#itabag insert

[7015otaku]

I finally finished my new Messmer themed insert for my itabag!! 🥹 The order for the remaining badge arrived today and I get to hold these beautiful badges in my hand 🥹 They look even more stunning in person.

I also bought some artprints from these artists (DUOJ_ji and KIKIhuihui) and the quality is out of this world.

Here are some WIP/BTS photos of making the actual board :D

The materials I started out with. I designed the board digitally and it helped me a lot in planning the materials and layout.

I used the glue gun for everything as it's very convenient for me. I actually wanted a slightly darker red for this ribbon so the ribbon for the winged snake which I'll add on top can pop more, but they only have this one.

Finished making the snake, added the wings and intertwining it with the gold chain. During the design process I contemplated a lot weather if I should add the gold chain or the silver. I decided to go eith gold chain as it would fit his lore better 🥹 Chained and imprisoned by his duty.

For the badge holder, I tried gluing each ribbon layer by layer but it doesn't work, the shape came out too wobbly so I figured I should glue the ribbons first then assemble them on the felt.

The finished piece looks like this.

Glue them on the board and it's done :D I had to redo the magnet part because 1 isn't balanced enough so I made each has 2 magnets one on the top and one on the bottom to better secure the badges.

And here it is in all its glory 🥹 I'm so proud of it

[fmaitabag]

haha i lied, i couldn’t wait to put my itabag insert together and put everything on it. i think it turned out okay!! :D

collection page

here’s a tutorial on how i did it:

You will need:

1 piece of craft foam (bigger than the size of your bag)

1 fat quarter of fabric (or a piece of fabric bigger than your bag)

1 small package of velcro dots

1 roll of transparent thread, fishing line, or nylon monofilament (optional)

scissors, hot glue, clothes iron (optional)

Step 1: Cut the craft foam to the size of your itabag. Make sure it fits inside the bag. It doesn’t have to be pretty, as you’ll be covering it with fabric.

Step 2 (optional): Iron your fabric if you can, to get out the creases. This will make it look better and will be easier to work with.

Step 3: Trace the shape of your foam onto your piece of fabric, but make it an inch or two bigger. This will give you room to hot glue it on the back.

Step 4: Hot glue the fabric to your piece of foam. Lay your foam down on top of the fabric (good/patterned side down), and fold the fabric over onto the back of the foam and hot glue it down. Start along a straight edge, and then work around the corners as best you can. Let it dry completely. It doesn’t have to look pretty, it’s on the back and won’t be seen.

Step 5: Put your insert into your bag, and attach the velcro dots to the inside of the bag as well as the back of the insert. This will help keep it in place. Hot glue the ones on your insert.

Step 6: Attach your charms as you normally would. I used safety pins.

Step 7 (optional): Sew the charms down with transparent thread, fishing line, or nylon monofilament. This helps prevent the charms from moving around or twisting. It can’t really be seen unless you look really closely.

How I did it was, I used a sewing needle to poke holes where I wanted the thread to be. Then I fished the thread through the holes so it wrapped around the charm, and then i tied the ends together on the back.

Step 8: Put the insert in your bag, velcro it, and close it up! And you’re done!

I know mine isn’t perfect, but I’m happy with it. I have some charms coming in the mail so I can fill out the top and cover up the creases that wouldn’t iron out~

I got my supplies from Pat Catan’s. The specific brands I used:

Craft foam: Foamies 3mm 11.81 x 17.7 in.

Fat quarter: Fabric Palette half-yard

Velcro dots: Velcro Sticky Back white 15 count

Nylon monofilament: Jewelry Designer 8 lb. 100 yd.

If you use my tutorial, please send me pictures so I can see how it turned out!! ❤

[7015otaku]

My Nilou itabag 🩵

I am so in love with my bag and my new insert

l commissioned someone locally to make the insert. The badge rosettes are detachable, they have magnets on the back so it gives me more freedom to swap them out. I jokingly told my friends it's a "mechanical' insert 🤭

I love my girlie Nilou and my bag so much. It's so customizable. I have 3 inserts dedicated to 3 different characters. I can swap them out freely depending on my mood. I bring this bag to work, it motivates me to work harder to buy even more stuff for a new insert lololol

Bag is from AORDA, a Chinese brand. The decorations, ribbon and pearls, I got them from a different shop on taobao. They said the decorations are made for size S WEGO bags, but this bag can use them just fine.

[7015otaku]

I upgraded my Messmer itabag ☺️ I bought a new bag with a similar insert window size, so if i want to swap inserts between bags it will be still possible.

The new bag is from a Chinese brand called AORDA, they have many designs of various sizes, and the quality is amazing. The bag is slightly bigger than my Puffken bag, close to a size S WEGO bag. It's so so spacious inside with a lot of pockets and side pockets. The pocket to place the insert is inside the bag with velcro for opening. I bought a few accessories made for WEGO bags - the red ribbon and the pearl chain to decorate and they fit perfectly. It includes a clear insert board along with a long strap with shoulder support so you can wear it as a cross-body bag.

My favourite part is inside there are 2 mesh pockets in the sides. You can put in there a water bottle, sanitizer, an umbrella, or lightstick for your concert needs without having to worry it flopping around in the bag.

The weird but good thing is that it does not feel heavy at all carrying that much stuff on my shoulder. I understand why this bag is x3 the price of my Puffken bag lololol. I got it during a mega sale just for 103 Yuan (around $17), original price was 209 yuan (around $33)

[7015otaku]

My Messmer-themed itabag :3 This is my 2nd itabag but it's the first that I actually invest into decorations.

I did not take a lot of progress photos because I was locked in 😂 I had been planning for over a month at this point so I was really excited to finally be able to work on it.

I already visualized a foundation of what I want for the design, like I want the insert to include certain pieces and then I would just build around it. I came up with the design along as I go search for the materials I needed.

Here is the base frame layed out. I used hot glue for everything.

All that's left are to decorate some flowers and add the main pieces :3 I also glued the gems on the detatchable bows

Some bonus photos of it under the sun 🥹

[7015otaku]

Here is a WIP layout of my next itabag insert for Messmer. All is mostly correctly scaled and I used elements similar to the materials available on the shop i'm planning to buy from to help me visualize what I want on the insert and what I should buy. Still deciding whether or not I should add the chains 🤔

I already made a black-red-gold themed insert so for this one I'm going with black-red-silver with only the gold leaf for accent because it's related to his lore 🥺

The only thing I'd like to adjust is the wings are too big but sadly they don't come in smaller size 😔

Badge design by DUOJ_ji 🌹They are on pre-order for a limited time on Taobao along with many other items like their artbook, artprint collection and more badges, so grab one while you still can!