Sew kraft-tex Bags: 17 Projects, Tips & Techniques for Working with Kraft Paper Fabric

By Betsy La Honta and Gailen Runge

It’s the hot new substrate that wears like leather but sews up like fabric—create more with kraft-tex! This game-changing material is the perfect accent for wallets, totes, and purses. Don’t fall into the same traps as beginning bag-makers. Experts Betsy La Honta and Gailen Runge use their design skills to teach you everything about sewing with kraft-tex. Get your needle know-how, sew the right seam allowances, and practice turning techniques. Popular bag designers share seventeen patterns for all skill levels, from a simple clutch to a roomy travel bag.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C&T Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781617457289

Betsy La Honta

Betsy grew up making paper dolls and Barbie doll clothes. While raising a family, she ran a successful craft business for ten years. Today, she enjoys designing beautiful, practical, well-crafted items. She lives in Northern California.

Book preview

kraft-tex.

What is kraft-tex? ?

kraft-tex is a paper-based, eco-friendly, and animal-friendly material that can be used in many of the same applications as fabric. It is extremely durable; easy to use; easy to care for; and a great substitute for leather, vinyl, or cork.

In the Beginning …

In the spring of 2013, C&T Publishing introduced a new product into the craft and sewing marketplace called kraft-tex. This amazing material (made of paper!) quickly became a favorite of ours for bag making. kraft-tex is the perfect weight for adding structure, is easy to use (no special tools required), is easy to care for (machine wash and dry), and adds a unique leather-like texture to projects that looks fantastic!

We also love its chameleon-like ability to mix and match with many different colors, types, and styles of fabric. You can combine kraft-tex with colorful quilting cottons, sturdy home decor fabric, denim, linen, canvas … we’ve tried them all with great success!

Needless to say, we’ve adored it from the beginning.

Full disclosure: We both work at C&T Publishing (also home of Stash Books), so not only do we have access to plenty of kraft-tex but we also have the benefit of working with many fantastic designers. Putting kraft-tex together with bag patterns from our books was a no-brainer!

For Sew kraft-tex Bags, we’ve selected some of our favorites and reworked them to incorporate kraft-tex. Sometimes it made sense to use a lot, and sometimes we only needed a little. We’ve included notes with each pattern letting you know why we chose the bag, what design changes we made and why, as well as helpful hints and tips for that pattern.

One of the things that was such a pleasant surprise was discovering the new bag that emerged when we gave the pattern a kraft-tex makeover. For example, one of our favorites was the Mackenzie Messenger Bag. We loved the fabric-only version, but the kraft-tex took it to a whole other level. It played happily with the denim and vintage-inspired fabric, and the kraft-tex gussets added structure. The Natural color added the look of leather accents without the cost or hassle.

Our aim with this book is to pass on our experience creating with kraft-tex to give you the tools you need to be successful in your own bag-making adventures! We’ve chosen a variety of patterns with different looks and a range of skill levels that we hope will inspire you to incorporate some kraft-tex into your next bag-making project.

How to Use This Book

Not only did we choose bags that we thought would adapt well to kraft-tex, but we also selected them because we love the bags in their original all-fabric form. Using the original pattern as a starting point, we’ve included notes and instructions for making the kraft-tex version—but you can make the bag in either version (or both!).

One major benefit to having access to both methods of construction is that it allows you to see the changes we made to each bag in order to add the kraft-tex. This will help you learn to convert your own favorite bag patterns. (See Converting Your Own Favorite Patterns, for more.)

At the top of each pattern we’ve include the seam allowance (because the bags all have different original designers, the seam allowances vary between projects), skill level, and amount of kraft-tex used. The amount of kraft-tex used varies quite a bit, from small scraps in the Betty Pouch to large pieces of five different colors in the Tailynn Bag. In the projects, yardage for kraft-tex assumes a roll width of 18˝–19˝.

Throughout the book, you’ll see our kraft-tex notes like this:

  This is a kraft-tex note!

These notes show you where we’ve added steps to instructions and/or included small changes to materials and cutting lists. If the materials list changed greatly between the fabric and kraft-tex versions, we included the entire materials list twice: once for the fabric version and once for the kraft-tex version.

Note:Be sure to read through all the instructions for your project at least once, and be on the lookout for these kraft-tex notes!

Converting Your Own Favorite Patterns

Once you’ve made a few of our bags, we hope the experience you gain will give you the confidence to try your hand at incorporating kraft-tex into your own favorite bag patterns. Here are a few things we’ve learned along the way.

In most cases you won’t need or want to make the entire bag out of kraft-tex. kraft-tex plays so well with fabric that by using both the finished design is often more successful than either kraft-tex or fabric on its own. (But there’s always an exception to the rule—see the Hanna Picnic Basket, for a bag exterior that’s made almost entirely out of kraft-tex.)

It’s also easier to manipulate kraft-tex when you sew kraft-tex to fabric, as the fabric provides some give when you’re constructing the bag (for example, when you’re turning the bag inside out).

Take a look at the pattern you’re considering and see what pattern pieces might be best made out of kraft-tex or where you might want to add a contrasting texture. Is there a side panel that would offer support to the bag? Could you substitute kraft-tex for a fabric panel as a design element? Take a look at the Valentina Bag. It alternates fabric with kraft-tex for a look that’s totally different from the original.

Would the durability of kraft-tex be a benefit to the bottom of the bag? See the Executive Insulated Lunch Purse as an example. It has a colorful, hard-wearing Designer kraft-tex base and it’s completely washable!

Do you want to use just a little kraft-tex as an accent? Consider using a decorative strip in the handles, as fun patches or tags, or even on a flap, like we did on the Elva Bag.

Keep in mind that gathers and other specialty effects that need a lot of flexibility (including pin tucks, ruching, and so on) are best left to the fabric portion of the design.

Also remember that although you don’t need to interface the kraft-tex, it is often helpful to interface the fabric.

But our best piece of advice? Be open to experimentation and trying new things! We were often pleasantly surprised at how some of the adaptations worked out even better than we expected. (Of course, we had a few fails as well … hence the warning about not making kraft-tex gathers. But we’ll point those out along the way!)

Enjoy your kraft-tex journey!

—Betsy and Gailen

Using kraft-tex

kraft-tex 411

There are a variety of kraft-tex styles available (for now … more kraft-tex comes out all the time!):

Basics: The original kraft-tex is unwashed with a smooth surface and a is bit stiff. It’s available in five colors: Black, Chocolate, Natural, Stone, and White.

Designer: Prewashed and hand-dyed, this kraft-tex is softer and has a more leather-like, textured appearance than the Basics. Look for Blue Iris, Greenery, Marsala, Orchid, Tangerine, and Turquoise.

Vintage: Prewashed for more flexibility and with a textured surface. Available in the five original colors.

There are three ways you can buy kraft-tex in the store and online:

By the bolt: 19˝ × 10 yards (Basics only)

By the roll: 19˝ × 1½ yards (Basics), 18½˝ × 28½˝ (Designer and Vintage)

In a sampler pack: 8½ × 11˝ sheets

Washing, Drying, and Ironing

For the projects in this book, we recommend using kraft-tex that has been washed. (This will help soften it and make it much easier to manipulate and turn inside out.) Also be sure to prewash any fabric and trim you’re using if you plan on washing your finished bag.

If you’re using the Designer kraft-tex, it comes prewashed and is ready to sew immediately. If you’re using the kraft-tex straight from the roll and find it’s curling up, iron it flat so that your pattern pieces are cut accurately.

If you’re using one of the Basics colors (Black, Chocolate, Natural, Stone, or White), these are not prewashed. We recommend you wash your kraft-tex at least once before starting your project. For best results, cut the large roll into smaller pieces before washing. The Basics kraft-tex comes in a roll that is 19˝ wide by 54˝ long. Depending on your pattern, cut a piece of kraft-tex a couple of inches larger than the total amount of material you’ll need. (You’ll cut the individual pieces after washing.)

To wash the kraft-tex, first take your piece and scrunch it up well. The more you work it, the better your texture will be! Then all you need to do is toss it in your washing machine and wash with warm or cold water—with or without detergent.

Please note: The Basics colors don’t run. You can wash them all together with no problem. However, the Designer kraft-tex is hand-dyed and should only be washed in cold water with like colors.

After washing, scrunch up the wet kraft-tex again and put it in the dryer. Take it out of the dryer while still damp and lay flat to finish drying.

Ironing the washed kraft-tex on the cotton setting before you measure and cut will flatten it out for more accurate results. (But don’t worry—you won’t lose that great distressed texture!)

Cutting, Pinning, and Sewing

You can cut kraft-tex with anything that cuts fabric or paper—you don’t have to have any specialized tools. But for these sewing projects, it is easiest to cut the kraft-tex with a rotary cutter and cutting mat. (You’ll also want to have a sharp pair of scissors on hand for clipping corners and trimming seam allowances.)

When working with kraft-tex, do not use pins, as they will leave visible holes in your finished project. Instead of pins, you can use Clover Wonder Clips (or similar), binder clips, basting glue, staples, or glue dots. Note: If you’re using glue or staples, be sure to keep them within the seam allowance.

Gailen likes to tack her pieces together