Boy Messenger Bag Tutorial

I searched the internet, high and low for a tutorial on a cool boy messenger bag. Alas, there weren't any that fit what I wanted... A cool, medium sized bag, to house my boy's Bible and binder that he brings to church each week.

Here is a picture of what he WAS using...

And here is what I ended up with after this fun project...

So, I thought that I would create a bag and  share how it was done so that you, too, can have a way cool messenger bag for your boy (or girl-you can use whatever fabric you like!).

I think that if you buy 3/4 a yard of each outer fabric, inner fabric, and lining, you'll have more than enough.

Here are the cuts:
bag body:  2 outer fabric, 2 lining, 2 fleece=14x10.5
flap: 1 outer, 1 lining, 1 fleece=14.5x12
strap fabric: 34x5
strap padding: 34x2
I used blue fleece for the flap just so that it's easier to reference!

Let's start with the flap.  Layer the fleece on the bottom, the outer fabric right side up, and the lining fabric right side down.  Pin three sides and sew with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Cut the corners.

Flip right side out.  I used a knitting needle to poke the corners out.  Topstitch.

Bag body... Take the fleece pieces and the outer pieces and face the outer pieces right side up.  Then sandwich them together so that the outer pieces are on top of each other.  Pin and sew three sides together.

To make the base of the bag...  At each corner, you’ll need to push the side seam down to meet the bottom seam, creating a triangle.  Measure down 2 inches and make a mark or a line.  

Sew across on both corners.

Cut off the point around 1/4" from the sewn line.

 For the liner-Repeat the steps above. Except leave a 5 inch opening at the bottom.  This is where we will flip the bag right side out when we're finished sewing the bag.

Now for the strap.  Iron your strap in half.  Then fold the sides to the middle and iron again.

Here's what it will look like.

Slide your fleece into one side.

Top stitch both sides approx. 1/4" on both sides.

Take the body of the bag and turn it so that it's right side out. Pin the bag flap to the bag body so that the outside fabrics are touching.  Then pin the straps so that they are right up against the flap.  The straps should also line up with the side seams of the bag body.  Baste the strap and flap to the bag body.

Get er' done... With the outer part of bag right side out and liner inside out, insert outer into liner.  Line up the side seams and pin all the way around the top.

Pull the bag through the 5 inch hole in the bottom of the liner.  This is one of my least favorite parts because I always make the hole too small ;)  Sew up the hole inside the bag.  I usually just iron the seams down and topstitch.
Drumroll please....
This is what your bag should look like!