Materials for Sewing a Zipper Backpack

Series Summary

Sewing is an ancient craft that still has remarkable relevance in today's modern world. The art of stitching and assembling pieces of fabric together, either by hand or with the use of a modern sewing machine, is still a valuable skill: it is the backbone of the textile industry; it comes in handy for clothing repair; fashion and design find it indispensable; and homemade clothing wouldn’t exist without it. Whether you use a sewing machine or a needle and thread, the techniques involved in constructing a well-fitting garment are very specific and involved. Becoming skilled at the craft is a lifelong pursuit.

In this free video series, learn how to make a zipper backpack. Our expert, Karen Weisman, shows you the step-by-step instructions to make this sewing project. Learn the materials you need. Also, she shows you how to sew and quilt various parts of the backpack. Learn how to make a pocket and how to attach a zipper. If you are looking for a new sewing project, take some time and watch this free video series today!

Video Transcript

"Hi I'm Karen from Expert Village. Today I will be showing you how to make one of these terrific zipper strap backpack carriers or purse. It has a zipper opening here for lots of storage. A front Velcro pocket and a zipper strap that you can swing over your shoulder like that or you can separate like this for a backpack wearing like this. This is what we would need to make our zipper strap backpack carrier. A nice fabric, usually a upholstery fabric or this is a drapery fabric, something a little bit heavier. You don't want to use anything light even though we would be doubling it. So upholstery fabric, drapery fabric they work great. You would need about one yard of fabric. You would need thirty inch or a thirty-six inch right between thirty or thirty-six inches of a heavy duty zipper. This is a nice heavy duty zipper and you would need also a twelve inch heavy duty zipper. You can get away with it regular zipper for the twelve inch one but you definitely need a heavy duty thirty inch or a thirty-six inch zipper. You would need about a half a yard of iron on interfacing. A few inches of sew on Velcro, you need some pins, scissors, and a roller. You should probably have a fit your machine with a heavy duty needle. Like a jeans needles because we are going to be sewing multiple thickness of the fabric and you want to have a nice sturdy needle. Usually a jeans needle is what you would need and just a matching thread. Okay let's get started. "