Shamanic drum bags
To create someone's own Shamanic drum is a spiritual experience. A ritual that builds a bond between the drum and the drummer. These instruments have their own personalities, they are helpers of our spiritual journey. They beat with our hearts, remind, and connect us to our true Selves.
The first drum I created a case for is my Mother's. She respects her drum highly, so she needed a case that corresponded with the values and personality of her drum. She found her symbol in a tulip, that is Mary's flower in Hungarian folk traditions.
I had the privilege to create quite a few drum cases in the past few years. It is always exciting to find the corresponding symbols that the drum owners would like to have on the front of their bags, and always a joy to make them with beautiful, coloured fabrics.
They are usaually padded in the front, have one or two shoulder straps and a handle, open with two zippers towards the two sides.
The latest drum case was a double, attached case for a larger oval, and a smaller round drum. Both of them had the same pattern, but in a way that once they are attached, they look as one. So I made the two templates for the two front pieces, drew the pattern onto the large one, layed the small one on the top and traced those parts, that was covered by the small one.
I appliqued both patterns to a sturdy natural coloured canvas, padded and quilted them.
To find out, how to attach the two bags together safely was another brain storming in the family. My husband and my daughter had wondeful ideas and I brought the finalist to life.
On the front of the large bag, around the middle there is a horizontal buttonhole. A strap with velcro hanging on the top of the small bag fits in that hole. As you pull that through, inside the large bag there is the hook pair of the velcro that the strap can hold on to. On the sides of the small bag there are three other little straps with buttonholes on them that can be attached to three buttons on the appropriate spots on the side of the large bag. This way it is held onto the large bag safely. There are two little pouches hidden inside the bag for the beaters as well.
The shoulder straps are adjustable, padded and have a cross strap as well to stabilize it even more, when carried.
You can find design ideas on my website if you look at the drum cases or the mandalas.
If you have a drum or a friend of yours does, it might be a fun project to make! If you need help or would like me to make it for you, just let me know!
Happy quilting