Mocking up your bag pattern is the best way to make sure your pattern is fitting and allows you to make changes to your design before you start cutting and sewing. It’s also cheaper then sewing your handbag pattern and finding out you made mistakes and a lot less frustrating.

I like to use a medium weight felt or some other cheap material but you can also use your pattern if you score it properly. Making a handbag pattern mock up also helps you think about one of the most important aspects of pattern making and constructing a bag and that is how am I going to sew it!

Sewing sequence is critical when making your bag, in many cases if you have only a flatbed, the sewing sequence will determine how your bag will fit and look when completed. If you have a lot of top stitching on your bag, again the sewing sequence will dictate where the top stitches cross and end in relationship to each other. This relationship can add to the overall design of your bag or take away from it.

Here are a couple of examples of mocking up your pattern from a student.