Kids Safety Bag

Here's my attempt at including LED lights in a kid's drawstring bag.

It could be just for fun - Kid's love stuff that lights up

Or useful for drawing attention to young pedestrians or cyclists.

Materials:

0.5m plaid fabric

0.5m calico fabric

3m cord

2 large buttons

Thread

1 solar LED kit with solar panel and battery pack

Equipment:

Sewing Machine

Fabric Scissors

Pins

Safety Pin

Pin templates to fabric. You will need to cut out 1 front and 1 back, 1 pocket and two pocket flaps from fabric A (the calico) and 1 front and 1 back from fabric B (the plaid)

Pin the two pocket flaps together, stitch sides and bottom edges, leaving top open as shown above.

Clip corners.

Turn pocket flap right side out and fold top edge in 1cm, as shown above.

Iron.

Stitch a buttonhole on the point of the button flap, as shown above.

Place the button flap 10cm from the top of the plaid front bag, mark buttonhole positions for the LED globes above the pocket flap, making sure to have them evenly positioned.

Create buttonholes.

Mark the third buttonhole position below the two that you have just created, making sure to centre it.

Create the buttonhole.

Use a seam ripper to open each of the buttonholes.

Pin the button flap between the two rows of vertical buttonholes, making sure that it has been centred. (you should only be able to see two buttonholes above the pocket flap)

Stitch in place using straight stitch. Make sure to reverse at the beginning and end.

Fold top edge of inside pocket over 1cm, iron.

Stitch in place using a straight stitch.

Fold over remaining edges. Do not stitch.

Pin inside pocket on to calico front. Centre the pocket 6cm from the bottom of the bag.

Stitch the sides and base, reversing at the beginning and end.

Create a horizontal buttonhole 3cm from the top of the pocket. (make sure to centre it)

Place the calico front and back on the table with the inside pocket facing down. Place the plaid front and back on top with the pocket flap facing up. Pin together.

Create a vertical buttonhole in each lower corner, 2.5cm from the side seam and the bottom seam.

Place the fronts on top of the backs. Measure down 5cm from the top. Mark with a pin on both sides.

Pin around sides and bottom. Stitch with straight stitch, zig zag edges to neaten. (stitch from pin to pin, leaving the top 5cm open)

Zig zag neaten the open edges. Fold in 0.5cm, as shown above, iron.

Fold over top edge of bag front, 1.5cm and then 1.5cm again. Stitch along folded edge.

Repeat on bag back.

Sew button under pocket flap, making sure that meets with the buttonhole.

Repeat with button above pocket flap.

Place the solar panel under the pocket flap, push the wires through the buttonhole, as shown above.

Push the LED globes through the button holes above the pocket flap, making sure that the wires push out through the buttonhole above the inside pocket.

(the wires will be invisible between the plaid and calico layers)

This next step takes a bit of wiggling around.

Connect the LED globes from your purchased kit to the solar panel and the battery pack. The battery pack fits in the inside pocket. All of the wires should be between the fabric layers.

Trial your LEDs to make sure that they work.

Cut the cord in half.

Thread onto a safety pin and push through the casing from the left across to the right and back. Thread through the left side buttonhole and knot.

Repeat from the right.

Your bag is ready to use. Open the pocket flap to charge your batteries. Turn on your LEDs at night.