Messenger Bag Tutorial

I love to make this bag as it is so versatile. it is roomy enough to be nice and practical to use and its size also means that it is not too fiddly to sew. Its simple square shape and large flap give lots of scope for your own decorative designs.

In fact this bag design proved a real hit with my Year 9 students who are 13 or 14 years old. I think their end results are fantastic!

To make my messenger bag you can download a PDF of the pattern here

(Remember to set the print size to 100% when you print it out)

To make this bag you will need:

Fabric for the outside of the bag - this could be one piece, or a patchwork of different fabrics, or up-cycled from an old pair of jeans

Lining fabric

Wadding

A small pice of fusible interfacing for the inside of the flap

Webbing for the strap or you could make this out of the same fabric as the bag

Magnetic fastening or velcro

Instructions for making the messenger bag:

For this bag I used 2¼ inch wide strips of these soft grey and pink coordinating craft cottons.

First cut out and decorate the flap. I've added appliquéd hearts. back with wadding and quilt in which ever way you like. I've quilted 'in the ditch' between the strips on this bag.

At this stage you may as well add the wadding to the bag body pieces. I do this as it helps to give a bit of 'body' to the shape of the bag. you could use high loft fusible fleece but this is quite expensive and I find ordinary polyester wadding gives quite a nice soft feel to the bag. For this bag made from up-cycled jeans, I've just stitched the wadding around the edges of each piece, but if I'm using thinner cotton I will often quilt all over the surface with stipple quilting for a firmer finish.

Cut the flap back in plain fabric and add iron-on interfacing to the back (no wadding for this piece). A tip - I usually trace the stitching line on to the interfacing to make it easier to stitch perfect curves when sewing the flap pieces together. As you can see I've left little tabs of interfacing in the seam allowance so it doesn't pull off when you start turning the flap through to the right side.

Next attach the magnetic clasp, one side to the flap piece and one to the front body piece. Line them up carefully using the markings from the paper pattern.

Sew the two flap pieces together by placing them right sides together and stitching around three sides, leaving the top edge open. Snip the seam allowances around the curves and turn through to the right side. Press lightly and topstitch close to the edge to give a flat finish.

Stitch the completed flap to the back bag piece, right sides together. Make sure the flap is positioned in the centre and points down into the bag.

Now sew the bag together by placing the front and back pieces right sides together. Stitch the sides and the base but leave the corner sections and the top open.

Fold out the corners, matching the side seams and the bottom seam and stitch this short seam straight across.

The bag body is now complete.

Now to the lining. Stitch the side and base seams, only leave a gap about the width of your hand span in the base seam. You will turn the whole bag through this hole after you have stitched the lining to the bag.

Stitch the corners by matching the seams together, as for the bag body.

Work out how long you want your strap and stitch the ends to the top edge of the right side of the bag at the side seams. The strap should hang down into the bag. Make sure the strap is not twisted.

Turn the bag right side out and tuck it into the lining so that the right sides of both bag and lining are facing each other. Make sure that the strap and flap are completely hidden, sandwiched between the two layers. Match the sides seams together and stitch all the way round the opening of the bag.

Turn the whole bag through the hole you left in the base of the lining.

Stitch up the gap by folding in the seam allowances and machining close to the fold through all the layers. This stitching will be hidden inside the bottom of the bag.

Tuck the lining inside the bag and topstitch around the top of the bag to help keep the lining inside and give a more professional finish.

You've now finished your messenger bag.

I hope you have found these instructions straight forward enough to follow. Please add a comment if you have any questions or just like my tutorial. Do let me know when you have made your own messenger bag. I would love to see your interpretation.

Happy sewing

Judith xxx