June 2025: As you may be aware (if you’ve ended up on this page) Nat from Sew Outnumbered no longer has an active blog. She has kindly given permission for me to post the Scooter Buddy instructions here. You can find them at the bottom of this post.

I’ve been wanting to make a little bag to go on Roman’s scooter for ages, so when Natalie from Sew Outnumbered asked me to join the tour for her new tutorial, it was an easy yes! Roman is always carrying trains or crayons or pegs (why?!) or his Peter Rabbit and he was very excited when I told him he’d be able to carry stuff around on the scooter now.

The tutorial has you cut your three main fabrics and then cut these up into smaller pieces, so you can actually use some smaller scraps for a lot of it rather than needing pieces of fabric as big as what is listed in the tutorial. I’m always using up my scraps if I can. It comes together quite quickly, but the engineer in me did mean I made a few changes. Roman isn’t great with elastic pockets, so I put some boning in the edge of the pocket instead. It makes it stick out a little and gives it a nice sturdy edge.

I knew he’d want to carry lots of things in there so I added a flat base instead of shaping the sides like the tutorial. To do this, I kept the sides in their original rectangle shape (instead of trimming the diagonals) and then cut an oval template to fit the bottom. I cut 2 layers of fabric the size of the oval plus seam allowance. I also cut some stiff interfacing the size of the oval and sandwiched it in the middle. Then I stitched it all into the base.

I used snaps on the straps because I hate sewing with velcro. I can never get it nice and then it always sticks to things you don’t want it to. This is such a cute and quick little project.  I love how this makes the scooter all that more useful. It also means Roman’s not trying to hold things in his hands while he’s using it, so that makes me happy too.

Scooter Buddy Tour Line Up:

• Monday 8 September – Things for Boys
• Tuesday 9 September – Hunting for Ladybugs
• Wednesday 10 September – Serger Pepper
• Thursday 11 September – Friends Stitched Together
• Friday 12 September – Threading My Way
• Saturday 13 September – Bluebird & The Boy

The Sewoutnumbered Scooter Buddy (Original instructions)

Supplies:
Fabric:
Heavy weight fabric (i.e. denim, cord, duck/canvas) for outer back piece: Cut 8”(w) x 14”(l)
Medium weight fabric (i.e. quilting cotton) for outer front pieces: Cut 8”(w) x 17”(l) and 5”(w) x 8”(l)
Medium weight fabric (i.e. quilting cotton) for lining (can be same as outer front piece): Cut 8”(w) x 19”(l).

Other:
Medium or heavy weight adhesive (iron-on) interfacing: Cut 8”(w) x 12”(l)
1” wide Velcro (3 x 1 1/2” pieces)
7” zipper
1/4” elastic: cut 8”(l) piece

Cut and prepare fabric:
Outer back piece (heavy weight fabric):
First, mark a horizontal line 2” from the top edge. Cut along this line.
Next, adhere the iron on interfacing to the large outer back piece.

Outer front piece:
On the 8”wide piece, mark a horizontal line 8” from the top edge.
Cut along this line.
Take the 8”x8” piece and mark a vertical line down the centre (at 4” across).
Cut along this line. These are your top straps.
On the 5” wide piece, mark a line 4” from the top edge.
Cut along this line. These are your side straps.

Lining:
Mark a horizontal line 1” from the top edge.
Mark a horizontal line 2” from this first line.
Mark a horizontal line 4” from this next line.
Cut along all lines.

SEWING INSTRUCTIONS

Sew Straps:
Choose one of the strap pieces and fold on the long side, right sides together.
Sew along one short edge and the unfolded long edge, leaving one short edge open.
Clip the corners, turn right side out and press.
(optional) Top stitch along the three edges.
Repeat for the other three straps.

Sew Pocket:
Take the 8”x1” piece of fabric for the zipper ends and press the short ends under by 1/4″.
Cut this piece in half down the middle so you have two pieces, each with one pressed end.
Align folded edge of one piece with one end of the zipper and straight stitch across.
Repeat for the other side.
Trim excess fabric down to approx. 1 1/2”.

Take the two pocket fabric pieces and finish the edges along the 8” edges. (one edge for the small piece, both edges for larger piece).

Sew on the zipper by aligning a finished edge of one of the pocket pieces with the raw edge of the zipper, right sides together. Pin in place or secure using a basting tape (like WonderTape).
Using the zipper foot on your machine, stitch as close to the edge of the zipper as possible, stopping and moving the zipper pull out of the way as you reach it.
Press this seam and top stitch from the right side.
Repeat with the other side of the zipper and the other pocket piece.

Mark your lining piece by drawing a horizontal line 4 1/2” from the top edge.
Align the bottom edge of the pocket piece, face down along this line and sew across with a 3/8” seam allowance.
Fold the pocket piece up and press.
Baste around the other edges of the pocket using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Prepare front piece:
Take the 2” outer back piece of fabric and sew to the bottom of the front outer fabric, right sides together, using a 3/8” seam allowance.
Finish the edges of this seam and press.

Next, press the top edge of the outer front fabric down by 1/2” and then 1/2″ again.
Sew from the front using a 3/8” seam allowance.
Take the 8” piece of 1/4″ elastic and thread through this casing using a safety pin to guide it.
Once the end of the elastic reaches the entrance hole, sew the elastic in place, using a 1/4″ seam allowance and sewing back and forth a couple of times for strength.
Pull your elastic through the other end so that 3” pokes out and sew in place at the exit hole, using a 1/4″ seam allowance and sewing back and forth a couple of times for strength.
Trim the excess elastic.

Sew it all together:
Lay the lining/pocket piece right side up on the table and place the outer front (elasticated) piece on top, also with the right side up.
Place the outer back piece on top right side down.
Mark the bottom edge 2” in from each side.
Mark both sides 6” from the bottom.
Join these points together to form a diagonal line and cut along this line.
Move the outer back piece to the side for a moment.

Place the top straps 1 ½” from the side, aligning the raw edges with the top raw edge of the lining.
Place the side straps 2” from the bottom edge, aligning the raw edges with the side raw edge of the lining and outer front pieces.
Place the outer back piece back on top again, with the right side facing down.

Pin together. I found it easier to pin just one side of the elastic to begin with. Once you’ve sewn one side, you can then pull the other side over as you approach sewing the second side.

Sew together using a ½” seam allowance. Take care when approaching the unpinned side of the elastic casing, pulling it over so the raw edges align.
Remember to leave an opening for turning.

Box the bottom corners:
Press the bottom and side seam allowances flat (or just press open with your fingers).
Squeeze the bottom and adjacent side seam allowances together and pin so they form a point.
Mark a line 3/8” from the edge of the point. The line should be 1” long.
Sew along this line and then clip off the excess.
Turn right side out.

Handstitch the hole closed.
Attach Velcro to the straps or use snaps if preferred.
Finished!!