Cutting Corners Design is now called Bags and Seams Design!
Cutting Corners Design is now called Bags and Seams Design!
Author
Sarah is a successful pattern designer for bags, the founder of Bags and Seams Design, and a BERNINA instructor. With great passion, she helps beginners discover their enthusiasm for sewing bags. In her high-quality courses, she teaches the necessary skills step by step and ensures motivating sewing experiences with tangible results.
If you want to sew a backpack, any of these three—Torben, Casper, or Vayana—is a wonderful choice!
In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the differences and benefits of my three sewing patterns.
The Torben Roll-Top Backpack pattern is a spacious roll-top backpack designed for work, school, sports, and long days on the go. With its adjustable height and various compartments, it’s especially well-suited for anyone who needs plenty of storage space and a functional layout.
The Casper backpack is more compact and stands out with its clean, modern design. The pattern can be made in a simple, colorful, or playful style. With the additional ghost version, Casper is also perfect for children’s projects, Halloween, or personalized gifts.
The Vayana backpack bag combines a bag and a backpack in one design. It can be carried in a variety of ways, making it ideal for everyday use, work, shopping, and travel.
Which pattern works best depends primarily on the desired storage capacity, your personal style, and how you prefer to carry it. All three models offer plenty of options for customizing your bag by combining fabrics, colors, hardware, embroidery, or plotter designs.
So let’s take a look at all three:
Would you like to sew a backpack that really suits you? Maybe you need plenty of space for a laptop, folders, and sports gear. Maybe you’re looking for a compact model for short trips. Or maybe you’d like to sew a bag that you can carry as a backpack when needed.
With Torben, Casper, and Vayana, you have three different sewing patterns to choose from:
Torben offers plenty of storage space and a flexibly adjustable roll-top height.
Casper is compact, clean-lined, and can be styled in a simple or playful way.
Depending on the situation, you can carryVayana as a shoulder bag or a backpack.
If you need to carry your laptop, an A4 folder, and a water bottle in the morning—and add your gym clothes in the afternoon—you’ll need a backpack with adjustable capacity. The Torben roll-top backpack offers a flexible height and several ways to organize your belongings neatly.
When closed, the backpack measures approximately (H/W/D) 37 × 30 × 15 cm. When the roll-top is fully extended, Torben reaches a height of about 55 centimeters. This allows you to adapt the storage space to your daily schedule instead of being limited to a fixed volume.
The backpack has room for a wide A4 binder and a laptop. Depending on the features you choose, you can sew Torben with a bottle holder, various zippered compartments, an external carrying strap, and an additional laptop compartment. This ensures that every important item has a designated spot and doesn’t end up loose in the main compartment.
The modern roll-top closure and various functional details make Torben a versatile sewing project. The pattern is suitable for beginners who have already gained some experience sewing bags.
Details about the Torben backpack:
Many people first think of shoulder straps that are as thickly padded as possible. However, where and at what angle the straps are attached to the backpack is also crucial for comfort. If the upper attachment points are too far apart, the shoulder straps may slip off the sides of your shoulders. If they are set too close together, the backpack may pull uncomfortably on the back of your neck. The height of the lower strap attachment also affects how close the backpack fits to your back. That’s why it’s a good idea to position the straps with fabric clips or safety pins before sewing them on permanently and to try the backpack on to see how it fits. Especially when using patterns you’ve adapted yourself, this quick test can significantly improve comfort later on.
You just want to take the bare essentials: your wallet, water bottle, notebook, and a light jacket. In that case, the Casper backpack, with its compact, clean design, is the perfect choice.
The finished backpack measures approximately (H/W/D) 34 × 34 × 9 centimeters, making it look less bulky than Torben. You can sew Casper using plain adult fabrics or adapt it for a children’s project with bold colors and playful details.
Different fabric layouts and zipper options give you flexibility in your design. Since the backpack is sewn without bias tape, there’s no need to finish the inner seams with an additional strip of fabric.
The e-book also includes two patterns for a ghost face. You can use them to sew Casper as a ghost backpack—for example, for a child, for Halloween, or as a homemade gift with a personalized design.
This sewing pattern is intended for experienced beginners who have some experience sewing bags.
Details about Casper:
In the morning, you carry your bag over your shoulder. Later, you might want to have your hands free while riding your bike or carry your groceries home more comfortably. That’s why the Vayana backpack can be carried in different ways.
With finished dimensions of approximately (H/W/D) 37 × 34 × 12 cm, it offers space for essentials for work, school, shopping, or leisure without looking like a large, functional backpack.
Inside, a slip pocket and a zippered compartment help organize your belongings. Depending on the version, you can also add a zippered compartment to the outside pocket. A contrast-colored bottom, different fabric combinations, and custom hardware significantly change the look of the bag: Vayana can look sporty, minimalist, or elegant.
The main difference from Torben and Casper is in how you carry it. You’ll sew a design that you can use as a bag and convert into a backpack for longer trips. This way, you don’t have to commit to one of the two options while you’re sewing.
Details about the Vayana Backpack Pattern:
At first glance, a very stiff bottom looks high-quality and sturdy. Depending on its intended use, however, a bottom that is too stiff can make the backpack unnecessarily heavy and make it harder to pack. For a lightweight recreational backpack, a combination of durable outer fabric and medium-weight lining is often sufficient. A heavily reinforced bottom is particularly useful if the backpack will be used to carry heavy items or will be set down frequently. You can therefore adjust the base stability to suit your intended use. A softer base results in a lighter, more flexible model, while a sturdier base provides the backpack with greater stability and protection.
The question now is what you need your next sewing project for: Choose the Torben pattern if you need plenty of storage space, adjustable height, and multiple organizational options.
Choose the Casper sewing pattern if you want to sew a compact backpack with a clean, simple shape or are planning a playful version for kids.
And make the Vayana bag if you don’t want to choose between a shoulder bag and a backpack and want to switch between carrying styles flexibly.
Vayana is particularly well-suited for beginners looking for a versatile introduction to sewing bags and backpacks. Torben and Casper are also suitable for experienced beginners, though some prior experience with zippers, interfacing, and webbing is helpful.
Regardless of the model, you should read the instructions thoroughly before cutting out the pieces and prepare all the pattern pieces and accessories.
Of the three models, Torben offers the most space. The roll-top closure allows for flexible height adjustment. This makes the backpack ideal for work, school, sports, day trips, or longer days on the go.
Casper is more compact, while Vayana falls somewhere between a medium-sized bag and a backpack suitable for everyday use.
Torben is particularly well-suited for work or school, as it has room for a laptop, documents, and other everyday items.
Vayana is a good choice if you’re looking for a less sporty and more versatile option. Casper is better suited for a more compact load and shorter trips.
Casper is particularly well-suited as a children’s backpack. Its compact design can be customized with colorful fabrics, appliqués, embroidery, or plotter designs.
The included ghost version also makes this pattern a great choice for Halloween, birthdays, or special gift ideas.
Vayana is a versatile backpack. Depending on how it’s adjusted and which strap configuration is used, it can be carried as a bag or a backpack.
This makes the model particularly suitable for people who want to switch flexibly between different carrying styles in their daily lives.
Materials suitable for making your own backpacks include canvas, bag fabric, faux leather, oilskin, and sturdy woven cotton.
The fabric should be sturdy enough to support the weight of its contents. Lighter fabrics require a sturdier interfacing. Faux leather and coated materials should be tested on a scrap piece before sewing.
A size 90 universal needle is often suitable for canvas and multiple layers of fabric. For tightly woven or coated fabrics, a Microtex needle may be a good choice.
The right needle size depends on the fabric, interfacing, and thread. Test the combination you’ve chosen on a scrap of fabric before sewing.
