Messenger Bags

On the way home from my Mom & Dad's house we stopped by the American Girl Store in Lynwood to check out the girl of the year Lea Clark.  We spotted her new messenger bag which was super cute, but it came with a $38 price tag and times two that was too much to spend.  A cool feature about this bag is that it can be converted from a messenger bag to a backpack, by moving around the strap.



I thought maybe I could make bags instead.  So I started looking up patterns on Pinterest and found a cute one that looked pretty simple. The best part is that I only needed two yards of fabric and about one yard of fusible fleece. 

http://crazylittleprojects.com/2012/09/messenger-bag-tutorial.html

I let each girl pick out their own fabric.

Abbie's fabric choices

Madison's fabric choices



To make the most of each yard of fabric here is how I cut my fabric.  You need the side of the bag and the straps to be 45 inches long.  Because the fabric is not 45 inches long take note at my solution.  It is not visible in the finished bag. 

The directions are straight forward and easy to follow.  I am just including my additions.
First I made my straps a bit more narrow three inches instead of four inches.

Sides of the bag and straps, you can barely tell that I added an additional piece to make the correct length.  Plus I saved some $ by only purchasing one yard of fabric. 

Second my girls requested lots of pockets, so of course I added a bunch of pockets. 

Outside of the bag with additional pockets

Inside of the bag with additional pocket

Inside pocket:
(2) 6.5 x 17 inch strips of fabric

Outside back pocket:
(2) 9.5 x 17 inch strips of fabric

Front pocket:
(2) 10.5 x 10 inch strips of fabric


To make each pocket I put right sides together sewing around the perimeter with a 1/4 inch seam allowance and leaving a two inch space so I could turn the pockets.  I then flipped the pockets right-side out and ironed them flat.  I thought the outside front and back pockets needed more stability so I added a piece of fusible fleece before I sewed them together.  I didn't do this to the inside pocket because of the pencil slots.

The girls wanted pencil holders on the inside so I sewed every one inch until I had nine spaces for pencils.

 

Close up of inside pocket

Inside pocket with pencils

Third I decided to make the straps a little more like Lea Clark's messenger bag.  I purchased 1-inch non welded nickel plated D-rings and 1-inch silver curved lobster swivel clasps on Amazon.com.

You will need two lobster clasps and four D-rings so the bag can be converted from a messenger bag to a backpack. 

Insert the lobster clasp on each end of the strap fold down as shown and sew.



To attach the D-rings use premade extra wide (3/4 inch wide) bias tape (I created my own) four inches long for each D-ring.  Attach two along the sides of the bag and two at the base of the bag.

 

For the back hangar, I made a wider bias tape (1 inch wide) seven inches long, with fusible fleece inside.  It should be attached in the center of the back of the bag just below where the bag flap starts. 



Messenger Bag

Backpack

 

I am really happy with the result.  I think it is pretty comparable to Lea Clark's messenger bag and they are completely customized based on my daughters color preferences.