Reversible Book Bag Tutorial

So, last December my 8 year old son started taking piano lessons and this is the bag that he had to carry to class…

It’s cute, right? Well… not so much for an 8 year old boy! He definitely needed something different to carry his piano books in. So, we decided to make him a Minecraft reversible book bag. He likes this one sooooo much better!

Do you want to make one of your own? Here is the reversible book bag tutorial! You can make it a Minecraft bag like we did or you can just use your favorite fabric! It really is such an easy sewing project. My daughter who is learning how to sew helped me with most of this bag.

Materials Needed:

• 1/2 yard each of two different fabrics
• 1/2 yard fusible fleece interfacing
• matching thread
• sewing machine
• painting supplies, if Freezer paper stenciling like we did

Let’s get started!

Start by cutting out all your pieces. You will need to cut two 15 in. x 17 in. pieces from each of your two fabrics. Cut 2 15 in. x 17 in. pieces from your interfacing and two 3 in. x 22 in. pieces from each fabric for your straps.

This is what you should end up with. (2 interfacing pieces, 4 total 15×17 pieces, 4 total 3×22 pieces)

Next, attach interfacing to one type of the bag fabric pieces. We attached it to the two green bag pieces. Follow the directions that came with the interfacing to do this.

If you would like to add the designs like we did, do it now. We used a freezer paper stencil to make both Minecraft faces. This is what we painted.

Then when the paint is dry, we can move on to the next step. Now your fabric is probably going to be different colors, but to help me explain better, I’m going to say green or black fabric since that’s what we were using for this bag.

First let’s work on the straps. Put together one green and one black, right sides together. Do the same with the other green and black strap piece.

Sew down each long side with about a 3/8 inch seam.

Then turn the two straps right side out.

And iron to make them nice and flat.

Then top stitch, about 1/4 inch, down each side.

Now the straps are all finished! Set them aside and we will work on the bag part next.

Now, put the two green pieces of fabric right sides together and sew around the two sides and bottom, leaving the top open. I used about a 5/8 inch seam.

Then do the same with the black fabric.

Turn the green fabric right side out and iron.

Now, slip the black bag piece inside the green bag piece. The black piece is still wrong side out.

Then fold the tops of both the green piece and the black piece about 1/2 inch down inside of each other and pin into place. (All raw edges should be tucked inside and in between the black and green bag parts.) Slip the straps in between the two pieces as well and pin into place. It’s really not as confusing as I make it seem. Here are a few pictures, I’m sure that helps.

Then top stitch around the top, making sure to catch both the outer bag part and the lining. This will also secure the straps to the bag.

And that’s it! I’m so proud of my daughter for helping with this. She did such a great job! And now we have a happy little boy who is glad to take his piano books to his lessons! He loves that it is reversible. He often goes into piano lessons with it one way and comes out with it another. It’s awesome!

Have a great day and have fun making a bag for someone!

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