Tarot card bag

[Emerald Sky]

Hiya guys, :)

I just wanted to tell you that yesterday my family and I were at an occult bookstore, and my two year old daughter was busying herself playing with the little basket of tarot bags that they had for sale. When it was time for us to leave she got upset b/c she wanted to keep playing with all the little bags. I was tempted to buy her one b/c she's so cool, (and I spoil her) ;) but they were very, very simple little pieces of cloth sewn together and they were charging $10. (and I was broke. ;) ) So, I told her we could make our own little bags when we got home.

So, we dug through some old clothes that we were going to send to goodwill and found a nice vpink, velour (sp?) outfit that used to be hers, that she outgrew, and used it to make our own tarot bags. I used the little flower buttons from the jacket of the outfit for decoration on the one side of the bag and the rope handles of one of those gift bag thingys as the draw string. Unfortunately, I don't have a sewing machine so I had to stitch it all together by hand. One nice thing, though, is I used the part of the jacket that had a finished hem already, so when I cut the material, I used that as the top of the bag where the drawstring goes through. KWIM?

It turned out really nice, and it has so much more meaning and energy that a store bought one b/c 1.) I made it myself and 2.) It was from an outfit that my daughter wore many, many times so her spirit and energy are in it. ;)

Anyway, I just thought it was neat and wanted to share it with all of you.

[Dagda Moon~Lily]

Okay, first thing....KWIM????<----what the??

Next, How wonderful! I've made my own tarot bags too! I do have one that I bought online that is absolutely great....and better looking than mine...(I'm not much of a sewing type person though I love the thought of it!)...but I tend to use mine more....go figure! The one I bought online, I got a matching laycloth with it. Both are wonderful! I can wrap my cards in my laycloth and then put them in the bag. All my bags and laycloths are of celestial designs....but nothing TOO distracting!! ;)

[Emerald Sky]

Know what I mean.

[Dagda Moon~Lily]

Okay.....blonde gets it now! :D

[Vinga]

I've made a couple of bags from some scrap material I had, but neither of them turned out very well. Oh well, it was a learning experience and if I try it again I think I have figured out how to do it this time...

[Dagda Moon~Lily]

Vinga,

That is the reason why I ordered one on-line. It showed me what I had to do. (And that way, if my bags didn't turn out, I'd still have a good one! :))

Oh, and for those of you who don't know, the pirate smilie is now working! Just have to apirate between the two colons! :D

:apirate:

[Hestia]

That's great Emerald Sky! And I bet your daughter probably had more fun watching you make it than if you had just purchased one. I love making all sorts of little bags too. I've made pouches for my crystals and bigger bags to use at the ren faires I go to. I usually go digging through the remnant pile at discount fabric places, especially in the upholstery and drapery sections. Sometimes I'll just recycle the fabric I used to re-cover my dinning room chairs, throw pillows and old costumes, lol! I also like to use old (and sometimes new) earrings to decorate the bags. The kinds with the post are great and when you get bored with one just switch to a different pair. :)

[loopy]

Wow, wish I had that kind of sewing talent! (Or any kind of sewing talent. Not for the girl who bribed her best friend to sew her home-ec final project blanket for her, though ;) ) My bag's store-bought as well--it was a present from my mother, and it's this really beautiful velvety reddish/cranberry-ish color with a golden sun and gold drawstrings. I was surprised that my mom picked out one that I really really love, especially because the reddish hues are more her thing than mine.

[tarotbear]

Decent fabric is not that expensive when you need a whole 1/4 yard of it to make a Tarot bag; that is why I cringe when I see eBay selling nothing, plain bags for $5 each! Haunt your fabric shop and find some cool stuff and make it yourself! (Remember, for those who don't sew -they do make fusible tapes that join fabric with a hot iron!)

[SnowStar]

I made mine from scraps of black satin from my chorus uniform. All too appropriate since I *do* love to sing. I then sewed little glass beads around the top...its a little crooked since I can't sew in a straight line to save my life but its still pretty. I didn't have enough fabric to make it big enough to have a drawstring, though, so I took an old mother of pearl button from an antique button collection that my grandma gave me and my sister and used that to keep it closed. Hey, innovation is my middle name! (ok, not really, but you know what I mean :))

Music and Magic,
SnowStar

[Dagda Moon~Lily]

Hi SnowStar,

Welcome to our forums! I think it was great that you incorporated your passion with something like a family heirloom! Things like that always have more meaning to you than something you just go out and purchase!

(I can't handsew straight either!) :crazy:

:D

[Silver Venus]

Originally posted by Emerald Sky

It turned out really nice, and it has so much more meaning and energy that a store bought one b/c 1.) I made it myself and 2.) It was from an outfit that my daughter wore many, many times so her spirit and energy are in it. ;)


Right on!!! :D I made one myself a few months back and love it to bits!
Thats also a really brilliant idea Emerald!! Im rushing to look which clothes I can spare to make some up for two of my friends brithdays which are coming up next month!!
I hope your daughter is loving her new bag!!

~ On the sewing front ~ Im terrible too :p ~ But Ive just recently discovered that its really easy to make up cushions from old Jumpers ~ so now that Summer is on the way why dont you recycle your jumpers and make cushions for your gardens or homes!! I made a few last week from an old pink jumper and they look lovely sat on my sofa :D

[tarotbear]

Fortunately, I CAN sew a straight line- I used to quilt in a former life... Remember if you make it it has your energy in it. As long as you like how it looks that's all that matters, not trying to win any design awards!

[Indigo Skye]

I sew all my own tarot bags. They look just like the ones you see on e bay with the home dec. chord. Except I don't know how to hem and finish the drawstring opening perfect. So I just leave the fabric around the little opening unhemmed. But they close just fine and are fine for my purposes. I got a new deck a few weeks ago that didn't come with a bag or box. It was the Sharmin-Castelli deck. Then I decided I wasn't satisfied with about 6 of my other bags. I ended up spending all day sewing tarot bags. They came out great and I love them and really enjoyed myself too. I have a sewing machine and tarot bags are the only things I've ever sewed on a machine! ( except for hemming and repairing seams on clothing) . The bags are beautiful too, one looks just like an indigo sky! :bubbles: It houses the "rock and roll tarot" and is small just to fit that deck. I once worked in a fabric store and have a Large fabric collection that hogs half my closet! Lately I've been looking at quilt making books just for enjoyment. I loved collecting fabric almost as much as tarot! Have never made a quilt. But perhaps someday. I've always wanted to take a real sewing class too, like at one of those fabric stores. Maybe someday when I have a lot of time and motivation , I'll make a Simple quilt. Just squares. Some of those quilts look incredibly complicated to make. But back to the tarot bags. They're easy to make. And real velvet is surprisingly easy to work with. But satin (or faux satin lining) is a bit difficult b'cause it's slick.

[Witchy Cowgirl]

I sew. Up until a few years ago I made all our western shirts and made Hubby's ribbon shirts for the PowWow's.
Then we moved and I had no place to set-up my machine.:(

I want a tarot bag....ever since MoonOwl PM'd me with a site that sells bags. She found one that had horses on it! :D My mama-in-law is a stremstress extrodinar! (My spelling is probably off)
The third level of her house if filled with material - some of it with horses. Guess what I'm gonna ask her to make for my birthday?;)

[tarotbear]

Indigo-- does your sewing machine make buttonholes?

If you are going to turn the top edge of the bag down one inch to make a channel for the cord(s), you could make a smallish buttonhole an inch and a half down ( or 2 inches down), cut the buttonhole open, then fold the top edge down and sew it, leaving the buttonholes on the outside. That way you have a finished channel to thread the cord through. I like to make two buttonholes one on each side, and thread two cords through, one out each buttonhole. That way you pull both ends and the bag 'purses' closed!

[Storm]

Excellent. By the way. What are the dimensions of the bags ya'll are makin. Do they fit the cards snuggly? I have heard you need natural fabric. Why? I have lots of leftovers from bridesmaid gowns and I know they are moslty polys.

[tarotbear]

Hi storm!

This 'natural fibre' stuff gets a little exposure in the 'CRUSHING Tarot Absolutes' thread if you want to check it out. 'Natural' is always considered 'better' since it had to come from a living thing, not a chemical soup like the stuff they made old leisure suits out of. Of course, some old leisure suits would probably make the deck bulletproof, which a cotton or rayon won't do. {Remember - true rayon is a man-made natural fibre}

[Witchy Cowgirl]

Originally posted by Storm
. What are the dimensions of the bags ya'll are makin. Do they fit the cards snuggly?

Yeah, what are the dimensions ya'll used. Mama-in-Law said she'd gladly make a bag for my card (for my birthday) if I'd just get her some dimensions.:)

[tarotbear]

It has to be large enough so that if you wrap the deck the wrapping still fits, or like in my case I have a crystal point wrapped up in the bag, too.

My general purpose tarot bag (made from leftover cotton fabric from my wizard costume) flattened out measures 5 1/2 inches by 8 inches. That gives me room to slide the deck in and gives the drawstrings enough ease to close the top of the bag.

{My bag also has a flat bottom with square corners, but I figure that would frighten the sewing challenged so i won't mention it}

[Lavender]

This makes a great bag for your cards because it's doubled...giving them a bit more protection. You can adjust this to just about any size. I make a lot of them to put gifts in...hate using wraping paper.

Measure your tarot cards and add 1½" to sides and bottom. Add 2 inches for top. This will give you plenty of room for seams and extra spaces.

Take the length and double it. Cut 2 pieces of fabric using the width and the new length. You can use 2 different colours if you like.

Place the two pieces together, right sides in. Mark the centre of the pieces, lengthwise. Use ½" for seam allowance. Mark along one seam ¾" from centre. Sew around until you reach ¾" from the other side's centre point. Stop...at no point do you sew OVER the centre line. Do the same for the other side. You will now have a pillowcase bag with 2 openings on each side.

Carefully turn the bag right side out, easing the bag through from one of the openings. Open the bag in such a way that the outside fabric is forming one bag and the lining fabric is forming another bag. Both are attached at the top. Push the lining bag inside the outside bag. If you like, you can handstitch the seams inside the openings to keep them from popping out. Stitch along the top of the bag, just a little under ¾" from top, through both the outside and lining of bag. This will form the casing for your drawstring.

Cut 2 pieces of cord...as long as you like but at least 2x the width of the bag. Thread one through from left to right and back again, coming out the same hole. Tie off. Do the other side, going from right to left. Using the double cords will keep your bag closed nicely.

[Witchy Cowgirl]

not for my birthday but for Christmas!:boing:
Mama-in-law made it.
It's made of deer shin and has a shoulder strap. On the flap is two conchos with fringe. Some of the fringe has glass beads. It's beautiful! She's great! Now if I could just get my hands on the Tarot of the Southwest - that would be perfect!

[Flaire-FireStar]

oooooooh! That sounds pretty, WC. :)



I have to make myself a new one (:rolleyes: RW deck was so much happier in the bag I made it before..... )