Sling Bag Tutorial - Part 1

      I tend to have a short attention span when it comes to projects, that's why I like making a variety of things. My Etsy shop has an assortment of stuff in it for that very reason...I don't want to make the same style of the same product over and over! Bags are one of my favorite things to make when I feel like changing up the pace a little.

       I whipped up a few of these hobo/sling bags to put in the shop. The fun thing about these totes are they are reversible!

       Fun! So, if you are the sewing type, here is how you can make one all of your own. Cut out two pieces for the outer bag, and two pieces for the inner bag, following these measurements. I just "wing" the curved part. I cut one piece and use that for the pattern for the rest of the bag...that way they are all the same curve.

      It will look like this when you open it up.

       We are going to be very thrifty with our use of fabric, and use the cut out pieces from the straps as the pockets. Lay them out flat like this.

      Measure down from the top straight edge, nine inches.

       Trim off the rounded bottom. Hem the sides and the shorter strait edge. I serged my edges before hemming to keep them nice and tidy. Leave the top un-hemmed.

       Cut a strip of narrow elastic, 8 inches long. Hem the top edge of the pocket, sewing the elastic into the hem as you go. I used a very narrow, zigzag stitch for this. I set it so that it was so narrow it looked almost straight when sewn. The tiny bit of zigzag allows the elastic to stretch properly.

     Your pocket should now look like this.

     Do that to all four pockets. Now, sew them onto each piece of the bag. I center mine four inches below the top.

      Now sew just the outer edges of the bags together. You should have two "bags" that are open at the tops.

     With RIGHT sides together, stuff one bag into the other. Pin it in place.

      Sew the two bags together. Leave the top of the straps open.

      Reach your hand through there and pull the bags right side out. About half way through, it will be a tight jumble mess, and you will think you've done something wrong. Just keep working at it, it will come.

       When you finally get it apart it will look like this.

     Stuff one of the bags into the other. Now, we need to connect the straps. Make a 5 inch long tube of whatever fabric you want your "handle" to be.

     Flip it right side out, and slide it onto one of the straps.

      Fold one end of one of the straps in, about a half inch.

      Stuff  about a half inch of the other strap into this one.

      Sew it down.

   
      Then slide the handle over the seam.

      I top-stitched around the openings of a couple of them, before doing the "handle" part. I think it helps it look neater.

You can get all kinds of creative with this. On one bag, I used four different fabric colors, and did a different color combination for each side of the bag.

        The reason this is a "part 1" tutorial is because, tomorrow, I'm going to show you how I took this same method and made myself an awesome leather bag. Want to see a sneak peak?

       I'm. in. love. See you tomorrow!

Psalms 84:11   For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give graceand glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. 

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