How to Sew a Backpack: Leather Backpack Tutorial

Learn how to make your own leather backpack with this step-by-step tutorial, complete with pictures. See how even beginners can create beautiful and functional backpacks for their next adventure!

Last year, I showed you how I made my own leather purse from a leather kit. Since then, I have used that purse often and have gotten many compliments on it. When asked about it, people are always surprised to learn that I sewed it myself. While my purse looks professionally made, it was my first leather crafting project ever.

My leather crafting journey began when a kind woman from Babylon Leather reached out to me, inviting me to try their products. I receive many such emails from companies promoting their products, and I generally ignore them. This time, though, I was intrigued.

I had looked into making my own leather purse in the past, but leather scraps are surprisingly expensive, and there aren’t a lot of online patterns available for these sorts of projects. Plus, I had no idea how to pierce the leather or the types of stitches normally used. Being able to sew a leather purse was going to require a steep learning curve.

Ordering a leather kit ended up being the perfect compromise. It allowed me to do a fun, practical, make-it-yourself project without worrying about all the hard stuff. The kits come with everything needed, down to the needles, thread, and even small scissors!

Excited about the idea, I picked out one of their beautiful purses and anxiously awaited my package. (So, yes, in full disclosure, they sent me the purse at no cost to me.)

This year, I was excited to try something new. While I fell in love with several of their purses, this time I opted for a leather backpack! I wasn’t sure how much I’d use it, but I’ve found that I use my leather backpack almost every day!

Materials

When the leather backpack kit arrived, I anxiously opened it and recorded the process. (You can see me unboxing the kit in my video below.)

Inside, on the top of the package, they had included a pamphlet with information about the company and where to find the instructional videos. Under the pamphlet, I found a bag with the backpack’s straps. In the same bag, I found some tapestry needles and strong waxed thread, a small pair of snips for cutting the thread, a binder clip, a screwdriver, and some metal “feet” to protect the bottom of the backpack. There was also some plastic cording for the decorative piping.

Under the bag, I found several pieces of leather. Two pieces were obviously the front and back of the backpack. There were also two bottom pieces. Two of the pieces had zippers in the center. The rest of the pieces were strips of leather or what appeared to be pieces for a pocket.

Like last time, they sent me pretty much everything I was going to need. (The only exception is a lighter that you can use to burn off the loose ends of the thread.)

The leather pieces and strips had stitching holes pre-cut along their edges, simplifying the sewing process. (There’s no need for special tools like a rotary cutter to cut the leather yourself. Nor do you need a sewing machine.)

The edges of the leather are all nicely finished and oiled, giving the finished products a professional look. Everyone comments on the quality of the finished pieces. (Even my good friend who only buys high-priced, premium-brand clothes and accessories seemed genuinely surprised by the quality of my finished bags!)

Putting it together

This time, my kit arrived with a QR code that brought me to the instructional videos. Their video tutorial for my backpack can be found on YouTube. Using video tutorials makes it easier for beginners to visualize the sewing process and understand what to do.

The video tutorials

Already having made one purse, sewing things up was a piece of cake this time. Last time my only confusion was in the very beginning when I assumed that each thread had a needle on only one side (as is normally true when sewing).

This time I already knew that you should use one thread with a needle on either side. The video, of course, does show this, but I tend to rush through instructions because I’m so excited to just get sewing. So, I occasionally miss little details when trying new things. Luckily, it’s easy to pause and rewatch the video as many times as you need to!

The stitching

Like the purse, the backpack mostly only uses one stitch, the saddle stitch, which is simple and easy to do. The only exception I can think of, maybe, is when sewing up the pocket. The first stitch or two on each side of the pocket were slightly different. I did have to watch the video a few times to make sure I was doing that part right, but with the help of the video, it was easy enough.  

Finishing the stitching

To neatly finish the seams, I burned the ends of the threads off after a few backstitches. The backstitches help reinforce the seam and keep it from unraveling. In the backpack tutorial, they don’t really tell you to do that because the ends of the threads end up on the inside of the backpack. I decided that I liked the finish look of burning the ends off, though, as I had learned to do in my previous project.

Sewing the backpack

The instruction videos are very clear and show you in which order to assemble the backpack.

(1-4) We begin with the center part of the backpack, sewing strips of leather onto either side of the zipper. To reinforce this area and give it a decorative look, several seams are sewn onto each piece. I then sewed thicker strips of leather on each end of the zipper.

Next, I started on the back of the backpack. I sewed the edges of a leather strip together to form a handle. They show you how to mark the holes where to begin and end the seam. I later used those open holes to attach the handle to the back of the backpack. (5-6) 

Next, I slipped some metal rings onto strips of leather and sewed those into triangles of leather. The pieces with the metal rings also had two seams to ensure a durable attachment.

I was now ready to sew the back side to the center strip of the backpack. I fit one of the pieces with the metal rings on each side, sewing them into the seam. (7-8)

I now began working on the pocket of the backpack. First, I shaped both the top and the bottom of the pocket by sewing up the small seams of the corners. This was the place where the stitch was slightly different, but the video did a good job of showing how to sew this part.(9)

Next, I sewed the zipper in the center, connecting both pocket pieces. Once the pocket was formed, I sewed it onto the front of the backpack. With the pocket already on it, I sewed the front piece of the backpack onto the opposite side of the center strip. (10-12)

Once again, the trickiest part of sewing the backpack was sewing the bottom onto the rest of the bag. While it uses the same stitch and is easy enough to do, there are more layers to go through. (This is where the decorative piping is also sewed into the seam.)

This part is done with the backpack inside out. With so many layers, and the piping cord in the way, the binding clip from the kit came in very handy! It helped hold the plastic binding cord and leather strip in place, making the sewing process so much easier. (13-15)

Once I sewed the bottom piece onto the rest of the backpack, I flipped it right-side-out. I was excited to see how good the binding looked and that my backpack looked mostly finished! (16-17)

The only things left to do were to clip on the straps, and finish the bottom! The straps are attached to an o-ring at the top of the backpack, and clipped onto the metal rings that I sewed onto the bottom on either side of the backpack. (18)

For the bottom of the bag, there is a stiffer piece of leather that you place inside the backpack. This makes the backpack a bit sturdier and gives it a finished look on the inside. Both bottom pieces had 4 holes in them. Those are for some metal “feet” that you screw on the bottom of the backpack to protect the leather when you set your backpack down. (19)

The project took me a bit of time to sew, but it was easy to do, and the results were beautiful! 

Using the backpack

Well, I guess this part is obvious. Slip it on as you would any other backpack. It’s easy to adjust the straps to fit you more comfortably.

I’d suggest occasionally checking to make sure that you have the protective feet screwed on well. I didn’t do that and lost one of my feet one day. Luckily, the kit came with one replacement that I was able to use to fix mine.

Want to buy your own DIY leather kit?

I’m definitely not a leather expert. On the other hand, my friend, a lover of high-end brands, was very impressed by the quality of the leather. It’s nice and soft, but not thin and flimsy. I’m delighted with the quality.

The company that sent me my kit is called Babylon Leather. They don’t only have purse kits. They also have a wide variety of bags for both men and women, wallets, belts, card cases, coin purses, and other small leather projects like keychains, AirPods cases, eyeglass cases, and pen holders. 

Sending internationally

Babylon Leather sends to most countries worldwide. They have warehouses in several countries (United States, Canada, Australia, France, the UK, and Germany), making it much easier to receive your packages without dealing with customs fees.

Here in Spain, customs has been stopping pretty much all packages from outside the European Community lately and charging high fees, but I had no issues receiving my kit and didn’t have to pay anything extra to receive it. 

Ordering with a coupon

If you like my backpack, here’s the link to the backpack kit I ordered. You can also find the link to the tote bag kit I ordered. They now have a super-cute dual-colored leather tote. I chose the caramel color to go with a pair of boots that I love, but if I were to choose today, I’d likely choose the dual-colored one. (It’s super cute and perfect for Dress Your Truth Type 1 women!)

Use my Coupon Code: TRACY20 for a 20% discount on your order!

Watch me Make it!