Sew your own punk messenger bag as a stylish and practical carryall.
Show off your hip style with a distressed messenger bag. Add punk detailing and this easy sewing project becomes a one-of-a-kind statement piece, perfect for school or long summer afternoons around town. If you can sew a straight line and and are willing to go crazy with the detailing, this bag is a cinch. Stow all your necessities, hop on your bike and show the world your punk attitude.
Instructions
Sew the Bag
1. Prepare fabric by machine washing in cold water. Dry and iron to allow for shrinkage.
2. Measure for desired strap length. Using flexible measuring tape, measure from the left hip, across the back to the right shoulder and down the front to the right hip. Add 7 inches to this measurement.
3. Measure and mark fabric pieces. Mark one rectangle for the body and flap of the bag that is 19 inches wide and 39 inches long. This makes a bag that is 18 inches tall and 12 inches wide. For the strap, mark a rectangle that is 7 inches wide and the length of the strap measurement you have determined.
4. Cut the fabric on the marked lines.
5. Fold the large rectangle in thirds and press with the iron to mark the body and flap of the bag. Unfold the top third: this will be the flap. Pin the bottom two sections together along the outside edge.
6. Stitch both sides using a straight stitch, leaving a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Trim the edge and finish by zigzag stitching over the cut edge. Turn bag inside out so seams are on the inside of the bag.
7. Enclose flap edges with bias binding, folding under the raw edges at the beginning and end of the tape. Pin binding in place and stitch with a straight stitch, being careful to catch both thicknesses of binding in the stitch.
8. Press strap fabric in half lengthwise. Pin and stitch along one short end and the long side with a straight stitch, leaving a 1/2 inch seam allowance. This will make a long tube of fabric.
9. Turn fabric tube inside out so seam is on the inside. Turn 1/2 inch of the open end to the inside and stitch across the open end to enclose.
10. Pin strap to sides of bag near the opening, with 3 inches of each end overlapping the bag sides, taking care not to twist strap. Stitch strap to bag by making a large square with an x in it where the strap and bag overlap.
Embellish the Bag
11. Distress the bag by using scissors to cut small holes in the flap, and pull the threads of the fabric to fray. Splatter the bag with paint or write on the flap with permanent marker.
12. Applique cutouts from tee-shirts to the flap. Pin the cutouts to the flap and stitch around the edge using a zigzag stitch. Attach other cutouts using safety pins.
13. Add extra embellishments of sewn-on snaps, safety-pins or buttons if desired.
14. Wash bag repeatedly to encourage fraying and a broken-in look.
Tags: inches wide, straight stitch, that inches, body flap, detailing this, seam allowance
