Sewing instructions - Good Luck Backpack by Valentina Bukeeva Part Two

• Reinforce the back and side part lining with FH410 stabilizer.
• Place the adhesive side of the volume fleece FH640 on the FH410. Iron it on the center, not fusing the edges.

• Transfer the pattern lines on the right side of the interlining and draw a parallel line at a distance of 1 cm from the first line. Draw a dotted or a solid line
• Then draw and quilt the pebbles. Do not quilt over the first line.
• Trim the excess of the volume fleece close to the quilting line. Press it well.
• Proceed in the same way with the other lining pieces.

• Cut the pocket part from the main fabric plus allowances and reinforce it with volume fleece.
• Cut a piece of Stylevil according to the size of the pattern piece, place it on the wrong side of the main fabric and sew around it at a distance of 0.5 - 0.7 mm from the edge.
• Draw and quilt pebbles, then trim off the excess volume fleece close to the seam.

• The distance from the stitches and the cut edge should be consistent all around, approximately 0.7- 0.9 mm. Trim any.
• Place the quilted part and the lining pocket parts (already reinforced with stabilizer FH640) right side on right side on top of each other.
• Sew along the edge, leaving an opening of 7 cm to turn it inside out later. Secure the seam at the beginning and the end.

• Then flip the reinforced part up and sew another line of stitches at a distance of 0.2 mm from the first one. Press it well.
• Trim around the outline at the distance of 0.1 mm from the stitch up to 1 cm in front of the end. Don’t trim the unstitched area!
• Turn it over and straighten the corners. Attach an iron-on hemming strip and straighten it inside.
• Fold the open edges of the cut inward so that the iron-on hemming strip lies under the cut of the main fabric.

• Fix it with clothespins and stick on the tape with an iron from the wrong side. 
• Place the pocket on the quilted lining part.
• Select any desired stitch to sew the part on, for example the decorative quilt stitch No. 1329 of the B 770 QE PLUS.

• Pocket bag size is 20 × 30 cm, the zipper is 20 cm long. This is longer then the actual zipper opening.
• Make sure to have reinforced the pocket part with the stabilizer FН640.
• At a distance of about 3 cm from the top edge, draw three parallel lines with 1 cm distance from each other, length 14-15 cm. Sew along the top and the bottom lines with short stitch.

• Cut along the center line precisely until 1,5 cm before the end of the line. From there, cut into the corners, but not into the made stitch. A precise cut will help to avoid “wrinkles” when folding the unfinished edges back. Iron it well.

• Attach and secure the zipper from the wrong side of the cut with the slider up. For convenience, you can an iron-on hemming strip to fix the zipper.
• Sew in the zipper all around. You can make another stitch on the top of the previous one for security.

• Close the edges of the pocket bag by sewing several lines of stitches, each one on the top of the others. 
• Cut off the excess fabric and iron it well. The pocket is ready.

You have two options on how to creat an open pocket:

• Cut the part on the fold from the lining, reinforce it with FH410 and embroider the motif of the back part. 
• Or cut two parts, one from the main fabric, by adding 2 cm for quilting at each side. The second part is cut from the lining without allowance. Reinforce the part from the main fabric with FH410.

• Place the volume fleece FH640 on the wrong side and cut it out 1 cm less than the main fabric part so that the fleece does not reach the seam.
• Iron the fleece on the wrong side of the fabric.
• Embroider and stitch the pebbles in the free space, steam it well.

• Place a piece of lining right side on right side on the embroidered piece and draw a line along the outline, adding 2 cm at the top. Stitch along the line you have drawn. Stitch length is 2 mm.
• Sew the pieces right side on right side together along the top edge at a distance of 1 cm.
• Fold back the lining piece, iron it and topstitch along the edge at a distance of 1 mm.

• Draw a line at a distance of 1 cm from the seam on the wrong side of the main fabric part. 
• Cut part No.14 from Decovil light. This is used to reinforce the pocket mouth.
• Position the top edge of the reinforcement along the drawn line and stick it on.

• Fold the main fabric part over the upper edge so that the edges of both parts match.
• Insert the iron-on hemming tape between the layers and fuse them with an iron.
• Narrow-topstitch the pocket all around, aligning all the edges.
• Place the open pocket on the top of the back lining and sew around it with a distance of 2mm from the edge. This will fix the pocket onto the lining and will make sure it stays in place in future steps.

• To reinforce the back of the backpack, use a thick solid material. One option is the Decovil I Light (DL), which is a non-woven interlining to give additional stability.
• Place the interlining on the wrong side of the quilted back part of the backpack and iron it on.

• Determine the length of the piping. (For the backpack front, the piping should be the same length. Therefore, you can make marks on the tape which will be used as guideline for the front part).
• Position the ends of the piping tape which will be stitched at the bottom of the back part.
• Stitch the bias tape at 45 angle degrees together where needed, press the allowances apart.

• When the tape is aligned, cut off the edges, leaving 2 mm from the seam.
• Cut off the excess cord, then wrap the cord with the bias tape.
• Pin it to the back piece.

• Use the Piping Foot #38 to sew the piping to the back part, making small cuts at the corners.

• Align one end of the prepared ring tab with the four marking points. Sew a rectangle to connect those four points.
• Insert the D-ring through the free end of the strap and bend it inwards up to the line of stitches. Stitch the folded strap by sewing along the edges 2-3 times next to the ring.

• Sew the finished shoulder straps and the handle on the back of the backpack according to the markings on the pattern.
• Make a few extra stitches to secure.
• Cover the ends of the straps and the handle with the flap and sew it on with triple stitches. In order to strengthen the stability of the flap, it can be fixed with the double-sided scotch tape or iron-on hemming tape.

• Determine the center of the top edging with the zipper and the bottom edging.
• Align the centers of the edgings and those of the backpack part. Fix the layers with clothespins or baste them. When basting, try to do so as close to the edges as possible.
• Sew the seam twice or three times for additional stability. Remove the basting seam, if there is any.

• Put metal buckles through the free ends of the straps, insert through the carabiner and push the strap through the buckle again.
• Determine the desired length and fix the free end at the strap near the buckle.

• Align the center markings of the bottom edging with the lower edge of the front part. 
• Place the front part right side on right side on the back part.
• Sew along the edges twice, leaving an opening from mark to mark below.

• Steam or iron well, then turn inside out.
• Straighten the edges and iron it again. Fold back the opening and sew it using the Blindstitch.

• Mark the center of the edging and the center of the side parts.
• Pin and then sew the edging with the Edgestitch Foot #10 and a stitch length of 3mm.
• It is important that the bias tape does not reach the seam, for this reason we make it shorter.

• Fix the side parts made from the main fabric with the central part.
• Start stitching them from the side pockets, keeping the angle of 90 degrees.

• Next, fix the side parts made of the lining from the lining, right side facing the inside of the central part.
• Make a stitch from the side piece made of main fabric, focusing on the other one made before. Iron it well and turn it over.
• The seam must be positioned inside the side parts.
• Align the open cut of the lining side parts and main fabric side parts (shown in photo).

Sewing on the piping

• The length of the piping must be the same as on the back of the backpack. Pin the piping to the front with the right side up.
• Do not overstitch the last 10 cm on both sides for better fit along the edges. Join the ends of the bias tape in the same way as on the back of the backpack.

Top edging and zipper

• Mark the center of the front and open the zipper.
• Align the marks on the zipper and the bottom with the ones on the front part and fix the parts with clothespins. Baste them with hand stitches first if prefered.
• Stitch them twice and iron the stitches well.

Bias tape

• Place the bias tape along the open cut. Stitch, leaving unstitched 10 cm.
• Iron the seam allowances of the opening part and cut off the excess, leaving 2 - 3 mm from the seam.
• Edge the opening with the bias tape.
• You can hem the second bias tape end by hand or by using a blind stitch on the sewing machine.