Currently we are making book bags to be used by the students who attend our Methodist Mission School in Africa. The instructions for making these bags are shown below so that you can be apart of this project at time allows.
Directions for Sewing School Kits Book Bags
The school bag, when finished, will measure 14 by 16 inches. We are using ¼ French seams, sounds hard to do but following the directions below and it'll be easy.
You will need a piece of heavy fabric (corduroy or denims will be fine). It needs to be at least 44 inches wide and at least 20 inches wide.
Instructions:
1. Lay out your fabric with salvages even. The salvage is the factory finished edge.
Make sure one of the raw edges of the fabric is cut on the straight of grain for accurate and even seams.
2. Measure 15 ½ inches up from the straight raw edge. You'll be cutting along this line so you may want to mark it several places to get a nice straight cut. The cut piece will measure 15 ½ inches by the width of the fabric. Now measure in from the folded edge 19 ½ inches and cut on this line. Your finished rectangle will measure 15 ½ inches by 19 ½ inches.
3. Next cut 2 handles. From the same piece of fabric on the straight cut edge, cut 2 strips of fabric that are 22 inches long by 3 ½ wide. The ease way to do this is simply cut another strip of fabric 3 1/3 inches by the full width of the folded fabric, and then cut this strip in half making the 2-22 inch lengths.
You now have 3 pieces of fabric and are ready to begin sewing up your book bag.
1. Fold each of the handle pieces together with right sides together. Now for the easy turning tip. (You'll need a study piece of yarn or string). Place the yarn between the top and bottom layers of the handle. Have the yarn cut about 12 inches longer than the strip of fabric. Have the yarn extend a little beyond at one end of the strip and the rest will be hanging out of the other.
2. Backstitch at the start and stopping of your seams. Start with a ¼ inch seam on the short end of the handle with the least amount of yarn hanging out. Sew through the yarn as you go. Stitch across the short end. Now stitch ¼ inch along the long edge and this time keep the yard out of your way, it should be laying close to the fold of the fabric.
Now to reinforce this seam. Stitch again in through the first line of stitching.
Now for the magic of the yarn. Begin pulling on the loose end and easing the fold end into the tube. And presto your tube is inside out and the right side of the fabric is facing you. Trim off the yarn close to the fabric.
To sew up the bag:
1. Measure in from the short edges of the bag 3 inches on each side. Place one handle on each end with the short edges even with the edge of the bag. With the right side of the bag is facing you and lay the handles on the right side of the fabric. Baste across the handles and bag to hold them in place while you sew up the side seams.
2. Have the right side of the fabric out. Stitch ¼ 
inch away from each of the side seams. Turn the bag inside out, so that now the wrong side of the fabric is facing you. Work the previous seem into the edge as much as possible. Stitch again long the long edges at about 3/8 inch seam. You will be enclosing the original seam in the new seam and at the same time reinforcing this seam, leaving no raw edges exposed.
3. Fold 1 inch of the top of the bag to the inside and pin to hold. You will want to have the handles up and out of the bag and by pinning them straight up now, when you stitch they won't slip and get sewn at a funny angle
.
4. Simply stitch around the raw edges; you can use a zig zag stitch at this point. Then return to your straight stitch and again stitch down this folded down top edge about ¾ inches of the fold edge and again about ¼ inch from the fold. This will reinforce the top of the bag. Make sure and stitch in the handles in this topstitching procedure to make them nice and study and able to support the book which will be placed in them.
There you have it; your school bag has been completed. These may be returned to the church office and will be picked up by the Mission Committee for use by the students who come to our Mission School in Africa.
