Alfie is two and almost overnight he fell in love with cars. He has at least one car with him at all times. Since we planned a trip away, I have been thinking about some kind of bag I could make for him to carry his cars in and I came up with this.
1/4" seam allowance used throughout.
YOU WILL NEED
Half Metre of Blue
Half Metre of Orange
Fat Quarter of Track Fabric
Rotary cutter and ruler
Sewing machine
Tailors chalk
Iron and ironing board
Fabric Scissors
Iron on interlining (Bosal)
Kam Snaps (3 sets) and tool
Why not try this tutorial with this brand new Hot Wheels collection?
METHOD
1. Cut out your fabric (width x height)
Blue 30cm x 35cm
Orange 30cm x 35cm
Blue 30cm x 15cm
Blue 36cm x 20cm
Orange 4cm x14cm (x3)
Orange 25cm x 9cm
Square off your track fat quarter and cut an orange piece the same size.
Interlining 25cm x 4cm
Interlining 30cm x 35cm
2. With the 3 4cm x14cm orange pieces, fold them in half with right sides together, sew down each side, backstitch at the end.
3. Clip the corners, turn it to the right way and press.
4. With right sides together fold the 25cm x 9cm orange piece in half and place the same sized interfacing over the top and sew the long edge. Turn it to the right way, tuck in the short edges and press.
5. I like to bulk sew as much as possible to save me getting up and down for the iron. So, sew the following
Top stitch around all 4 corners of the orange handle, close and even al the way around the edge.
Top stitch three sides of the smaller tabs, the raw edge will be hidden.
Fold over ¼” and then another ¼” on the bottom edge of the blue 30cm x 15cm. Sew in place, I have used a car stitch on my machine, because when else do you get to use a car stitch?!
Fold the blue 36cm x 20cm wrong sides together. Top stitch on the top edge (where the fold is) and stay stitch around the other three sides. This is just a long stitch, close to the edge so it is hidden when you sew it into the bag but will prevent it from moving.
6. On the bottom edge of the 30cm x 35cm orange piece, make a mark every 6cm.
7. The blue pocket is deliberately wider, mark a line down at 7cm intervals, pin at one end to start with.
8. Line up the other blue pocket with the top edge of the orange and top stitch in place.
9. Match up the markings on the blue and orange and pin into place. Sew down the lines you have made and remember to backstitch at the end.
10. Pinch the fabric together, missing the outer edges and pin them into place so that there are no gapes. Top stitch in place.
11. Place the interlining to the wrong side of the blue fabric, iron in place if applicable. Fold the case in half and crease a line into the fabric to mark when the centre is. Place the orange handle in the centre and 2” away from the edge. The handle will not lay flush. Pin into place.
12. Sew each end down. I have done this with a rectangle, around 1” wide and with a cross through the centre.
13. Place the tabs with the raw edges lined up against the edge. One in the centre and the other two around 6cm from the edge. Stay stitch.
14. Add your male snaps to the end of each tab, leave a good 1cm clearing from the end. Make a mark on your fabric where the tabs meet when you fold the case in half. Ensure they are a good 2cm away from the edge to allow for a seam allowance and add the female snaps.
15. Place the two main pieces with right side together. This is the only thing I would do differently. I placed tabs on the side with the big pocket, to avoid the cars falling out when you open it, place them on the side with the smaller car pockets. Pin it in place.
16. Sew around all the 4 edges but leave a 3-4” gap to turn it out through.
17. Clip the corners, turn it out, pushing the corners out and give it a good press. Make sure you don’t press the poppers, especially if they are plastic ones!
18. Top stitch around all the edges to finish.
19. With the orange and track fabric, place them right sides together, sew it all the way around but leave a gap. Clip the corners, bag it out, press and top stitch. I used this as a simple track / play mat to fold and keep in the top pocket.
Now you just need to fill it with cars and find a car loving small person to gift it to. I hope you have felt inspired, I would love to hear from you if you give it a go!