How to Sew a Sailboat Blade Bag

A blade bag keeps your sailboat’s rudder, tiller and dagger protected and conveniently stored in a carrying case. This sailboat blade bag has enough pockets and room to hold both blades and also the tiller. There’s a fourth pocket for accessories. In our video, we’re sewing a blade bag for a laser sailboat. This is a standard size, one-design class of small sailing dinghy. However, we include downloadable pattern templates not only for the laser size but also for other standard size sailboats.

Some excellent features of our blade bag include: velcro closures for the four pockets, high-quality marine canvas fabric and the accessories pocket has a mesh fabric bottom to allow for draining and ventilation. The best part of our blade bag design is that the size can be modified to fit any sailboat.

Once you cut out your pattern pieces using the downloadable pattern template below, you’ll baste the pieces together before sewing your panels. Basting tape is a lifesaver for adhering panels together. Use Seamstick Basting Tape for Canvas (#129) to adhere the panels at your work station before taking the assembly over to the sewing machine. There are no pins to remove and the basting tape has a strong hold and own’t slip.

To sew your bag, you’ll need a sewing machine that can power through layers of fabric, velcro and webbing. Sailrite^® carries a full line of branded sewing machines that can handle your toughest jobs. The Sailrite^® Ultrafeed^® LSZ Walking Foot Sewing Machine is a great choice for your canvas, sail and upholstery sewing needs.

Blade Bag Pattern for Laser Sailboats

Blade Bag Pattern for Other Sailboats

Our laser sailboat blade bag includes both a shoulder strap and handle so you can carry it whichever way is most comfortable for you. Be sure to let us know if you have any questions while sewing your blade bag. We hope this video tutorial has been useful and educational. Be sure to check out our other bag DIYs including duffle bags, tote bags, backpacks and more. We even have bag kits to make it even easier to sew it yourself!