STITCH IT: GUITAR BAG
Materials
» Fabric in 2 or 3 colors, for the body,
pickguard, and lining
» Metallic silver fabric for the bridge
and input jack
» Buttons ( 3) for the tone and volume
controls. They should match the pick-
guard fabric.
» Silver embroidery thread for the
screws
» Black webbing and strap adjuster
for the strap
» Bias tape for the single-coil pickups.
The color should match your fabric
for the pickguard.
» Small piece of interfacing about
2"× 1"
» Computer, printer, and legal-sized
paper to print out the guitar image
» Sewing machine
» Measuring tape
» Scissors
» Pins
» Tailor’s chalk
» Velcro or magnetic snap (optional)
1. Trace your pattern.
1a. Find and print an image of a Fender Stratocaster
onto legal-sized paper. Don’t include the fretboard.
You’ll use only the body shape as your pattern.
1b. Cut out the guitar shape, and then trace the
image onto your fabric. Make sure that your guitar
body, lining, and pickguard pieces mirror each other
(Figure A).
1c. Mark the highest points of the body and lining
pieces. These are the highest points of the curved
horns on each side of the fretboard of a real Fender
Strat (Figure B).
2. Create the bridge and input jack.
2a. Cut a small piece of interfacing, approximately
2"× 1". Cover this with metallic silver fabric, and pin.
Don’t sew it! This will be your bridge, and you’ll sew
it directly onto the bag (Figure C).
2b. Draw a teardrop pattern on 2 small pieces of
the same silver fabric, similar in size to your bridge.
Sew, right sides together, and turn inside out. This
teardrop piece will be your input jack (Figure D).
Set your bridge and input jack aside.
3. Sew the pickguard, bridge,
and input jack onto the guitar.
3a. Pin your pickguard pieces, right sides together
(Figure E). Sew all the way around, leaving a 2"
opening for turning it inside out. Before turning
the pickguard inside out, clip or cut around it.
This will nicely define the curves. Then turn it
right side out.
3b. Position your pickguard on the body and sew,
using the image you printed for reference (Figure F).
3c. To position the bridge and input jack, again refer
to the image you printed out. Sew them onto the
body, using matching thread (Figure G).
4. Sew the single-coil pickups.
4a. Cut three 2" strips of bias tape (Figure H).
Position them on your pickguard. They should be
aligned to the bridge, except that the bias strip
near the bridge should be slanting. Again, use your
printed image as a reference. Sew the bias strips
onto your pickguard (Figure I).
4b. Using tailor’s chalk, mark 6 points on these bias
tape strips and on your bridge. These points should
also align; they’re the pickup pole pieces and the
bridge saddles for each string. Mark another 2 points
on the opposite ends of your input jack, and the
points near the edge of the pickguard where there
are more screws (Figure J, page 122).
Embroider these points with silver thread, using
a backstitch or French knots.
5. Add tone and volume controls
and finish the body.
5a. Sew the 3 buttons onto your pickguard as the
tone and volume controls (Figure K).
5b. Sew the body pieces, right sides together,
beginning and ending at the highest points that
you marked in Step 1c (Figure L). Turn the body
inside out.
