DIY Dance Prop Bag for sword, cane, wings (attachable to suitcase!) – Your Sparkly Wardrobe Week 8

Welcome back to week 8 – the last week of Your Sparkly Wardrobe Project, a series where you get fresh costuming ideas for belly dancing so you get more out of costumes that you already have. 😀

In week 7 of Your Sparkly Wardrobe, Mahin showed how to properly store your costumes and safely transport costumes when you travel. It was packed with useful info, so I highly recommend you check it out here.

Now this week, I’m going to continue with the traveling theme, and show you how to make a bag to carry your props like a sword, cane and wings!

This was actually requested by Mahin, and it’s a great idea because our props are often awkwardly shaped, and carrying props and costumes from your car into backstage without messing up your hair and breaking into sweat is quite a challenge. So in this video, you’ll see how to make this nice, clean-looking prop bag complete with cute tassels. Let’s get started!

Watch in video:

Get the FREE DIY Dance Prop Bag Cheatsheet here!

To make this prop bag, you need:

Faux leather – You can use other fabric for outer layer, but I picked faux leather for this project because it’s nice and sturdy and protects your props from rain. You’ll need 1m (1yd) of this. (If faux leather is not your thing, see the alternative option at the end of this post.)

Felt – Get about 1m (1yd) of felt that comes in rolls.

Cord – I’m using about 3/8in (8mm) thick cord. You’ll need about 1m (1yd).

Velcro – I’m using 2cm (3/4in) wide velcro. You’ll need about 20in (50cm).

Matching colour thread

Fabric glue – for making the tassel

Safety pin

Regular sewing tools (See Resources page for my recommended tools)

Also it’s very helpful to have a walking foot (affiliate) for sewing faux leather.

DIY Dance Prop Bag

First, when Mahin suggested a DIY prop bag for this series, she had a few specific requirements:

1. The bag is good for carrying a prop sword in – which means the bag needs to be sturdy on the inside too so the sword won’t poke out!
2. No zipper – because sewing on zipper makes the project more difficult to do
3. Attachable to the suitcase handle – so that you can have your costumes in your suitcase and the prop bag on top of the suitcase and have one of your hands free.

It’s so clever, and makes sense, right? 😉

And it was really challenging for me to design a bag that meets these requirements, but after brainstorming for a few hours, this is what I came up with. Well, let’s see how I did!

First I planned the bag to be 10in x 39.5in (25cm x 100cm), which I determined would be large enough to accommodate most swords, folded wings and canes. If your prop is longer, adjust accordingly. So cut the faux leather and felt in these dimensions:

• 22.5in x 40in (57cm x 102cm) faux leather
• 6.5in x (width of your suitcase handle + 2in) (16cm x (width of your suitcase handle + 5cm)) faux leather
• 2 of 2in x 20in (5cm x 50cm) faux leather
• 18.5in x 40in (47cm x 102cm) felt
• 5in x 9in (12cm x 22cm) felt

Take the small rectangular piece of felt, and fold the top edge over about 1/2in (1cm). Do a straight stitch to keep it in place.

Then place it on the larger piece of felt, so that the right top corner of the piece is 2in (5cm) from the top and 16in (40cm) from the side. 

For the sides and the bottom edge, fold in 1/2in (1cm) toward the inside and hold it with pins. Go around the 3 sides with a straight stitch with a 1/4in (5mm) seam allowance. This will be a pocket on the inside of the bag, so you can keep small things like zills, keys and your phone in here.

Next fold this felt piece in half lengthwise, right sides together, and sew the 2 short ends with a 1/2in (1cm) seam allowance. Trim the seam allowance down to about 1/4in (5mm) and flip it inside out so you see the pocket on the outside.

Now we take the large faux leather piece and velcro. Cut velcro into 3 sets of 4in (10cm) long pieces.

Place them along the long edge, about 1/2in (1.2cm) from the edge. Place one in the centre, and the other two pieces from 8.5in (22 cm) from the edge. Place the corresponding parts along the other edge, and sew them all in place by doing a straight stitch all around each piece at 1/16in (1mm) from the edge. When you deal with faux leather, it’s best not to use pins because pins leave holes on the material. Wherever possible, use clips like these Clover wonder clips (affiliate). They are some of my most favourite sewing tools 😀 

Take the smaller rectangle piece, and cut velcro into a 6in (15cm) strip. Place one side of velcro right in the centre of the small rectangle piece, and stitch along the edges with a 1/16in (1mm) seam allowance.

Then take the corresponding piece of velcro, and place it right in the centre of the large rectangle and 3in (7.5cm) from the top. Mark where the corners are with a marker, and sew it in place. Here you can use pins as long as they stay within the outline of the velcro piece.

Match up the velcro, and fold the short ends of the small rectangle leather piece about 3/4in (2cm) from the edge.

Sew it down at about 1/2in (1cm) seam allowance. As mentioned earlier, it helps to have a walking foot when you sew faux leather. Also, I like to use a longer stitch length than usual for a more professional-looking finish. I’m using 3.5 here.

I’m going to call this small rectangle piece a sleeve which we’ll use to attach the bag to the suitcase. 🙂

Next fold it in half lengthwise, and do a straight stitch along the sides with a 1/2in (1cm) seam allowance. Trim the seam allowance down to about 1/4in (5mm).

Now place the felt lining inside the leather exterior, so the right sides are facing each other, and the inside pocket is facing the side of leather without the sleeve. Align the top edges, and sew along the top with a 3/8in (1cm) seam allowance, just under 1/2in. And leave a 6in (15cm) opening.

From the opening, turn the whole thing inside out. Make sure the corners of the leather piece are nice and sharp, then push the felt lining inside, sliding the top of the leather part inside too about 1in (2.5cm). This creates a nice clean edge at the top of the bag, and the velcro will end up on the inside of the bag.

Now we’ll do a top stitch at 1/8in (2mm) from the edge of the felt on the inside and fold in the opening as you sew it shut. Again, I’m using 3.5mm stitch length here.

Then do another top stitch at 1/4in (5mm) from the folded edge all the way around.

It looks like a bag now! Now we’ll make handles. I want to make sturdy handles for our heavy props, so I’m going to make corded handles. Take the long pieces of faux leather and the cord. Cut the cord into 2 16.5in (42cm) pieces.

Place a piece of cord in the middle of the long leather piece on the wrong side, and fold over. See where you need to sew according to the size of your cord in order to keep it in there nice and snug. Take the cord out, and starting at 1.5 in (4cm) from the end, sew the piece into a tube. Also leave 1.5in at the end. Do the same with the other long piece.

Then thread the cord through the tube using a safety pin.

And trim the seam allowance down to 1/4in (5mm).

Open up the end of the handle and place the bottom of it at about 2in (5cm) from the top of the bag, and the edge at 2in (5cm) from the centre velcro. Place the other end the same way. Open up the end, and shape it into a triangle, and do a straight stitch along the edge with a 1/8in (2mm) seam allowance. It’s a bit tricky to sew, so take your time, and repeat for the other handle.

Now the prop bag is complete!

Lastly, I just took scrap fabric to make a cute tassel to add to the bag. Cut a 4in x 5.5in (10cm x 14cm) rectangle, a 1in x 4in (2.5cm x 10cm) rectangle, and a 1/4in x 12in (0.5cm x 30cm) strip.

Take the largest rectangle, and draw a line at 1in (2.5cm) from the shorter end on the wrong side. Then cut in a straight line from the bottom to the line at 1/4in (5mm) interval.

Put a little fabric glue at the end, and place the ends of the long, narrow strip together at the end. Then put fabric glue in the rest of the solid section, and roll up the piece tightly. Once you reach the end, hold it for a minute or so until it sticks.

Take the small rectangle piece, put fabric glue on it and wrap it once and cut the excess, leaving just enough for small overlap. Secure the overlapping part with fabric glue, and it’s finished!

And now you have a cute, prop bag to carry your long, awkward props like cane, sword or wings. Put your zills, keys or your phone into the small pocket on the inside, and the felt lining will keep your props safe. I put my cane and DIY wings, and there’s still some room. The faux leather finish will protect your props from water and dust.

And remember the sleeve we attached? You can slip the suitcase handle through the sleeve, and secure it with velcro which will keep the bag stay on your suitcase handle without turning around, so you can roll your costumes and prop bag all in one into backstage.

It may seem a bit more complex than my regular DIYs but if you follow it step by step, it’s quite straight forward. 🙂

If faux leather is too difficult to sew, canvas would be a good, sturdy alternative. You don’t need a walking foot for sewing canvas.

Either way, this bag will last you a long time, and it’ll make traveling with props much easier!

Hope you liked this DIY prop bag! If you did, please share it with your dancer friends. Since this was a relatively long tutorial, I’ve put together a cheatsheet for you that you can refer to later. It’s like a recipe you can print out, so you don’t have to search and read the entire tutorial again.

Get the FREE DIY Dance Prop Bag Cheatsheet here!

Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling! 😀

Like what you read? Want to make more costuming bits yourself?

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P.S. Pin this image for making it this weekend 😉