Making Your Own Pattern

So this is the situation. I see people around looking for patterns for bags, meaning someone else's patterns. And people keep asking me where I get my patterns from. I always tell them I use my own, I made them by myself. I don't like doing something that someone else did, even if I credit them. This is just not me. Then I ask myself, why people use already made patterns that someone did, why can't they do their own? Well, the answer for this would be, very simple, they don't know how.
Now I gotta admit, I'm not sure if the way I make my patterns is the ordinary way. But this is my way of work, you will see. In this post, which is a very important post, I want to teach you a bit about how to make your own patterns, the way I do it, so you will learn how to make them by yourself, and therefore invent your special designs. Some secrets, some tips. Wanna? Keep reading then.

First I will start with something familiar, and a little tip. You know when you make boxing (which is a way to give a bag its space and bulkness, you see it a lot) in the bottom of the bag, and then the bag gets a shape of wide in the top and narrow in the bottom? Like this:





That can be nice, but sometimes it's not the way you want your bag to be. So how do I deal with it? Well, first option is the make the bag with "walls" instead of boxing. But if you want less work, which is by doing the boxing thingy, you need to make a pattern that will "cancel" that affect. The thing that happens when you do the boxing, is the bottom of the bag slims itself inward. Less room already. So you will need a pattern that will look like this:

After you create the bag and make boxing, the bottom of the bag will slim inward, but this time, there is more material in the bottom edges (it will be wider), so even if it slims, it won't slim too much; it will create a straight square, and will not get the shape that would have turned out to be if you didn't do this pattern. Of course you need to pick the ratio of the pattern by the size of the boxing. You don't want it to be too much or too little!

Hope that was clear enough.

How will you make this pattern?

I'm creating a pattern out of a large Bristol paper that is thick enough. I would suggest getting a rotary cutter and a good ruler. You will need the ruler for the pattern making. You don't have to have a rotary cutter, but it's just easier and faster (you'll be surprised!).
So it will be symmetrical, we will do this by folding the Bristol to half – the middle will be the fold line. Now we will need to mark the borders, like this:

The shape doesn't matter yet. Take the ruler and draw a straight line for the bottom of the pattern (bottom of the bag). Now do the same for the top border. This is where you choose the size of the pattern – the maximum and the minimum - height. (let's get something clear, the boxing will take a few inches/centimeters, so the pattern should be longer in the bottom, take a few extra more).

Now we will mark the border of the side(s) with a straight line that starts with the maximum width of the top part of the pattern. Do the same with the bottom part of the pattern - mark the maximum:

Okay, now we have the borders. Now we will need to draw a line between the maximum of the top and the maximum of the bottom, right from the points of connection:

Ready for cutting! This is what you need to cut:

If you want to make the bottom edges rounded….
Do the exact same thing, and this time, you can take a glass or bowl or something rounded that fits the size and place it in the margins.

And how will you make an addition like:

After your pattern is ready, you will cut another piece for the example above (let's focus on the top part, not the bottom one, but it's the same). Mark the line you want on the ready pattern with a ruler. Take another piece of the Bristol and fold to two again. Attach the folded piece of the bag pattern to the fold of the additional part Bristol, middle to middle (fold line to fold line when it's closed). Like this:

Mark a line around the particular part (see picture), and continue the line of the pattern a little:

Then you can remove the bag's pattern and complete the line:

Cut, and there you go, it fits:

This is the basics. This is how I do it. From here, you can make pockets, flip over or other additions. Of course you need to measure and stuff, but this is how you can make your own patterns!
The question remains, do you want to know more? More examples maybe? More information? Let me know!
Anyway, if that wasn't clear you can contact me and I'll try to help.