My daughter is almost 3 and loves to fill little bags and backpacks for play.  It’s a menagerie of little books, dolls, and legos that are good for all sorts of fun.  It’s often in tow to the car or grandma’s house.

Ever since I made the drawstring backpack for dolls I knew I wanted to make a larger version for my daughter.

Of course her doll would need a matching one!

Now she can fill backpacks for 2. 🙂

I’m always looking for a way to repurpose something and this time was no different.  The backpacks are made from a shirt my daughter’s outgrown.   It is fun to make new things out of clothing.  For one, my daughter’s shirt now has a new life. 🙂

I always loved the fabric and I will love keeping it around, now as a backpack!

What about all the cute details that are fun to incorporate into new projects like the ruffles that made there way to the bottom of the backpack?

Or the cute little purple flower tag that was on the side of the shirt and now adorns this backpack.  Loving the cute little details!

Use an outgrown shirt, pick one up for cheap at the thrift store or it would be easy enough to adapt this tutorial using fabric yardage.  In the original Drawstring Backpack for Dolls tutorial I used cotton fabric.  For this version I wanted the girl’s backpack quick and easy to finish so I used a knit shirt.  Let’s go over what to look for and then we will get sewing!

Supplies:

• long sleeve knit shirt
• Drawstring Backpack Pattern
• 1/8″ ribbon
• 1/4″ ribbon
• scissors
• sewing machine

Choosing a Shirt

Size

The size of the child you are making this for will determine the size of shirt you will need.  The backpack is roughly the length and width of the person’s back.  For my daughter who wears 3T I used a 2T shirt.  The shirt has a wide cut though, so it’s more about the size relative to the child.  I held the shirt up to her back to make sure it would be about the right size.  This backpack is very forgiving so don’t stress!  You could also cut down a bigger shirt or use fabric yardage for the backpack by adapting this tutorial as I mentioned before.

Features

For this project I suggest to use a knit.  We are altering a shirt for the girl’s backpack so it will be easier to work with fabric that doesn’t fray or unravel, like knit!

Check to see if your shirt has a hem at the bottom that is wide enough to thread the ribbon through for the backpack straps.  If there is no hem you will need a little extra length on the shirt to sew your own.

Enough for 2

Make sure there is enough fabric on the shirt sleeve for the doll size backpack.  Print out the pattern and hold it up to the fabric on the sleeve.  If you are making the set from an oversized t-shirt you may be able to cut the doll’s backpack from another section of the shirt.

Doll’s Backpack

Let’s get started with the doll size backpack first!

If you have not already done so, print out the Drawstring Backpack Pattern.  Pin it to the sleeve of the shirt and cut it out.  Don’t worry about lining up the backpack on a fold, like the pattern says.  My sleeve was a perfect fit and I didn’t have extra fabric to play with.  To move the bulky sleeve seam to the back of the backpack, I refolded the sleeve, centering the seam on the backpack pattern.  Now the seam will be on the center back of the backpack.  If you have extra fabric, line up the pattern to cut off the sleeve seam.

Remember to cut the small notches on each side like the pattern indicates.

Place right sides together. Here is that sleeve seam running down the middle!

Before you sew the backpack stitch the two pieces of fabric together along the bottom edge.  Then continue with the instructions on the original tutorial here.  It is a quick sew!

Girl’s Backpack

Cut off both sleeves on the girl’s shirt.

Our shirt has a ruffle at the top that I want to use on the backpack.  It is fun to incorporate the cute details already on the clothes into projects!   A 1/2 inch hem is at the bottom of the shirt.  We will need that hem for the drawstring casing.  If your shirt has no hem, sew one that is 1/2 inch wide along the bottom edge.

Lay the shirt out flat and upside down.  This will be the basic shape of the backpack.  The hem will be the opening of the backpack and the ruffles will be along the bottom.

Cut off the neckline in a straight line.  That will even up the bottom edge of the backpack.

If you have already made the doll size backpack you will notice that the girl’s backpack is constructed slightly different.  We are going to add a ribbon tab to the bottom corner of each side.  They will help us to get the length of the straps right for the size of backpack you are making.

Cut 2 segments of 1/4″ ribbon, 1″ long.  Fold the ribbon in half and pin the cut side to each side of the backpack 1/2″ from the bottom edge.  I should have used a different colored ribbon so that it would have showed up better in the photos.  In the photo above I have an arrow pointing to the ribbon tab on one side and it is circled on the other side.

Pin the front and back of the backpack together with right sides together.  Take care to make sure the tabs of ribbon you pinned are laying in place.  Stitch around the 3 sides leaving the top of the backpack, with the casing, open.  As pictured above, where there is a hard corner under the arms, sew across at a diagonal.  This will ease the shape of the backpack.

Trim off those hard corners under the arm leaving a 1/4″ seam alliance along the stitching.  Clip the corners at the bottom corners of the backpack.

Turn the backpack inside out.  The tabs should stick out near the bottom on both sides.

Now to thread the drawstring into the casing.

Lay out the casing flat.  Clip 1/2″ on either side in the casing.  In the picture above the little clips are made whether the arrows are pointing.

Now it is time to thread the drawstring.  The white ribbon is nearly impossible to see so I added a dashed line to represent the ribbon.  Attach a safty pin to the end of a 1/8″ or 1/4″ ribbon.  From left to right, thread it through the back half of the casing in one side and out the other.

Now I’m adding numbers to try and keep it all straight!  Using the picture above as a guide, #1 represents the first section threaded and #2 represents the second section that we will be threading.  With the safety pin on the right, come into the front casing, across and out on the left.  Take the safety pin off this side.  This piece of ribbon will remain in place for the backpack strap.

Now for #3 I’ve added blue to help you keep track of the ribbon! Attach the safety pin on the ribbon coming out of the back casing.  Thread it into the front casing, along the front and out the right side.   This ribbon will be the strap on the right.

After playing around with the straps for a while I realized the best way to get the right length for different size backpacks.  As pictured above, lay the backpack out flat with the top and bottom the same width.  The straps will basically be the length of each side.

Tie the strap to the loop where it meets it and trim off the rest of the length.

Cinch it up and it is ready to wear!

This set would make a quick and easy gift.

I originally thought about it for a Christmas present, but I had to try it on her to figure out the strap length and fit.  Now that I figured out the strap length, relative to the backpack size, it would be a cinch to sew these up for any little girl in any size.

Every time I see these two little backpacks I am so happy that cute fabric is repurposed from a little girl’s shirt into something for play!

-Anna