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

Bag Pockets

I love to customize the bag pockets to fit my needs.  This black/white/lime bag has several zippered pockets, the most secure way to carry things in pockets.  This bag has three zippered pockets.This is one of the two zippered pockets in the lining of the bag.  I stitched a long zipper in both sides of the bag.  To make the inside of the bag easier to see I turned the bag inside out for these next photos.  Both sides have a long zippered pocket.

On one end of the lining I stitched in a straight pocket divided in half with stitching.  This pocket will hold two pens.

OK, will turn it right side out again to show you the rest of the pockets.  This is a pocket on one end of the bag that is made especially for my cell phone.  It has Velcro strips on the flap to keep my phone from falling out too.Under the flap is a straight pocket with no snaps, zippers or Velcro closers.  The backside has a long zippered pocket and I even found a lime green zipper in my zipper stash!  I put the white card in the pocket so you could see exactly where they are.

I will have to be diligent and not fill the pockets too full or I will defeat my purpose of making my bags fairly light to carry.

Until Later,
Lynn

Bag Bottom

Almost every bag/purse I make I put something in the bottom to make it stiffer so the bag will not sag and to give the items I carry some support.  Most of the time I make the bottoms the same way, using the same materials.

I like to use plastic needle point canvas and cut it the width of the purse/bag bottom and the length of the bottom of the bag.  This messenger bag I just made has a curved bottom so just cut the  plastic canvas to the length just as the curve started upward.  I also always cut off the 4 corners of the plastic at an angle so the corners of the plastic will not wear out the corners of the bag – that will happen over time if there are sharp corners.  I probably cut a couple of the mesh off, about 1/4" from each side of the corner.  If you feel you need more strength and more stiffness just stack up two layers and zig zag them together.  This plastic canvas is very easy to sew through with a sewing machine.

I like to tack the canvas to the bottom of the bag before I add the lining.  Since I am not fond of doing it by hand I do it with the machine.  For this bag I zig zagged one inch strips to the sides of the canvas placing most of the strip off the edge of the canvas.
I pinned the fabric strip to the bottom seams of the bag and stitched the two together.  The bag bottom will now stay in place and the bottom of the bag will be stiff enough to hold what I want to hold.  I want this bag to hold my camera at times when I don’t want to carry my Canon 2ti DSLR camera in the camera bag.
I have heard of using special bag bottoms you can purchase made of solid plastic or a Masonite type wooden product.  I don’t like the idea of these as they will add weight to the bags and I want to keep my bags/purses as light as possible.  They come only in standard sizes so you are limited to those sizes for the bags you make.  I also can purchase the plastic needle point canvas and cut it to what ever size I need – can keep it on hand so it is available when ever I need it for a new bag.  It has worked well for me so will not change unless of course something better comes along.
 

Until later,
Lynn

Flap on the New Bag

This is the piece of black Soft and Stable I cut for the bag flap.  The center fabric was laid down and the lime green piping I made was laid down on the seam lines before the outside fabrics were stitched through all the layers.  According to the package directions no quilting is required but I did do some wavy lines on the center black fabric area as it was looking a little bubbly.  The Soft and Stable was very easy to stitch through.

I had cut the curve of the center piece before layering and stitching and cut the outside curve after the seams were stitched.  I lined the flap then turned it right side out and topstitched around the edge.  By this time I was feeling just pretty good….can you guess what I discovered next?  Here is the bag body and the flap ready, still love the lime green accents!

Enough teasing….Look carefully at the bag flap closed over the bag, notice anything?  Yes it is a camouflage flap!  I was astonished that I had not figured out that the bag front and the outsides of the flap were the same black and white print.  So much for making that great curved bottom on the flap as it all blended together with the bag body.What to do, what to do….I had to have a good think session as I just couldn’t live with it this way.  I figured that I had only a couple of choices; deal with it the way it was and add some lime green on the bottom and the outside of the flap or take the time to rip the top stitching then the seam and insert some cording covered with lime green fabric.  I didn’t relish doing all that ripping and didn’t think the cording would be enough of the color to visually separate the flap from the body of the bag so opted to add to the finished flap.  I covered the edge with 1/2” finished width binding and here is the new flap on the purse body.Now doesn’t that look better?  You can see the flap and the great curve now.  There is a downsize though – the binding added more bulk to the flap so added to my distress when stitching through all those layers when I got the top seam stitched with lining, cording, bag front and flap but did get it sewn, albeit slowly and one stitch at a time.  Will try to watch contrast on the next bag I make, hopefully before I get it stitched together but for now I do love this one.
Until later,
Lynn