Here in the US its “Back-to-school” time and as I have for the last 2 years I made new school bags for the girls. This year they both wanted messenger style bags, like my own school bag, so I used the recipe for that one – sized down just a bit – and I thought I’d share it with you.

If you can sew a fairly straight line you can get this one done

You will need:

1.5 yards of the print of your choice ( in the past I have used thrifted polyester and felted wool, for these incarnations I used cotton quilting calico) If you choose to use a lightweight fabric here you may wish to reinforce it with some fusible interfacing, I did.

1.5 yards of a heavy cotton canvas

2 D rings

scissors, pins, tailors chalk(my tailor’s name is Crayola), a complimentary thread color, and your sewing machine

You will need to cut the following pieces from both fabrics,(measurements are in inches):

2 pieces 17×15 – front and back panel

1 piece 15×13 – large inside pocket

1 piece 17×12 – front flap

1 piece 4×50 – sides and bottom strip

1 piece 4×12 – D ring strap

1 piece 4×40 – adjustable strap

All Seam allowances are 1/2 inch.

Ready? Awesome! Lets go.

Sew together the pocket pieces, one in each fabric, right sides together , along 3 sides(2 sides and the top). Now trim the corners, this way when you turn the piece right side out you’ll get great, crisp corner edges. Turn inside out and give it a quick run over with your iron or steamer. Fold under that bottom edge, by 1/2 inch, and pin the whole piece into place, centered, on the back panel of your lining fabric. Sew it into place along the sides an bottom only. You now have a beautifully lined pocket

Moving along, you’ll want to shape the front and back panels a bit by rounding off the corners, this makes sewing on the side/bottom strip a bit easier. I use a pint glass for a perfect curve, trace it with chalk, then cut.

You’re going to make 2 bags and nestle one inside the other before finishing.

Now pin the side/bottom strip to one of your front/back panels, sew in place and repeat with the other panel. Repeat with the same three pieces in the other fabric. Keep the bag made of your liner fabric inside out, Turn the bag made of your chosen print right side out and slip the liner bag inside. Wiggle and stretch a bit until you get the seams lined up – see?

When you sew the front flap pieces together you repeat the process of the pocket (don’t forget to trim those corners before turning) right up to running under it the iron – you can leave the 4th side of the flap open, I’ll get to that in a minute.

Strap time. Sew both straps along the two long sides and one short end, leaving one short end open so you can turn them inside out, remember to trim those corners and give them a quick turn under the iron.

Slide your D rings over the closed end of the short strap and fold it back about 3 inches, pin it to stay and sew it into place.

Final assembly time. You’ll want to make sure that you have even edges on your inner and outer bags, trim if you need to, and fold the edges in by 1/2 inch. Be careful to fold both fabrics towards each other, you are going to pin the front flap and the two straps between the two bags and as you sew the edges together you will sew these three pieces in place – we don’t want any raw edges showing.

SO, go ahead and pin your straps in place – make sure 1/2 inch of the strap is down between the bags – line them up with the strip that makes up the sides/bottom of your bags and pin in pace from the outside.

Slide your flap between the bag layers the same way and pin in place, being sure to pin from the outside. Now run a few pins along the front edge of you bag and sew it all together – This is the only place where you do not have a 1/2 inch seam allowance, you want to get within a 1/4 inch of the edge on this seam or closer if you’re comfortable sewing that close.

Trim your threads, adjust your strap and you’re on your way. This is a super simple bag recipe and you could add all sorts of extras: extra pockets, internal dividers, cell/mobile cozies, the possibilities are endless.

Toots