Make Your Own Pin Bag! A Do-It-Yourself Guide!
ElysionsPrincess
Love Thaws a Frozen Heart!
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- 3,183
- Location
- Michigan, USA
Hello everyone!
First of all, I hope this is the right place to post this! It's not really a discussion...but it's not a "Pin Guide" either...so I'm a little lost! If it needs to be moved, please let me know, and I will do so!
Anyways~. I am not going back to the parks for a while (hopefully by winter, but college is so very expensive!). Despite this, I still wanted a pin bag. I really liked how they looked, and wanted to have something safe and secure to store my traders in. Before this, I had them sitting inside of a box. I was terrified of them getting scratched, so I decided, its time!
The total cost of this bag was around $25. It is VERY large (probably too large!), but you can use this kind of system for any size bag!
Supplies you'll need:
Scissors, a 3-ring binder (any size), a bag (any size, mine is a Mickey laptop case!), black fuzzy fabric (or felt, or velvet, whatever floats your boat), a purse strap (can be found at a craft store), 2 key-rings, and lining. (+ Hot glue and hot glue gun, not pictured).
Supplies needed continued (these are not necessary, but recommended!):
Eyelet puncher and eyelets, starchy stiff fabric.
If your bag has straps or little loops, you can purchase clasps that attach to the purse strap and the loops, and therefore would have no need for eyelets.
You can see these clasps at the top of my first picture!
Step One: Make the bag easier to carry! I decided to add a strap:
(Supplies Needed for Step One: Bag, Key-Rings, Eyelets and Eyelet Puncher, Bag Strap)
Punch holes in the bag using the eyelet puncher. Then, thread the key-ring through the eyelets. This, in addition to it being between the zipper, creates a more sturdy hold. After this, thread the purse strap (loop-ends) through the key-ring. Repeat on the other side!
(note, the teared fabric above the eyelet was on the bag when purchased, it is not part of this process! It was on clearance for a reason haha)
Ta-da! The lap-top case is now a carry-able bag!
Step Two: Make a Pin-Trading Book to go inside the bag!
(Supplies needed for Step Two: Black Fuzzy Fabric, Starchy/Stiff White Fabric, Lining, Scissors, Sewing Machine/Needle and Thread).
Most bags have a fully-opening system, where the zipper goes around 3/4 of the bag. Unfortunately, working with a laptop case, this isn't possible! So, instead, I decided to put a home-made pin book inside.
Start with cutting a square of fabric that is a little smaller than half of the binder.
Then, cut a square of the white, starchy (stiff) fabric to put inside (if decided upon). This will help keep the "pages" from flopping all over the place:
Close the fabric-sandwhich up. But ew! Look at those edges! Time to add our lining!
Pin it on, and sew!
The page is ready to go in the book!
Step Three: Adding the Pages!
(Supplies Needed for Step Three: Binder, Eyelets and Eyelet Puncher)
This is where the eyelet puncher really comes in handy. If you don't have access to an eyelet puncher, cut holes in the fabric where the rings line up. Then, embroider around the hole to create a solid, tear-free area. The power of embroidery should not be underestimated!
Now the page is attached to the binder! It is ready to flip!
Add your traders!
Repeat this for as many pages as desired!
Step Four: Make it Safe!
(Supplies needed for Step Four: Black Fuzzy Fabric, Scissors, Hot Glue Gun)
We don't want the hard binder to scratch our pins! Time to line it with the fluffy black fabric! This will cushion our pins and make sure they do not get scratched.
Use hot-glue to smack that fabric down!
You can even cut a slit in the fabric, to gain access to the pocket! Use the pocket to store card backs, mickey heads, or whatever else you may need!
Now we're safe to close!
Step Five: Put it all together!
Now that the pin-book is done, put it in your pin-bag/pin-book-carrying-bag (thingy):
As you can see, there is still plenty of room for your phone, wallet, sunscreen, or whatever else you need to cary around the park!
Finish it up with a cute accent:
Ta-Da!! The pin bag is ready to go!!
Thank you for looking! I hope this helps at least one person out! I know I'm not the best at explaining things, so if you have any questions, I will be happy to try and re-explain!
:hug:
First of all, I hope this is the right place to post this! It's not really a discussion...but it's not a "Pin Guide" either...so I'm a little lost! If it needs to be moved, please let me know, and I will do so!

Anyways~. I am not going back to the parks for a while (hopefully by winter, but college is so very expensive!). Despite this, I still wanted a pin bag. I really liked how they looked, and wanted to have something safe and secure to store my traders in. Before this, I had them sitting inside of a box. I was terrified of them getting scratched, so I decided, its time!
The total cost of this bag was around $25. It is VERY large (probably too large!), but you can use this kind of system for any size bag!

Supplies you'll need:
Scissors, a 3-ring binder (any size), a bag (any size, mine is a Mickey laptop case!), black fuzzy fabric (or felt, or velvet, whatever floats your boat), a purse strap (can be found at a craft store), 2 key-rings, and lining. (+ Hot glue and hot glue gun, not pictured).
Supplies needed continued (these are not necessary, but recommended!):
Eyelet puncher and eyelets, starchy stiff fabric.
If your bag has straps or little loops, you can purchase clasps that attach to the purse strap and the loops, and therefore would have no need for eyelets.

Step One: Make the bag easier to carry! I decided to add a strap:
(Supplies Needed for Step One: Bag, Key-Rings, Eyelets and Eyelet Puncher, Bag Strap)
Punch holes in the bag using the eyelet puncher. Then, thread the key-ring through the eyelets. This, in addition to it being between the zipper, creates a more sturdy hold. After this, thread the purse strap (loop-ends) through the key-ring. Repeat on the other side!
(note, the teared fabric above the eyelet was on the bag when purchased, it is not part of this process! It was on clearance for a reason haha)
Ta-da! The lap-top case is now a carry-able bag!
Step Two: Make a Pin-Trading Book to go inside the bag!
(Supplies needed for Step Two: Black Fuzzy Fabric, Starchy/Stiff White Fabric, Lining, Scissors, Sewing Machine/Needle and Thread).
Most bags have a fully-opening system, where the zipper goes around 3/4 of the bag. Unfortunately, working with a laptop case, this isn't possible! So, instead, I decided to put a home-made pin book inside.
Start with cutting a square of fabric that is a little smaller than half of the binder.
Then, cut a square of the white, starchy (stiff) fabric to put inside (if decided upon). This will help keep the "pages" from flopping all over the place:
Close the fabric-sandwhich up. But ew! Look at those edges! Time to add our lining!
Pin it on, and sew!
The page is ready to go in the book!
Step Three: Adding the Pages!
(Supplies Needed for Step Three: Binder, Eyelets and Eyelet Puncher)
This is where the eyelet puncher really comes in handy. If you don't have access to an eyelet puncher, cut holes in the fabric where the rings line up. Then, embroider around the hole to create a solid, tear-free area. The power of embroidery should not be underestimated!
Now the page is attached to the binder! It is ready to flip!
Add your traders!
Repeat this for as many pages as desired!
Step Four: Make it Safe!
(Supplies needed for Step Four: Black Fuzzy Fabric, Scissors, Hot Glue Gun)
We don't want the hard binder to scratch our pins! Time to line it with the fluffy black fabric! This will cushion our pins and make sure they do not get scratched.
Use hot-glue to smack that fabric down!
You can even cut a slit in the fabric, to gain access to the pocket! Use the pocket to store card backs, mickey heads, or whatever else you may need!
Now we're safe to close!
Step Five: Put it all together!
Now that the pin-book is done, put it in your pin-bag/pin-book-carrying-bag (thingy):
As you can see, there is still plenty of room for your phone, wallet, sunscreen, or whatever else you need to cary around the park!
Finish it up with a cute accent:
Ta-Da!! The pin bag is ready to go!!
Thank you for looking! I hope this helps at least one person out! I know I'm not the best at explaining things, so if you have any questions, I will be happy to try and re-explain!
:hug: