Well, as you can see from the photo above, I’ve become a little obsessed with making these little bags! I’ve always found these box shaped toiletry bags so intriguing, as they are a bit of a puzzle when you look at them. But I am here to tell you that they are really so easy to make! And because of the ScanNCut, they are even easier. I knew I wanted to create something for Father’s Day, but I wanted to make something Andy would actually use! Having Harlow involved was key, yet I’m not a fan of stuff looking super homemade. Just not my thing! I totally ruined the surprise — don’t worry, he has other Father’s Day gifts that will be a surprise! – by asking Andy what he would like if I were to make something. He didn’t pause long before he expressed a deep-seeded jealousy (just kidding) for all of my toiletry bags I use for packing when we travel. I had no idea he actually would like something other than piling all of his stuff together in one bag! who’d a thunk. So my thinking cap went on, and I was on a mission to create a perfect toiletry bag that was functional, masculine and fun! Typically, these bags are sewn from rectangles, a small triangle is measured and removed (depending on the bag style), and then sewn to form a box shape. But what always bugged me was that no matter how careful I was about measuring that corner triangle, it was never as perfect as I wanted it to be. So instead, I’ve removed the guesswork and the measuring and created some downloadable patterns for you to use. I chose to use fabrics that don’t fray for these bags, so no lining is needed. Multipurpose cloth and a fake upholstery leather worked perfectly to create a box bag that not only held its shape, but cut beautifully on the ScanNCut! I have two patterns for you to download at the end of the post — they are in an FCM format, so they can be downloaded, put on a USB stick and opened on your ScanNCut. They can be resized as well to fit your needs. The patterns include seam allowance lines and numbered instructions for construction — told you I would make it easy! The first bag design is what I’m calling the Standard Box Bag. 
The second is the Even Better Box Bag. I love this one! 
Here they are side-by-side. The Standard Box Bag is the easiest to make, so if you’re a beginner or want to test the waters first, start with this one. My favorite is the Even Better Box Bag. The zipper opens at the base of each side, allowing you to see everything inside really well! 
Okay! Enough of my rambling: let’s get started! 
SUPPLIES
- ScanNCut
- Multipurpose Cloth/Leather or other fabric for your box bag (Multipurpose cloth is like a canvas that doesn’t fray. It can be easily ordered online, but I struggled to find it in brick and mortar stores. I did however stumble upon blackout curtain fabric, and that worked really well too!)
- Zipper (for the included patterns, a 14inch zipper will work well with both. A 9inch will work for the standard box bag pattern.)
- Standard ScanNCut mat
- Fabric support sheet (test the fabric you are using, I only used the standard mat with the fake leather upholstery)
- ScanNCut Fabric Pen and Pen holder
- Standard Blade
- Sewing machine and accessories.
I walk through the entire bag creation step by step in the video — you can simply pause it with each seam to sew! Below I’ve captured each of the sewing steps for you in detail as well. 
1|| Prep your fabric as needed. I like to cut out my fabric about 1/2″ larger than my final shape. Test your fabric with and without the fabric support sheet as well as your blade depth and pressure. (I’ll be going into detail soon about how to test your cut settings for each new material.)
2|| Save the patterns available at the end of this post to a USB stick. Select the pattern from the USB memory on your ScanNCut. Background scan to ensure your material placement.
3|| Using your fabric pen, select Draw from the final menu. You will see that I’ve formatted the file to differentiate between the lines to draw and the lines to cut. To learn how to do this in ScanNCutCanvas, I’ve put together a quick video tutorial. Press start!
4|| After you’ve marked your steps and seam allowances, cut your fabric according to your tested settings. 5|| After you’ve cut out 2 pieces, gather your zipper and thread your sewing machine to begin sewing your box toiletry bag together. This is the fun part! And I’ve made it really easy to follow along with the steps. I go into a bit more detail about sewing in the zipper in the video, but always be sure you are sewing right sides together. 
Top stitch at the zipper seam for a nice finished look.
6|| At this step, have fun adding embellishments. Harlow and I had so much fun drawing portraits of daddy — looks like him, eh? — and drawing notes for him that we scanned in and cut out of vinyl to iron onto our box bags. Harlow especially liked showing Andy the bags with words written on the inside — kind of a fun and unexpected surprise! Below are some examples of how we added a little something to these Father’s Day gifts for Andy! I told you we had fun making these!! 
7|| Following the steps that we marked on our pattern pieces, sew the bottoms (marked with a 2) together. Use the 1/4″ seam allowance, sewing right sides together. 
If you wish to top stitch the following seams, it will help your bag keep it’s shape a bit more. Definitely not necessary, but it definitely takes it to the next level! (in my opinion)
8|| Move on to step three. Be sure to open the zipper first — you’ll need to be able to turn your box bag right-side out! Line up the edges and seam allowances and sew steps 3 together. If you are sewing the Standard Box Bag, the sides for step 3 will fit together a bit more easily than the Even Better Box Bag, as you can see in the image below. 
9|| Now let’s move on to step 4! You’ll repeat this seam around all 4 corners of the box bag. You can see the corner seams of the Standard Bag below. 10|| You did it! Now if you’re like me, you’ll go sew about 10 more. :) 
I also made a quick video about setting your cutting and drawing lines in ScanNCutCanvas — that way you can go and create patterns and templates like these, too!
FCM FILES
DOWNLOAD THE STANDARD BOX BAG PATTERN
DOWNLOAD THE EVEN BETTER BOX BAG PATTERN
PDF FILES
DOWNLOAD THE STANDARD BOX BAG PATTERN
DOWNLOAD THE EVEN BETTER BOX BAG PATTERN
I really hope this project inspires you to grab some supplies and dust off your sewing machine this Father’s Day! Or heck: whatever day! I personally don’t think you need a reason to make these little box bags — they are perfect for any occasion. And if you’re like me, you can never have too many little bags to pack in. :) Never. Can’t wait to see what you create! xo 
I love these! Can I have a lesson this weekend? Can you bring me a pattern?
These look cute and a tidy way to help with packing! You should do a post on packing and how these were used. Meantime, I am going to look for material to make a few!
oh! Good idea! I’m modifying a few with straps for Andy’s razor/blades and travel bottles and things!
I’d love to have a scancut ! It’s like a sewing-revolution ! These clutch are so Nice ! And looks easy tout do (even without a scancut)
Just discovered your blog. I loved the Iron on transfer idea but I did not see the instructions so it must be something simple. I understand you ironed on the drawing but what did you use? What type of clear vinyl will iron on color??? Or, it is just something I never knew could be done. Can you please tell me how did you get the color ironed on without melting the vinyl or on the inside and what type of vinyl you used for this part. I have looked everywhere and I didn’t see it on your site or tutorial but that it was a iron on.
Hi Love! So sorry for my delay! This video will help — i hope! http://youtu.be/NeQ8n4YfhGg
But I also have another video and tutorial about iron on vinyl coming in the next weeks!
And I really did just iron the iron-on vinyl onto the vinyl/fake leather fabric! I always had something between the fake leather and my iron tho! even a thin piece of fabric!
Awaiting your reply. THANKS! So much. This idea is the best and your baby girl is beyond words to describe how beautiful… I’d take 10 of her.
Your box bag tuition on You Tube was the reason I decided I wanted to buy a ScanNCut. I had never seen one or even heard about them until about 10 days ago on TV. I started researching, found that video and that was it…. Do you have other patterns to help me learn?
I do! if you click that TUTORIALS button on the side, you’ll see a slew of SNC tutorials! Among other projects as well :)
Kacia, thanks for the tutorial on this box bag! I started getting into leather crafting this past February, and I was nervous about working with zippers, since I screwed up two of them. Then I saw your tutorial in a Google search and went for it.
My first box bag isn’t perfect, but the experience of building it with your video/template has helped me learn a lot and I want to keep working at it until I find a good way to do a leather version. I am an Instagram user, so you can see the final product here:
http://instagram.com/p/w5W9UjiL8k/?modal=true
(I’m hand stitching, by the way. So that means the majority of my time is spent punching the stitching holes and saddle stitching the pieces together.)
hey! i can’t see the photo :( can i get your user name, so I can request to follow you? i’d love to see what you’ve done! i’m so happy I could help!
Thank you so much for this tutorial, can’t wait to try it! But I just want to know the final dimensions of the even better bag so I can try to adjust the pattern to what I need. Thank you!
Thanks for the tutorial! I attempted to download the pdfs, but was unable to do so, as they are zip files. Anyway they could be just the pdf?
Thanks!
Kacia…. thank you so much for this wonderful tutorial. I bought a ScanNCut and really haven’t used it for cutting patterns or downloading them for that matter. This will be my first. Can’t wait to make these bags…… excited to get started!
Thank you, very much!!!
absolutely! have fun! :)
Hi! The downloads aren’t working. Is there an error on your end?
thank you for letting me know! Let me check!! :)
Marilyn, all four seem to be downloading okay for me. Do you have any security blockers in place? Sometimes those need to be disabled before downloading a PDF! or are you trying to get the FCM file?
Let me know if you are still having problems – and I’ll email them to you :)
I can’t get these to download either.
I’ll take a look! Sorry!
hm – I just tested again and they work! make sure you enable pop-ups! It’ll download in a zip file :)