Strap for the Messenger Bag

This is the strap I made for this last bag/purse I finished - love the accent along the sides.  One other bag I made a while ago I used the same technique and the strap is comfortable and has worn well too.  This strap measures about 1 1/2” wide not counting the cording on the outside edges.

I constructed the strap in two long pieces.  For the first side I stitched the cording to an interfaced strip of one of the black fabrics and then I pressed the seams to the inside.

I cut a piece of Soft and Stable the length of the strap then seamed a piece of the black fabric around it.  I centered the seam on the backside and pressed the seam open.  I did make sure I had seamed this fabric tight around the Soft and Stable.  I folded the Soft and Stable while stitching the seam on the fabric that worked pretty well.  I could have used a more traditional method and turned it inside out and seamed it then threaded the Soft and Stable through but that just sounded like too much work and I think the knit fabrics on the outside might not have slid too well anyway.

The last step was to lay the padded black strip over the corded strip and stitched the two together close to the edge of the black strip.  I then stitched twice more down the strip to hold it all together. 

The last step was to stitch the strap to the bag.  I stitched the padded side to the inside so it would be more cushion for when I carry my camera in the bag or when I carry more weighty items.

On the night I gave the program a fellow quilt guild member asked about and we discussed keeping bag straps from falling off or sliding off your shoulder.  We discussed that problem and around and wondered if stitching a small strip of the fabric made for slipper bottoms to the top of the strap would be the solution.  What do you think?  Do you have any other ideas?

Happy Stitching!
Lynn