These duffle bags are one of my favorite projects I’ve ever shared on my blog– they are so bright and happy and extremely functional! I made them for my daughters to use for ballet, and they LOVE them, so that is enough to make a mama happy!

I am crazy about the fabrics!!! I used cotton laminate, which is so much more durable and has such a cool feel to it. Since it’s water proof, the bags will clean up really easy. I found my fabrics from the awesome online shop Oil Cloth Addict, using prints from Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, and more.
Here are links to the fabrics I used:
Bag 1: Eloise in Midnight by Sis Bloom, Fairy Tale Sky by Amy Butler
Bag 2: Sketchbook Roses in Blue Spring by Amy Butler, Dotted Paisley in Green by Heather Bailey

I photographed the bags inside my daughter’s dance studio, and we had so much fun together. They are super lucky to take lessons from our city’s professional ballet organization. They are getting fabulous instruction. Ballet was a big part of my life through high school, and I love having little ballerinas of my own!

This is my own pattern, with new updates of the bag I made a few years ago. It has two pockets instead of one, longer straps, and (I forgot to take pictures of the inside), but it is fully lined with laminate. I added a few girly details with the ruffles above the pockets, but if you were making this for a boy you could leave that part off.

If you want to make this, the full tutorial is being shared on Bernina’s site, We All Sew. It is completely free. I used my walking foot, which was really helpful when sewing with laminates. I hope you have a lot of fun making the bag! I’d love to see pictures… upload them to my Sewing Family Flickr page here!

Click to be taken to Bernina for my free Ruffle Duffle Bag pattern and tutorial.