A review of three different Tarot bags

I thought that people might be interested in a review of three different readily available Tarot bags! I have no affiliation of any kind with any of the makers of these bags, other than being a satisfied customer of all three companies. I hope this thread is informative and helpful and that it possibly engenders some profitable discussion.

OK. Now that that’s out of the way, I will be giving you my impressions of three different companies Tarot bags: www.tarotbags.com; www.tarottotes.com; and www.llewellyn.com. Both tarotbags.com and tarottotes.com offer a very wide selection of fabrics and patterns to chose from. Llewellyn, on the other hand, only offers one bag, the one reviewed here.

I really like keeping my Tarot decks loose in a drawstring style bag because it offers me easy access to the cards, saves wear and tear on the boxes, and just plain gives a feeling of elegance and reverence. Treating my divinatory tools with respect helps create the kind of atmosphere the engenders the calm contemplative mindset that helps me read better.

The two nicest (and most expensive) Tarot bags I own are the ones I got from www.tarotbags.com. Both of them are silk-lined, double draw-string bags, that have a flat bottom (gusset) that fits better with a deck of cards. The sewing on these bags is absolutely first-rate: you will not find a single loose thread, or a stitch out of place. The first picture shows the bag with a deck of cards in it. The drawstrings are satin cord and have a very nice feel to them. The bag can be cinched up with ease, but yet will stay closed until you pull it open. However, if it were me, I would tie off the drawstrings for transport in a backpack or handbag, just to be sure. The beads at the end are plastic, but they could easily be replaced with beads of your chosing, although I liked them enough to just leave them as-is.

The second tarotbags picture shows a closeup of the inside stitching and silk lining, while the third picture shows a closeup of the seams which run down the middle of both sides of the bag, and at the bottom edges where they meet the sides. Notice that the bottom of the bag is seamless and flat.

Another nice feature of these bags is that the lining is securely sewn to the exterior at all seams. It is not just loose inside the exterior like a bag inside a bag, attached only at the top edges. The fourth tarotbags picture shows my dragonfly bag turned fully inside out so you can see the excellent workwomanship and the flat and seamless inside bottom of the bag, and the flat and smooth inside of the bag overall. It’s a really well made bag in my opinion.

The fifth picture is a shot of the other bag I have from tarotbags.com, also silk lined. Notice that on this bag, there is an additional seam running down the middle of the bottom of the bag. I don’t believe that this is usual, as I bought a third bag from this same maker and it also did not have a seam here, but if it’s an issue you should ensure that the bag you are getting won’t have it.

The other two bags will be reviewed in the post below.

Moving on, we come to the bag made by Llewellyn. It’s a satin lined bag, with a velvety exterior and a double draw string. As you can see from the first picture, the exterior is a very dark purple, and the draw strings are lavender with fun tassles at the end. The bag opens and closes very nicely, and as picture 2 shows, has a lavender interior of the same color as the strings, with a cool gold Llwellyn crescent moon emblem. The third picture shows the bag turned inside out. The sewing is fine and tight and this is a high quality bag in my opinion. However, the satin lining is not sewn together with the exterior velvet fabric at all the seams, but only at the top, so the inside is fitted loose inside the outside. This gives the bag a more cushy and less crisp feel to it than either of the other two bags in this review. The biggest drawback about this bag to me is that there is only this one style offered. Period. So if you have two of them (which I do), you may have trouble knowing which deck you’re grabbing when you grab one of the llewellyn bags, unless you add a distinguishing element, or keep them in separate places. I got both of my llewellyn bags at my local bookstore for a very reasonable price, and I like the purple and lavender colors of the bag, and the tassels on the draw string. It’s a nice bag.

Finally, I also own one of the bags made by www.tarottotes.com. They do not offer lined bags for reasons which they explain on their website, one of which is that the seams are double bound and small and thus unobtrusive, eliminating the need for any kind of lining. Personally, I don’t completely agree with this assessment of the seam-work, but I’m probably being too picky, especially considering the very reasonable price of these bags. You definitely get your money’s worth, and their service was fast. Anyway, I ended up giving away one of the bags, and the other I use to hold lavender. It is shown in the first tarottotes picture. Notice that this is a single drawstring bag, and not a double. It’s a pretty nice single cord, though, and the bag cinches up reasonably well, although not as well as either of the other two bags in this review. The second tarottotes picture is a close up of the inside of the top of the bag to allow you to see the stitching and drawstring more clearly.

In summary, I’d say that all three bags represent a good value for the money, and I am pleased wth all of them, but, personally I’m hooked on slik-lined double draw string tarot bags and feel that the tarotbags.com bags are worth the extra money. Also, my experience with Rev. Nancy Rose’s customer service has been exceptionally good, and there are a number of nice little extra touches that pleased me. For example, my orders came nicely packaged and wrapped in tissue paper, with a bit of lavender and two rolls of smarties candies, in a priority mail box. There was definitely a “positive energy” vibe to the package, and it re-introduced me to smarties candies, which I had forgotten about since I was a kid. Fun.

I hope this review will be helpful to one or more people, and I’d love to hear from anyone about any other tarot bags. I’ll definitely be needing more at some point, and I’m always happy to know about other options! Also, comments and musings and questions are welcome, on-topic or otherwise!

Thanks everyone!

You have left out my favourite bags of all. By Magic Realist Press!

http://www.tarotforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=17482

http://www.tarotforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=17481

That isn't even half of what I now own by them! Double corded, lovely fronts, beads, silk, velvet, lined, gorgeous, handmade....

That's just wonderful, cheekyinchworm...thanks for all your work to show the details! The Llewellyn bag reminds me of the bag that came with the Victoria Regina set. I've got a bunch of tarot totes (bought 11 in one go) and I'm happy with them, but then again I like my decks but don't think of them as my babies! Thanks again!

Anyone make their own tarot bags?

Hello everyone. I make my own tarot bags and I was wondering if anyone else does, and what they do to make the bags special.
I make mine out of cotton broadcloth, with cotton broadcloth lining. I sew them by hand, though I do have a sewing machine. I make a double drawstring from twisted embroidery floss as the closure.
I noted in some of the other posts that some of the bags are beaded in some way. I'd love to know how this is done (sewing them on in a design, creating bead fringe at the bottom?) and other ways some of you have used to enhance the beauty of your bags.

Thanks so much,
Riverstone

Darnit....
I have seen many a maker of tarot bags and I have not ever come across a maker who did the 3-D box (flat bottom) style. I really though I was the only one!....darnit oh well. I make my bags in this same manner, but I have a bit more to my bags. First is that I make my bags deck specific in both fabrics and size. Fits like a glove. Also, I don't use just one fabric for the inside and one for the outside, I use three or four fabrics. This makes my bags have a dual personality.
I call them fully reversible.

The first picture shows the flat bottoms of several bags.
The second pic is of my 'fire' bag -one side
and third is the 'fire' bag, other side.

Not all my bags have the same 'subject' pattern like this fire bag. I have one that is purple and pink flower garden like and the other side is green with gold dragonflies.

Riverstone said:

I noted in some of the other posts that some of the bags are beaded in some way. I'd love to know how this is done (sewing them on in a design, creating bead fringe at the bottom?) and other ways some of you have used to enhance the beauty of your bags.

Click to expand...

I usually put a bead-dangle on one side of the bag - it looks pretty but it can get in the way a bit. I don't make gusset-bottomed bags and mine are usually 9 by 7 inches, basically 'cos that's a nice size to get my hand in.

Riverstone said:

Hello everyone. I make my own tarot bags and I was wondering if anyone else does, and what they do to make the bags special.
I make mine out of cotton broadcloth, with cotton broadcloth lining. I sew them by hand, though I do have a sewing machine. I make a double drawstring from twisted embroidery floss as the closure.
I noted in some of the other posts that some of the bags are beaded in some way. I'd love to know how this is done (sewing them on in a design, creating bead fringe at the bottom?) and other ways some of you have used to enhance the beauty of your bags.

Thanks so much,
Riverstone

Click to expand...

I make tarot bags for myself and I sell them too - quite a lot of ATF members have my bags.

To make them 'special' I use Indian foil-lined glass beads, little Japanese glass beads, wooden beads and silver beads on the strings (no plastic beads for me - don't like plastic).
They are all lined with cotton or Dupion silk (some folks like satin so I use that too but I prefer natural fibres).
I like to look around for fabrics that will go well with different deck so I have lots including celestials, nature inspired patterns, gothy patterns and celtic patterns.
My favourite bags are made from cotton velvet. I get my velvet from lady who makes wedding dresses so it's top quality stuff.

I think that the one thing you can do to ensure a bag you make is really special is to make it well and finish it off well - nothing is as bad as a bag that falls to bits...

Here are a few pictures:
Little Acorns with gold silk
Brown velvet with gold silk
Moss Green Celtic with black cotton lining
Egyptian bag
Emperor Purple with gold silk
Butterflies and bees with black silk
Gothic Web with silver silk

That Celtic one is lovely Sulis. As is the Egyptian.

LB

I wonder, do most people who use tarot bags keep their cards inside without a box? If so, do the edges of the cards get worn? I keep my cards in their original boxes because I imagine it protects the cards better when they're banging around in my purse, etc. But I recently got the Gilded deck which has no box, except for that flimsy white cardboard thing from Llewellyn that isn't even the right size, which I threw out immediately. For now I'm using my Gilded deck at home only. I'm storing it, sans box, inside a pretty bag from Tarottotes -- pretty, but not very substantial. I see Tarottotes also makes a more sturdy-looking cloth box. Does anybody have one of these and like it? Or another solution to keep the cards from getting beaten up?