3 Free Backpack Patterns by Miko Craft

Backpack creations by Miko Craft...

For someone who regularly claims not to like backpacks, I've actually made more bags of that style than I ever expected.

There was the Summer Sling from Sew4Home. There was Cloudsplitter's Summit Pack. There was this Convertible Backpack/Sling Bag from JSDaily. There was even this partially failed project from some forgotten YouTube channel that I managed to rescue (somewhat).

In early March, hubby and I finalized plans for a vacation to Cape Breton Island and Ottawa. (It'll be our third trip out to Nova Scotia and we are hoping for better weather than what you see here from our first trip.)

Not great Cape Breton Island weather...

After all details were in place – getting arrangements made felt like a full time job for a week – I began to think about making a new bag to bring on the trip. Because we might be stomping around quite a bit, I thought that a small backpack would be the best choice, providing the option to go totally hands-free without obstruction.

[Oh, and if you're wondering why I needed a new backpack with all of the previous ones in my possession, I wanted a double strap setup. The only ones I had were the convertible one – which I found a bit cumbersome to use – and the somewhat rescued one, which was just too small and certainly not my best work to select for travelling.] 

Thus I began my search on YouTube on March 27. Within an hour or so, I had seen enough to know the style I was looking for. It was then a matter of whether I could find something gratis versus paid.

This was a paid pattern that I found on Qting Craft Studio's channel:

I like the shape (image courtesy of Qting Craft Studio on YouTube)...

Unfortunately, even if I wanted to pay for the pattern, it was impossible to find. She has a link to a Facebook post from where she sells it, and with me not having a Facebook account, I couldn't even scroll far enough down to see it.

However, I got the feeling that even if I had access to FB, it wouldn't be easy to find, because almost half of the comments from the past year are from people asking about where to get the pattern. In a reply to a similar comment from two years ago, the creator asks the person to email her. Is it just me or is this a horrible way to sell sewing patterns?? (It's not as if the channel isn't active; she continues to post new videos.)

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Fortuitously, my search led me to Miko Craft's channel, where I ended up seeing the absolutely perfect backpack.

image courtesy of Miko Craft on YouTube...

This is called the Eggsy Backpack — and just by the name, it obviously has the rounded shape that I was coveting.

Let me take a moment to salute Miko himself for all that he does and provides on his channel. He is superbly meticulous about everything – to the unexpected bonus of providing free digitized patterns – and he makes everything seem so easy to do. Within a week, I had subscribed (I don't do that very often) and scrolled through his back catalog of videos.

In doing so, I came upon this, which I will definitely bookmark for future consideration:

image courtesy of Miko Craft on YouTube...

It's another Eggsy, but in a decidedly masculine sling bag style. I can totally see myself making one of these for hubby down the road.

I also noted this backpack as a possibility:

image courtesy of Miko Craft on YouTube...

The Abbey has a couple of dual purpose side gusset pockets that come in handy for water bottles and more, but did I want to have those and lose out on the overall sleekness of the Eggsy? Not to mention that snazzy looking (and very functional) front pocket with the double zippered access? (That I immediately saw holding travel docs, maps, and stuff like that.) What do you think? 😜

The title of this post refers to three backpack patterns, but let me assure you that Miko has many more. In fact, I did a search last week and came up with well over twenty. There's even an Eggsy #2 with different pocket structures... but it's not better than the original, in my humble opinion.

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Check out crafty classes at Creativebug! [affiliate link]

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With decision made, here's how I went about creating my own Eggsy. First step was to transfer most of the video instructions into written format. The idea of repeatedly watching a video is neither effective (for me, anyway) nor efficient (for almost everyone, there's the annoyance of the inevitable ad breaks), so my first task is always to take screen shots and paste them into a Word document.

Here are my first two pages:

images courtesy of Miko Craft on YouTube...

I had a slight worry at the printing stage of whether the gusset piece was long enough. It indicates printing on A4 paper (which is slightly longer than North American letter size paper) and even though I used tape to create a long enough page and set my printer to expect A4, the template for piece F still printed incompletely. Luckily, Miko's templates feature a diamond shaped "join," so as long as you approximate the completion of that diamond correctly, you'll be okay.

While I knew what fabric I was going to use for this backpack, it took me days to get around to cutting. (Definitely not my favourite part of sewing.) Then I had to mark up my Word doc with my planned modifications. (What's the point of making a bag exactly as designed??) Among my planned changes were more pockets, a different take on the straps altogether, and an interior water bottle harness.

I'll go into detail about my "Eggsy Experience" in a future post. In the meantime, go check out Miko Craft's YouTube channel. There are some high grade freebies to be found if you're into bag making.

Oh and a reminder – you will obviously be inclined to skip ads when you're watching a video for the first time, but please do let the entire thing run uninterrupted at some point in the future if you've found value in the video. It lets the creator earn some ad revenue and costs you nothing.

'Til next... 🇨🇦🍁

Solving the Problem of Several Billion Plastic Cell Phone Cases

Is this still a good way to protect a cell phone?

One of the first sewing projects I made when I got back into sewing in 2012 was a small protective sleeve for my cell phone.

To illustrate how not interested I am in keeping up with the various Jones, here is a recent photo of that same sleeve protecting my circa 2012 Samsung Galaxy Ace Q phone. What can I say, I love its slider keyboard and quite frankly (since I still have a landline and am tied to my computer for all else), I only use my cell for texting and the odd call when I'm away from home.

Back then – prior to everyone having a large screen smartphone attached to his/her hand – a sleeve that could be sewn up easily with fabric and fleece was sufficient protection.

Kinda different nowadays. While we might still sew up small bags or armband contraptions that allow us to tote smartphones around, most smartphone owners protect their investments with a fitted case of some sort.

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In mid-January, I paused for a YouTube ad and learned about a company called Pela (pelacase.ca; pronounced pee-la).

Pela phone cases come in a variety of colours and patterns (image courtesy of pelacase.ca)...

Did you know that well over a billion plastic phone cases are thrown away every year? (I've seen estimates up to 1.6 billion.) Even though most people are now waiting up to three years before upgrading their phones, the amount of plastic going into our landfills from all of these discarded phone cases is beyond astounding. Not to mention that since cases come out pretty much at the same time as the phones themselves, there is a significant amount of waste that occurs with new unsold ones when the models are not as popular as expected.

Actual product is definitely more of a "mustard" colour, 
which is somewhat different from what's depicted on the website...

Which is why, when I saw Pela's ad for a compostable solution, I had to watch it all the way through. Their proprietary Flaxstic material is made out of flax shive combined with a plant based polymer, with the resulting cell phone cases designed to compost in under six months, when placed in a regular composting environment.

I've always believed that whatever we can each do to ensure a better outcome for our planet, we should do it. Saying that what I do won't matter in the overall big picture is a surefire way to bring about environmental calamity sooner rather than later. If choosing a compostable cell phone case is something that you can do as your "little bit", then bravo!

Customized iPhone 11 case (image courtesy of pelacase.ca)...

When I originally started writing up this post, I had no actual experience with this company. (Due to my reduced blogging frequency, many weeks – and even months – can pass between my starting to write a post and it being published.) But with my faithful Galaxy Ace acting up to the point of annoying me – turning itself off unexpectedly, including in the middle of a call – I reluctantly began a search for a replacement in late February. Amazingly enough, Pela still had options for my chosen model (it was a refurbed unit), so it's my phone that you now see here with the Honey (Bee Edition) case.

My new-to-me cell encased in an environmentally friendly protective shell...

Given what I've seen of the full range of reviews and user experiences, this type of case may not be the right choice for everyone (i.e., those who are particularly rough on their phones). Also, since they ship from the US and Canada only, international purchases will incur duties and customs taxes, which in some instances may be substantial enough to hinder a decision to buy, for those living overseas.

Customized Google Pixel 8 cases (images courtesy of pelacase.ca)...

But as you can see from the photos above, they can be customized. (Well, some can be.) In actuality, only a portion of their inventory – namely cases for late model iPhones and Google phones – can be personalized with an image. Select others can have text added to them. (Both types will cost an extra $12.) Unfortunately, nothing for mine could be personalized; although I do love the bee theme, even if the colour isn't quite what I was expecting. Nevertheless, I would love to have a cell phone case featuring one of my own designs, so I hope Pela is working on making this feature available throughout their inventory.

By the way, not only is the case eco friendly, Pela also wants you to be responsible with any old cases that you may need to dispose of after purchasing their product. The envelope that they use to ship to you can be reused to send your old case back to them for disposal/recycling. Check out the program at pelacase.com/360.

A dual purpose shipping envelope...

So how much does all this cost, you ask? Pricewise, Pela's very competitive. No match for the cheap ten dollar options from China, but if you compare to the basic cases that the big cell phone manufacturers put out, the pricing is pretty much the same, if not better. (They were certainly better when I purchased mine at the beginning of March, when a BOGO promotion got me two cases for $45.)

Made in Canada (image courtesy of pelacase.ca...)

In my humble opinion, a huge plus for this company right now, in this particular moment, is that they are Canadian. Given the geopolitical stress currently affecting us – courtesy of a sadly misinformed choice made by 77.3 million voters south of the 49th parallel (and by another 89 million people who didn't care enough to vote) – I am laser-focused on supporting anything that the Great White North is producing or manufacturing.

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Check out crafty classes at Creativebug! [affiliate link]

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Finally, there is the consideration of whether or not you need to have your smartphone encased in any sort of extra protection, plastic or otherwise. "Experts" generally say that yes, it's needed, but it's really a matter of an individual's usage. The addition of bulk with a case is annoying to some, particularly as phones have increased in size. There are some folks who insist that they're never had a problem with dropping their phones or that they don't tend to drop them, period.

I would say that I fall into that latter category; my old Ace Q didn't have a case around it. But I did have an OMG moment with it when it slipped out of my bag pocket onto the street a couple of years ago (I had forgotten to zip up the flap pocket before flipping it upside down). It was probably a distance of about a metre, and while it ended up in three pieces – main phone, back access panel, and battery – it worked just fine when I put it back together.

But the overriding consideration is that I'm not joined at the hip with my cell phone. It's not constantly in my hands. (And that won't change, even with a more fully featured phone. I'm a talk and text person; I despise apps and my data plan is almost non-existent.) For users like me, if it's safely in a pocket of a purse or a bag and I'm not grabbing it unless it rings or unless I need to make a call, it may not need extra protection. Had I not been able to find a matching case at Pela for my new phone, I would have gone without.

Or – to circle back to the topic at the top of this post – maybe an old fashioned DIY sleeve is all that's warranted. Here is one from YouTube channel Miarti Reuse:

image courtesy of YouTube (Miarti-Reuse)...

This video was uploaded on October 7, 2023. The channel itself features numerous projects made out of recycled clothing, so it's worth a look just for that.

For those who like to be light with their bags and purses but want to have a dedicated place for their cell phones, a cell phone bag – commonly in a crossbody style – is something that we sewers can easily fashion for ourselves. One of my subscribed channels on YouTube is sewingtimes; she collected six of her best cell phone bag projects into one video that was uploaded on May 9, 2022.

image courtesy of YouTube (sewingtimes)...

If you're looking for a more manly style, check out a video from Shooka Leather that was uploaded June 6, 2024. It provides a pattern and shows you how to make this very professional looking cell phone bag/wallet.

image courtesy of YouTube (Shooka Leather)...

The channel actually has several similar projects, so if you're up for a leather challenge, it's all right there for free.

Finally, a regular long wallet can be fashioned with a dedicated pocket to hold a phone. There are DIYs aplenty in this category, from relatively simple, like this one from Tendersmile Handmade, uploaded on April 21, 2023...

image courtesy of YouTube (Tendersmile Handmade)...

... to not so simple, like this fully featured one from Yoan Sewing Studio, uploaded on September 15, 2022...

image courtesy of YouTube (Yoan Sewing Studio)...

This one can be attached to a strap and carried as a purse.

I hope this post has provided you with some options the next time you're in need of a new cell phone storage solution. Let's do what we can to reduce the amount of plastic in our landfills, shall we?

Before I sign off, I'd like to extend an offer to anyone who's interested in putting one of my Canadiana patterns onto a Pela case. Contact me (indicate whether you want the red or the black design) and I'll send you a JPG file that you can upload with your order. (Keep in mind that personalization will add $12 to the cost of your case.) My only stipulations are that you use the image only for a Pela order and that you send me a photo of your phone "wearing" the case after you receive it.

Sound fair?

'Til next... 🇨🇦🍁