My new messenger bag

Have you ever bought some material, not because you need it for anything in particular, but just because you like it? Well, when we went to Fabricland last time, it was just after my birthday and so luckily, I had some birthday money to spend. We saw this flowery material. I fell in love with the colours and when I touched it and realised it was a canvas weight material, I knew I just had to have it - and at £5.99 a metre it would be rude not to, wouldn't it?!! I remember the lady at the till asked what we intended to make from it and I said "we don't know yet but I'm sure we'll find something!"

I've spent many a thought thinking about it since then! And I came upon a eureka moment! A bag! That was the easy bit! Then came the task of research! We had to research types of bag, styles, sizes, materials, handles, pockets etc. After all the research and pondering we decided that we liked the ideas on quite a few bag tutorials but non quite fitted the bill. So we set about creating a bag that would fulfil all my wishes!

 

The brown material is quite thin material compared to the patterned one, so we decided to interface it. The whole inside lining of the bag is brown. The outside gusset is also brown - we thought that was both decorative and practical, as that would be the bit touching the floor! Inside we made a practical pocket which we divided into two pen holders and two nice sized pockets. We used the flowery material to create a bias binding strip along the top edge of the pocket.

The cream shoulder strap took some finding. Most 40mm wide strapping was either polypropylene webbing (which is course and stiff) or herringbone tape (which is good for apron straps but too flimsy for bag handles). After much searching I sourced our strap which is a heavyweight cotton webbing. It's not cheap especially as our bag requires a fair amount of it! But this bag is for me and I wanted it to be just right. We also wanted to make the shoulder strap adjustable, so we had to source both a triglide and a D-ring to make this possible. We decided not to go with plastic ones, as we thought that would detract from the appearance of quality! 

Once we'd made the bag, we also decided to set about making one of our triangular pouches! Why? Because I keep my iPod in my bag and every time I try and fish it out, the earphone wires get tangled around my keys! Very annoying! So this was the perfect excuse to make a little one of our triangular pouches, with a zip and karabiner to keep it all safely tucked up in. Then we hit upon another idea! Why not make it to match the bag, then to attach a loop inside the bag to clip it to! Result! 20 mins later, hey presto, a matching iPod pouch! 

 

We think we surpassed ourselves this time! I adore my new bag - pretty, practical and unique - what more can a girl ask for!