Making Tarot Bags

My mom is getting me a sewing machine for Christmas, so I am very excited that I can make my own tarot bags when I get it. My question is, where is a good place I can find printed fabric, and also how much fabric do you need per bag?

~Azarial~

Hi Congrats on getting a sewing machine. I bought myself one on a spur of the moment thing last month and have yet to sew my bags... thought I have bought loads of fabric!

You can get good printed fabric from department stores who will usually sell it by yard or metre for you. You can also get some good deals on fabric on Ebay too. As for fabric amounts, usually using the deck as a template works well, then adding a few inches around the sides (depending on how roomy you want the bag to be - it doesnt want to be too tight). You might also want to try the remnants/offcuts bin in your local department store or fabric store as you can find some good deals in there, enough fabric to make one or two bags cheaply. Oh, also check out the price of linings too if you want your bags to be lined Oh! Another good tip is to check out your local goodwill shop, as you will have just enough fabric from a nice shirt or top to make a bag

Good luck!

As far as patterns - you really don't need one! It's a rectangle with a casing with a cord threaded through it. The bag should finish about 1' larger all around than the intended deck so that you have room to slide it in and out, space to wrap the cards in a cloth, hold crystals, etc.

In most pattern books near the back there is usually a section of 'Accessories' and there may be elaborate reticules and purses there; also, if you are of the adventurous sort, check out the medieval women's patterns and see if one of the costumes has a bag to go with it; you may not want to spend $$$ on a pattern for one part of it, but there are always sales! {What I used to do is if I found a pattern and only wanted one part of it - take out the direction sheets and look at the sewing directions, memorize them, put them back in the pattern - and fake it when you get home!}

When I was designing period women's costumes I usually used the scraps from the costume to make them a matching reticule - so you don't need a lot of fabric. You can get four or more spacious tarot bags out of a single yard of any fabric.

My suggestion to you - my ambitious new sewer - is to learn to use the buttonhole attachment. I always made my bags with double laces so they would open and more truthfully -close- more easily since the friction keeps the top closed. Once you make the casing for the cord, make a buttonhole , one on each side BEFORE you sew the casing down! Sew casing into place. Take one piece of cord and thread through right side hole, by-pass the left hole and bring the end out the hole you started and tie ends together. Do the same through the other hole. Now, pull the two knots and the bag will close ever so gently and beautifully. To open, just insert your fingers into the 'purse' and gently pull the opening apart.

Try quilting shops or websites for fabric - you can get all kinds of wonderful designs. Quilters usually buy fabrics in "fat quarters", which are pieces about 18 x 22 inches and you can get 2-3 bags out of that, depending on how large you make them. I aim for a finished bag of 9 x 6 inches and add a 1/2 inch seam allowance all round, but if it doesn't matter which way up your pattern is, you can skip the seam at the bottom of the bag.
I'm not sure where you are in the world, so I can't recommend any sites for fabric, but a search for "fat quarter" on eBay should bring up a lot of results.

A quarter of a yard will easily make 5 bags for you. You can make up your own pattern with newspaper too, since tarot bags are made out of simple rectangle shapes. You'll want the top more than an inch above the deck, but the sides with an inch per side beyond the cards would work fine. Just sew the laces in one side seam if you don't want to do a drawstring or find that too hard to start with.

Metallic fabrics are a pain to sew and require a special needle. So do stretchy materials like swimsuit fabrics, you'll need a special needle for those too. Cottons are easiest, or cotton blends, anything not silky enough to shift when you try sewing it.

Did you see the jester pattern everyone was talking about last month for tarot bags? That one is very simple and very cool looking.

Here is the jester bag pattern

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/3073/jester.htm

Another idea for sewn bags

Instead of a drawstring, you could make a bag with a flap and a buttonhole. One side would be approximately once and a half the length of the other, and it could be left rectangular or trimmed into a point; if you make it into a point, it might be better to make the flap a little longer than if you were to leave it rectangluar. Of course, you could make it any shape you like!

You could also fasten it with one or two snaps rather than with a button. Or even a bit of Velcro!

And if you want to wear it on your belt, make a sturdy wide loop on top or on the back.

I get my best fabric for tarot bags from furniture stores and fabric stores. Go in and ask them for the discontinued upholstery and drapery samples. That's where you get the nice brocades and tapestries without paying a fortune. In fact, much of the time the furniture stores will just give them to you...... each one has just enough material to make one beautiful bag.

I also have tried my hand at tarot bags... They did come out nice. I was pleased. I bought my fabic at JOANN's and Walmart, oh and the ribbon too.
Some I made with a flap and velco.

Just remember, you want to be sure that you include the seam allowance in measuring. So if you want an inch wider then the cards, you also need to allow for seam allowance. When you cut the fabric include an extra 5/8ths on either side for that.

Since I started making my tarot bags I found getting fabric dinner napkins work well. You can get 3 bags from one napkin.