done a ladder stitch before don't worry it's just one small motion that's repeated over and over. The first thing that you're going to do is thread your needle with a thread that matches your binding and you're going to tie a knot at the end. I usually double up on my thread and I will cut enough that I can go all the way around my piece in one go. Start by poking your needle into the seam allowance and out right next to the binding stitches. That's what's going to anchor your knot and since it's in the seam allowance nobody will ever see it. Now go straight across into the folds of the binding and slide the needle along inside the fold about a quarter of an inch and then come out the folded edge. Then go straight back across into the seam allowance of the panel right across from where you came out, take a small bite about a quarter of an inch and come back. And you're going to repeat that process of taking a little bit from the binding and a little bit from the panel until you get back to where you start. And then you're going to tie a little knot and then bring that in to the panel and out the other side. So now that the binding is attached on both sides, this is my favorite part. We get to turn the bag right side out and see how it looks. I like to just push out all of my corners so that everything looks nice and sharp. And again, since I used wax canvas for mine, I can't use an iron, but if you didn't use wax canvas this is a plus. You can use your iron and make all of your seams nice and sharp. And now we can also take that elastic off of our strap And we can put that little swivel clasp into our D-ring. Now the small Sadie I think is the perfect size out of the two options. At least for me it perfectly fits everything I need on a day-to-day basis. And I really like how the wax canvas looks with the quilted canvas. It's very neutral but still kind of fun which is more my like everyday style. So I am going to be using this one very frequently. I have to tell you this has been my most requested project. I already made one for my aunt which was in a vlog a couple videos ago and since then I've had about eight or nine people ask me to make them one. So if you're looking for a gift I think this project is a very good option for you. It's a pretty good weekend project. Most of my testers finished within three to five hours and they ranged from adventurous beginner to intermediate I think everyone can use a little bag like this in their life. If you sell at markets, I also think this would be a great project to include in your lineup. It's a little bit smaller than a tote bag, it kind of falls in this unique category, and it seems to be very popular. And we're already finished! That's it for this tutorial. I hope you enjoyed watching and sewing your Sadie. Let me know how everything went in the comments, and if you do end up posting a photo of yours, make sure that you tag me because I would love to see how yours came out.