Asymmetric Bag, Free Pattern and Tutorial

Asymmetric Bag Free Pattern and Tutorial

Finally! The tutorial and pattern for this bag I’ve promised. It was surprisingly time-consuming to redraw the pattern and make it nice and clean so it would make sense to everyone else. So, click here >>> >here< <<<  for the pattern. I don’t care if you make and sell a million dollars worth of these bags – just don’t post my pattern on your own site.

Materials for Asymmetric Bag:

  • 1 meter fusible interfacing.
  • 1/2 meter each of exterior fabric and lining fabric.
  • 1/4 – 1/2 meter of accent fabric (optional – you could make exterior in a single color)
  • 2 – 7″ zippers
  • your choice of bag hardware for strap and closure. There are so many possibilities and choices, it’s entirely up to you what you use.

Assembly of your asymmetric bag:

Attaching accent fabric to bottom of bag:

Once you’ve cut out all of your pieces, trim the fusible interfacing 1/4″ on all sides to reduce bulk in your seams.

Asymmetric bag - decide which half of exterior pocket to interface

You will need to decide which side of the bag your exterior pocket will be on. Since it’s at an angle, it’s more comfortable to use if you follow my handy little Sharpie notes on the photos. Fuse your interfacing to all exterior pieces and half of each pocket lining.

Asymmetric bag - attaching accent fabric to bag exterior

Once you have fused all of your interfacing, assemble the exterior. The photo above shows you how the pieces go together. Sew with a 1/2″ seam.

determining correct side for exterior zipper pocket

Another little Sharpie note for pocket placement.

Inserting the zipper and outside pocket:

Mark center of pocket lining and bag exterior

Find the vertical center of your pocket lining and your bag exterior.

mark 1 inch from top

Draw a line one inch from top edge on wrong side of pocket lining.

Draw another line 3/8″ from first line.

sewing and cut lines for zipper

Mark each end 3 1/8 from center. You should finish with a long skinny rectangle 3/8″ x 6 1/4″ long. Mark your cut lines as shown. Pin to bag, right sides together, centers matched.

Sew all the way around with your stitch length set to 2.5 on the sides, but change to 1 from 1/2″ before corners until around the other side.

Cut down the center to 1/2″ from each side. Angle towards each corner as close as possible to stitching without cutting through. Flip the lining through to the other side and press.

See how pretty that turned out?

Center and pin your zipper underneath as shown and top-stitch through all layers. Sew each side first in the same direction then go back and sew across each end so your zipper doesn’t twist.

pocket lining - wrong sides together

Pin the other half of the lining to your bag – wrong sides together and sew all the way around with a 1/2″ seam.

One pocket down, one to go!

One pocket finished! Only one more zipper to go, but first lets put the rest of the outside of this bag together.

Finishing the outside of the bag:

Bag exterior, right sides together.

You will need to sew each side and the bottom, but leave the notched out part unsewn.

Corner left open

Press seams open. A rolled up towel can help with that chore, just use it like a mini ironing board shoved inside the bag.

refold corner and sew across

Refold the bag and sew across your corner.

Finished exterior

Congratulations! You’ve finished the outside of your bag.

Putting the lining and inside pocket together:

Lining assembly

For the lining, attach the pocket to one side with the bottom at least 3/4 of an inch above corner notches of bottom. Assemble both halves of the lining, exactly the same as the outside of the bag except you need to leave an opening along one side for turning.

Opening left in side

Do stitch the top and bottom of that side though.

Finishing off:

Pin and sew lining to exterior - right sides together

Pin lining and exterior – right sides together and sew 1/2″ seam. Trim away 1/4″ from exterior seam allowance to reduce bulk, then turn right side out, press, and topstitch.

All that's left is the strap!
That’s my sweet boy Louie photo-bombing in the corner.

All that’s left now is the strap!

Making strap from fabric

I could not find a good match in webbing for this fabric, so I made a strap using the fabric. There is an extremely good tutorial for making bag straps >here<.

The only thing I did differently was seamed the ends for a neater finish.

Attach your strap just below the accent fabric on each side.

Asymmetric Bag Free Pattern and Tutorial

And that’s it! What do you think of this fabric? It is the weirdest thing – I hate the colors of it at night, but love them during the day.

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Author: The Shade Gardener

Hi there! I'm Vanessa, the Shade Gardener. I live in a tiny little house in Ontario with my 2 grown boys, 2 dogs and a cat, where I do my best to grow plants in a heavily shaded yard and soil like cement. I am passionate about my family, my pets, MCM furniture and cheese. When I'm not in the garden I do a bit of crafting and sewing. Sometimes I build topiary animals from chicken wire for fun.

2 thoughts on “Asymmetric Bag, Free Pattern and Tutorial”

  1. That fabric is the best! Love the colors and design. I’m going to try to make this although my sewing skills are not consistent 😉 Also, I will in no way work as quickly as you. Lol! Pinning & sharing

    1. The Shade Gardener says:

      Thank you! Honestly, it’s all straight seams so just take your time and press everything as you go. I would love to hear how it went, so if my pattern or instructions need tweaking or clarifying, I can make that happen.

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