How to Sew a Messenger Bag (Easy!)

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1. Sewing machine
2. 1 yard of fashion fabric (see note below)
3. 1-1/4 yard heavyweight lining fabric
4. 3" coconut shell buckle
5. Hand sewing needle
6. Thread
7. Pins

The sewing video below shows you step-by-step how to sew your own messenger bag easily! Don't be worried if you've never made a large bag before because Mary Beth is going to explain everything you need to know. Simply click play on the video box below to watch.

1. Take the fashion fabric that you are using for the body of the bag, you are going to fold them in half, and sew up both sides and leave the top edge open, leaving a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

2. Repeat this for the lining fo the bag. 

3. Pin the right side of your fabrics for the flap, one cut of the fashion and one cut of the lining, facing, and sew along three sides of your flap leaving one long side open. Use a 1/2 inch seam allowance. 

4. Clip the corners and turn the flap of your bag right side out, and press it. 

5. Take the buckle straps and bag straps, fold them in half, long ways, sew them up the side with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Then use the same technique to turn them right side out and press them.

6. To make the bag expand when needed: Looking at the bottom corner where the fold is, grab both sides and pull it out so you have a triangle shape. Measure down 1-1/2 inches, make a mark, and holding it nice and flat draw a line across that mark.

7. Sew across that line, and then fold your triangle toward the fold and tack it into place.

8. Repeat Steps 6–7 for the other corner of the fashion fabric, and both corners of the lining fabric. 

9. Take your strap piece for weaving through the buckle, take one of the ends, and put it down through the wrong side of the buckle and up through the right side of the buckle. Fold back about a half of an inch and lay that fold on top of the buckle strap and sew it shut by hand.
   
   Note: You can sew it with a machine but because of the lack of precision caused by the buckle, hand sewing allows for more accuracy. The hand stitch you use doesn't matter because it will not be visible, however, you want to make sure that the stitching is strong!

10. Arrange the right side of the fashion fabric for the body of your bag to face the right side of the lining for the body of your bag. Put your fashion fabric inside the lining. 

11. Insert the wide strap that is going to be used to keep the bag on your shoulder into the bag and pin it into place. 
    
    Note: The strap is 3 inches wide when finished, so you'll have 1-1/2 inches showing on either side of the seam.

12. Measure equally from the two sides and make a small chalk mark to see where your buckle strap should be, and place the buckle so that the right side of the buckle facing up form the right side of the fashion fabric, and pin that into place (all layers). 

13. Sew all of this together along three sides, starting at the one short side, across the long side with the buckle, and across the short side on the other side. 

14. Turn your entire bag right side out. 

15. Fold down the seam allowance along the back of the bag. Insert the flap so that the lining is facing the lining and the fashion fabric is facing the fashion fabric, and then sew all the way around the top of the bag.

16. Pin and sew down the two sides of the buckle strap to secure it into place, with topstitching if desired. Keep in mind that you will not want to topstitch all the way down past the buckle.

17. Take the other part of the buckle strap, turn back a 1/2 inch seam allowance, and stitch it onto the center of the flap so that your more narrow strap will go through the buckle.

You're done!