It’s not quite like MaryPoppins’ Carpet-bag, not because I don’t like hers, but because I’m looking for instructions to make one ;) It also doesn’t fit a lamp, or a night stand or an umbrella, but it does fit all the stuff I carry on Mondays to school1.
It’s a simple zippered flat bottom trapezoid bag. Bottom is wider than top and the sides are straight. It has two long wide sturdy straps so you can hung it over your shoulder to carry all the stuff. It’s fully lined, and there is a (giant) hole on the lining to insert a cardboard base to make it stiffer. It also has two small pockets inside, for tissues and other small things that I don’t want to have floating around.
What did I use? One 45cm zipper, 75cm each of lining fabric (Ikea something or other, from the 2005 collection2), and outside fabric (Ikea Betina, from the 2005 collection as well3), tens of meters of black sewing thread4, one cardboard base from a bag5 that I broke, and a sewing machine with both normal and zipper6 feet.
The bag is some 44cm wide, 24cm deep, and 34 cm tall, and the handles are about 60cm long and 4.5cm wide (made of four layers of fabric, these feel sturdy and nice).
- Folder with papers, couple of thick books, pencase, bottle of water, tupper with lunch, fruit for mid-morning snack, and other tidbits. On the way back it also carries my cardigan and scarf ↩
- It’s discontinued ↩
- Also discontinued, I love this bird fabric. I still have enough for another bag, and that will be it ↩
- I finished one bobbin, but it was started already ↩
- Bag that I used as a sort of template. I added lining, and pockets, and way sturdier handles ↩
- I admit I went to the sewing machine shop to ask if the foot I thought it was a zipper foot was it, and how on earth to put it in my machine ↩