How to make a bag-in-bag organizer

1. Materials & tools

Materials (standard size)

• Main fabric (canvas, oxford or quilted cotton) — about 110 cm wide × 60 cm (44 × 24 in)
• Divider fabric — about 50 × 40 cm (20 × 16 in)
• Heavy fusible interfacing — for the body
• Optional: webbing for the handles

Tools

• Sewing machine (or needle and thread)
• Fabric marker or pencil
• Ruler and scissors
• Iron
• Pins or clips

2. Make the pattern (auto-generated in Katagami)

With the Katagami pattern tool, you just enter the finished size and it drafts a seam-allowance-included pattern, tiled to print at actual size on Letter or A4.

1. Open the tool
   Open the pattern tool and choose “Bags” → “Bag-in-bag organizer” from the tabs at the top.
2. Enter the size
   Enter the finished width, height, gusset, divider height and handle length. Presets cover small, standard and large.
3. Set the seam allowance
   Use the slider at the bottom (beginners: 1.0–1.5 cm / about 3/8–5/8 in).
4. Print
   Press “Print (actual size)”, then in the print dialog set Scale = 100% and turn “Fit to page” OFF. Check the 50 mm calibration box on the first guide sheet with a ruler.

3. Cutting the fabric

1. Measure the outer bag
   Measure the inside of the bag it goes into and make this 1–2 cm (½ in) smaller in width and height.
2. Trace the pattern
   Trace the body (base on the fold), the dividers and the handles.
3. Cut
   Cut one body, one or two dividers and two handles, then fuse heavy interfacing to the body.

4. Sewing

4-1. Make the dividers

1. Turn the top edge of each divider under twice and stitch. Do this first.
2. With two dividers, make them different heights so the contents are visible.

4-2. Attach the dividers

1. Lay the body flat and position a divider the divider-height above the base fold.
2. Stitch vertically to create the pockets — about 2 cm (¾ in) for a pen, about 8 cm (3 in) for a phone.
3. Backstitch at the top of each line; that is where pockets tear.
4. Baste the lower and side edges within the seam allowance.
5. All of this must happen before the body becomes a tube — the machine arm cannot reach inside afterwards.

4-3. Sew the sides and gusset

1. Fold the body at the base, right sides together, and sew both sides.
2. Pinch each base corner into a triangle and sew across at the gusset depth. Check both sides match before sewing.
3. Trim the triangles to 1 cm and finish the edges.

4-4. Finish the opening and handles

1. Turn the opening edge under twice and stitch.
2. Stitch the handles inside the opening with a rectangle and a cross. They only have to lift the organizer out, so they can be short.

✏️ Everything involving the dividers happens while the body is flat. Once the sides are sewn it becomes a tube, and there is no way to stitch a divider inside a tube on a domestic machine.

5. Tips & variations

• Measure the host bag: 1–2 cm smaller in each direction is what makes it easy to lift in and out.
• Dividers on both faces: front and back doubles the organization.
• Firm interfacing matters: a soft organizer slumps inside the bag and does nothing at all.