How To Sew A Bag Organizer

     I am one of those people who finds myself digging through a purse or baby bag to find my phone, pen, roller, or business cards quite often. I needed something to make it a little easier to find all my commonly used things. 

I give to you my solution! 

Quick and pretty easy sew. So let me take you through what I did.

What you will need....

• Two pieces of fabric, preferably cotton woven or a sturdier piece of fabric cut to 20.5"(L) 12.5"(H) you can adjust your measurements to fit your needs as well. 
• 1 piece of fusible fleece interfacing cut to the same measurements of your fabric pieces. 
• Your cutting and measuring tools of choice (fabric scissors, rotary cutter, measuring tape or quilt square measuring boards)
• Pins or clips 
• Marking pen or chalk 
• Thread
• Optional: something to keep your finished organizer secured like two 10" ribbon pieces or a loop of fold over elastic. 

I used a 6" piece of fold over elastic(foe) to keep mine secured.

     Once cooled I mark the placement for the optional closure straps(foe, ribbon or whatever you choose) you can skip to the next step if you don't wish to use anything to keep it closed. 

     I fold up just over 4" (you can do more or less to fit your needs) and chose to put my elastic just at the top of the fold. 

     Once marked, place the closure on the right side of the fabric so it will be sandwiched between the layers. Then you can let the folded up portion down so that you can sew the pieces together.

     Now comes the sewing! Put your outer piece and your inner piece right sides together, pin, and sew with a straight stitch and 1/4" seam allowance. Leave about 2" open so you can birth the fabric through the opening after sewing. 

*** make sure that if you are using a closure piece that it is sandwiched between both layers with edges all lined up.***

     I like to add a little more strength to the closure piece by doing a zig zag stitch over the salvage where the closure ends are. 

     Next you will clip the corners of your fabric and birth the fabric through the opening you left. Push your corners out, I find that an orange stick is an amazing tool to help.

Pin or clip down your opening.

Topstitch along the long edge that will be folded up.

     Now fold your bottom section that you topstitched up, so that you form one long pocket with your liner sides touching by about 4".

Make sure to measure on both sides and center to make sure they are all even.

     Now you topstitch around the remaining edges starting at the bottom corner where the pocket starts. Make sure to have your opening all folded up so that when you topstitch you also close the opening you used to birth the fabric through.

     You may want to start in a bit, turn your fabric and go back, then turn back and continue around the remaining edges.

     Time to get personal and lay out the items you need to keep organized! Once you have them all laid out, use a marking pen or chalk and ruler to mark each pocket.

     Sew along your marked lines with a straight stitch to form each pocket. I like to backstitch and go forward a few times at the end of the pocket piece so that the pocket is extra sturdy against items pulling at the seams.

Put your stuff in and roll it up!!!

Now you have a beautiful organizer for you purse/diaper bag/carry on.

    You all know that if you made it this far the first 5 people to read can snag a free pattern code!!! Use Code "WRAPPEDUP" for 1 free pattern

     This pattern will work great for more than just a purse organizer. Use it for knitting/crochet needles, essential oils, kids crayons, or whatever you want! Just measure the height of the items you need and add whatever height you want for the pocket to that.

     Want to win some free clips from Jamie???? Lets have a sew off and see how creative you all can get! 

     Starting today (1/24/19) I will have an album in the Max and Meena Group  on facebook for anyone to add their finished bag rolls to. Each roll entered (one photo per completed roll) will get you one entry into the drawing for a bag of wonder clips, you just pay shipping. You will have until Thursday 2/7/19 to enter your creations and then I will randomly pick a winner! Unlimited entries as long as it's one entry per completed roll.

     I can't wait to see what you all make!!! 

Thanks for reading ~ Amy