Ditty Bag Pattern

With optional external cargo pockets

BY RAY COX
Material List
1 yard of 12oz. or heavier weight cotton duck canvas (if you want to make a two color bag, like the
one pictured, you'll want 1 yard of each color)
120 ft. of waxed sail twine
50 ft. of cotton cord, for a lanyard

Tools
Mechanical pencil, or erasable/washable fabric marking pen
Sailmakers needles (W. Smith and Sons makes excellent needles)
Seaming palm
Seam rubber
Beeswax
Sailmaker's hook
Fid, for shaping grommets
Marlin spike or wire loop for use in constructing your lanyard
Optional: Clover Wonder Clips

Suppliers
Note: Many of the materials and tools are quite niche, but all are commercially available. Here are
the suppliers that I have used to purchase materials and tools for making ditty bags in early 2017.
Most are in the US, though M Snellman Ropeworks is in the Åland Islands and MiG Custom Tool Maker
is in Australia. Facebook is a great resource for locating suppliers in other parts of the world.
Big Duck Canvas (https://www.bigduckcanvas.com) has the best selection of canvas in weights
and colors that I've found.
Duck Works Boat Builders Supply (http://www.duckworksbbs.com) has sail twine, needles, palms,
and bees wax.
Sailrite (http://www.sailrite.com/) has sail twine, palms, and needles,
M Snellman Ropeworks (https://www.facebook.com/pg/MSnellmanRopeworks2/shop) has amazing
hard laid cotton cord. Mikko also makes a "scorpion tail" sailmaker's hook. If you are going to buy a
sailmaker's hook, his is the one you want.
Martin Combs (http://www.angelfire.com/ak/skateworld/index.html) has great cotton cord and
numerous highly recommended knotting books.
Consolidated Thread Mills
(http://www.consolidatedthreadmills.com/consolidatedthread_mills_002.htm) has sail twine in
various colors. You will need to call to place your order. If you need to, leave a message. They will
get back to you.

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Taylor Rose Historical Outfitters (http://www.taylorrosehistorical.com/home) has seam rubbers and
fids.
MiG Custom Tool Markers (http://www.mig-shed.com) makes my favorite marlin spikes (formerly
Rhino Ropework).
eBay (http://www.ebay.com) is another source for colored sail twine.
Amazon (http://www.amazon.com) has twine, palms, needles, and Clover Wonder Clips.
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) get involved with some of the nautical fancywork and fancy
knotwork groups. You'll find many skilled makers of materials and tools there.

Additional Resources
The instructions in this pattern are far from complete. I have found the following resources to be most
instructive and helpful in designing and executing my first couple of ditty bags.
• The Sailmaker's Apprentice, by Emiliano Marino (Chapter 1, A Ditty Bag Apprenticeship, walks
the reader through creating a more complex ditty bag than this one.)
• The Ditty Bag Book: A Guide for Sailors, by Frank Rosenow
• The Arts of the Sailor: Knotting, Splicing, and Ropework, by Hervey Garret Smith (Chapter
XXIV, The Sailor's Ditty Bag, leads the reader through completing a simple ditty bag, including
creating a handsome lanyard)
• The Nautical Fancywork. Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1414925178797185/

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Getting Started
This pattern is for a canvas ditty bag that is 14 inches tall and 24 inches in circumference (approx. 7½
inches in diameter). It is not difficult to adjust the pattern to make bags of other dimensions.
Instructions for doing so appear at the end.
It is strongly recommended to carefully mark all borders and fold lines onto the canvas before
cutting. Use a mechanical pencil or a washable fabric marking pen of contrasting color.
Use the selvedge edge of the canvas for the top edges of the cylinder and the optional pockets. If
your canvas does not have a selvedge edge, add an additional ½ inch seam allowance which will
be folded under before the edge is stitched. This is to prevent the raw edge from fraying.

The Cylinder

Fold the left-hand side seam allowance (½" fold) toward the inside and use a seam rubber to press
the edge. Fold the right-hand side seam allowance toward the outside and press similarly.
Form into a cylinder, overlapping the left and right 1" tabling and stitch using a flat stitch. Then turn
the cylinder inside out and stitch the inside tabling using a flat stitch.

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The Pockets, Part I (optional)
Note: If you do not wish to add the optional external cargo pockets, skip to The Bottom.

Fold the top seam towards the inside and press. Stitch the top seam using a sticking or running stitch.
Fold the left side seam toward the inside and press. Repeat so that the raw edge is completely
covered. Stitch the side seam using a sticking or running stitch. Repeat for the right side seam.
For this section, you need to envision the canvas as a series of four expandable, accordion-fold
cargo pockets. For each pair of 1" accordion folds, fold the left-hand side fold line until it meets the
center fold line and press. The canvas will form a V with the point to the left of the center fold line.
Fold the right-hand side fold line until it meets the center fold line and press. This time the V will point
to the right of the center fold line. Fold the farthest left and farthest right 1" accordion fold as if the
outside fold line were the center fold line, and press.
I recommend using small clips (like the Clover Wonder Clip) or temporary stitches to hold the
accordion folds in place along the bottom. It is also helpful to do the same along the top.

The Bottom
Note: In my experience, fitting the bottom is the most difficult part. You have no doubt noted the 1"
seam allowance on the bottom. All other pieces use ½" seam allowances. This is to give you some
"wiggle room" when fitting the bottom. If you need it, use it.
Fold the bottom along the inner fold line and press. Do this in small increments as you progress
around the circle. Pressing the bottom firmly will aid you greatly as you stitch the bottom to the
cylinder.
With the bag still turned inside out, fold and press the ½" bottom seam toward the outside of the
cylinder.
If you are adding the optional external cargo pockets, place them inside the cylinder with the inside
of the pockets facing toward the cylinder. You'll want to center the cylinder's 1" tabling seam inside
one of the pockets.
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 The pocket's ½" bottom seam
allowance should overlap the
cylinder's bottom seam allowance.
You have the pockets correct if
the bottom of the cylinder is
entirely encased in the bottom
seam of the pockets.
The bottom piece is positioned so
that the 1" seam allowance is on
the outside of the (inside out) bag.
You have the bottom correct if
you can see the seam allowance
folded back toward the center of
the bottom.
Note: I have found that using
several small clips (like the Clover
Wonder Clip) or temporary stitches
to rough fit the bottom to the
cylinder before stitching is very
helpful.
Use a round stitch to stitch through
all layers (six, with pockets, four
otherwise) and connect the
bottom, and pockets, to the
cylinder. Pay close attention to
ensure that the folded and
pressed edges of the cylinder (and pockets) and the bottom line up properly for each stitch.
If you are adding pockets, you will likely have an easier time stitching from the outside of the cylinder
and exiting through the bottom. This will give you better control over how precisely the accordion
folds are stitched.

The Pockets, Part II (optional)

Note: If you do not wish to add the optional external cargo pockets, skip to The Grommets.
Once the bottom is stitched in place, it's time to complete the pockets. Turn the bag right side out.
The center fold line of each accordion fold should be stitched to the cylinder. For the three "inside"
folds, use a sticking or running stitch. Reinforce the stitching on the top seam.
For the two ends, use a round stitch to join the two ends and to stitch them to the cylinder.

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The Grommets
Turn the bag inside out. Fold and press the 1½" rolled tabling seam toward the outside of the
cylinder. Stitch using a flat stitch.
With the body of the bag stitched, it is time to add the grommets. These should be evenly spaced,
top to bottom, between the top edge of the bag and the bottom of the 1 ½" rolled tabling seam
(i.e., ¾" from the top).
To calculate the distance to space them horizontally, divide the circumference of the bag by the
number of grommets. To add 6 grommets to the original pattern size, space them every 24" ÷ 6, or 4".
For a 36" circumference bag with 8 grommets, place them every 36" ÷ 8, or 4½".
You'll want to avoid any grommets overlapping the tabling seam, so begin marking the grommet
locations by moving to the right of the tabling seam approximately ½ of the distance between
grommets. So, for 4" spaced grommets, begin 2" from the center of the tabling seam. This should
result in grommets spaced evenly on either side of it.

Resizing the Pattern

Resizing each piece is straightforward, although the bottom requires a little basic geometry.

The Cylinder
To alter the height, replace the 14" with your desired height. The 1½" tabling and ½" seam allowance
remain unchanged.
To alter the circumference, replace the 23" with your desired circumference, minus 1". So, if you
want a 36" circumference, replace the 23" with 36" – 1", which is 35". The 1" tabling and ½" seam
allowances remain unchanged.

The Bottom
To alter the diameter, replace the 7.63" with your desired circumference divided by π (pi). So, if you
want your cylinder to have a 36" circumference, replace the 7.63 with 36" ÷ π, which is 11.46".
Adding 2 × the 1" seam allowance gives you a final diameter of 13.46" The 1" seam allowances
remain unchanged.
To calculate the radius, replace the 4.81" with the previously calculated diameter ÷ 2. For the 36"
example, divide the 13.46" diameter by 2, which is 6.73".

The Pockets
To alter the pockets height, replace the 7" height with ½ × the finished height of the bag. For
example, for a finished height of 18", the 7" would be replaced with 9". The top and bottom ½" seam
allowances remain unchanged.
To alter the pockets width, replace each 6" with the desired circumference ÷ 4. For the 36" example,
each 6" would be replaced with 36" ÷ 4, which is 9". The 1" accordion folds and ½" seam allowances
remain unchanged.