Disney® Official Baby Yoda Backpack Mandalorian Grogu The Child | Large Star Wars Backpack - Suitable for Older Kids, Teenagers & Adults 48cm x 35cm x 13cm

Product Information

NOTE: I didn't line mine, but if you were hoping to line yours, line it BEFORE you sew it down to the bag. I'll save you the hours of research and countless videos I watched, and just summarize the information I learned for if you choose to work with faux suede for your project, too. You can thank me later!

Yoda and Baby Yoda have one big important detail that makes them the cute little creatures they are: their ears! You can use homemade fabric scraps-and-rice weights to hold down the pattern on the faux suede while you trace it or cut it. This keeps everything from moving around.To start that process, we need to add a gusset (aka: the fabric that extends from the zipper on either side). Take your 12" zipper and sew it right sides together with the first piece of fabric. Your seam allowance should be 1/4". MAKE SURE THE FABRIC IS CENTERED ON THE ZIPPER SIDE (the zipper will hang out both ends of the fabric). Fold the fabric lengthwise, and sew with 1/2" seam allowance along the raw edges (keeping the RIGHT sides together). Do this for both pieces. This will make a "housing" for the pads to slip into (therefore, avoiding any extra seams on the long side, except the one). DO NOT sew the two short ends of either piece. Also, KEEP THE FABRIC WRONG-SIDE OUT. You should spot clean faux suede, or wash it on a gentle cycle and hang dry or spot dry. When washing, use cold or warm water with little detergent and little softener. Because this bag has interfacing, DO NOT put it in the dryer! Steam press if wrinkles occur with a damp pressing cloth.

NOTE: The ear shape is organic, so use my photos here to guide you, or design your own shape from an inspiration photo of your own. Faux suede isn't known to shrink too much, I've read, so it's really only necessary to preshrink the interfacing IF you want to be able to wash your bag without trouble. If you are wanting to wash your bag and are scared the faux suede may shrink, feel free to pre-shrink all your materials (except the foam padding). But because my zipper was too short, I had to cut off the ends and sew it all directly down to the front of the bag. It doesn't look bad in any way, it's just not typical. NOTE: Your finished piece will be different from mine. I got too small of a zipper, but it was all I could find since this pandemic has limited what's in stores. So, if you can get ahold of a 12" zipper, you will be good to go (and will avoid the problem I ran into later)! Buy a zipper slide (as seen in picture 1). Usually they will be called a "Fix-A-Zipper" in places like Walmart.

Be sure to use only sharp, thin pins in faux suede (if any) as it is pretty unforgiving as far as larger holes go. Therefore, it's actually best to use binder clips (or the like) instead of pins. Fold over the top of the shoulder straps and slide those under the brown horizontal strip too, as shown. I had the seams of the straps facing outward, because it matched my inspiration picture. Plus, it made a great way to line up the hanger/handle with. A 5mm 12" long zipper (with either the same color of zipper tape as the other zipper, or a tan zipper tape) Next, match up the side seams (where the green and brown fabrics collide on both the front of the bag and the side panel) ALWAYS TEST YOUR MACHINE SETTINGS ON SCRAP FABRIC BEFORE SEWING ONTO THE ACTUAL BAG. Do this every time you change up the fabrics or add in another layer.

Did you know you can sharpen a regular piece of chalk in the larger hole of a regular sharpener to make fabric chalk? Who knew!? On the designated bottom of each shoulder strap, add the D-ring straps into the middle so they sit against the right-side of the fabric. Align the middle of the D-ring strap with the seam you just sewed (which should now be placed in the center of the shoulder strap). Make it so the D-rings sit INSIDE the "housing" and the end of the D-ring straps sit flush with the to-be-sewn short side. Repeat for both pieces. Simply cut two 3" x 24" dark brown pieces. Fold each over lengthwise with the RIGHT sides together, and sew them around the two long sides and only ONE short side (leave the other short side open). Flip them right-sides out and voila, extender straps! (Note: no interfacing is needed) to 1/8 yard Dark Green home-décor or outdoor fabric (or faux suede if you find it) This is for the middle of the ears, so make sure the color matches the color family of the Yoda-Green you chose (both of mine were a warm olive-ish color).

Recommendations

The top piece (green) is 6-1/4" tall x 10-1/2" wide (This includes 1/2" seam allowance on all sides). NOTE: the height will be shorter on the curved edges, but the middle of the top of the curve should be 5-3/4" tall.