Handmade: The Messenger Bag

One of the best ways, I’ve found, to expand my creative abilities is to say “yes” even when that logical part of my brain is screaming “What are you thinking?! Say no! You’ve never done this before!”

(Oh shush mind – it’s creativity, not brain surgery, everything is going to be OK!)

So when the opportunity arose to do a bit of pattern testing for a messenger bag I jumped at it! Never mind that I had never actually made a bag before. And though I certainly had the ability to fail, I didn’t. Not even close! In fact, I may now be hooked on making bags – that’s how satisfying this pattern was to complete!

The Messenger Bag pattern came from our friend Melissa of A Happy Stitch. She was looking for folks to try out her new pattern – make sure the instructions made sense, could be easily followed, there were no errors – that sort of thing. I let Melissa know up front that I had never made a bag before but that I was willing to try. I suppose in a way I was the ultimate challenge – teaching someone who has never done something before to do it (and do it successfully at that).

When I received the pattern I opened it up right away, eager to get started. I went first to the list of things I would need – fabric? Check. Thread? Check. Strong needle? Check (though I just used my regular sewing machine needle – shh!) Interfacing. HUH?

I had never used interfacing. I had barely even heard of interfacing – it just wasn’t used in the patterns I’d sewn up to this point. I was stumped…and intimidated.

Now if you know about interfacing you know I had nothing to fear. But I didn’t know that. Isn’t it amazing how just not knowing something can be so paralyzing? Had I not already promised to give my pattern feedback to Melissa, there’s a good chance I may have quietly slipped the pattern onto a shelf and walked away.

Instead I did a bit of digging and found this helpful article (in case you too are interested in what interfacing is). Then, armed with my new knowledge, I hit the fabric store.

It’s no secret that I live in Chicago – and one of the perks of living in a big city is having loads of choices and options at my fingertips, so you probably are thinking I went to some fancy-shmancy fabric store, right? Wrong.

I went to JoAnn Fabrics.

I know some of you may have just gasped – How could she go there?! Doesn’t she know there are better options?! Well, there may be OTHER options, but I’m not going to call them better. Here’s the thing – JoAnn Fabrics has a good selection of reasonably-priced fabrics, the fabrics are quality for what I need them to do/be, the people who work there are generally friendly and knowledgeable, and it’s close by and easy for me to get to. When you always have at least 1 kid in tow, things like “ease” “quality” and “affordability” reign supreme! (So never be ashamed to shop at JoAnn’s!)

The first thing I found was the fabric for the outside of the bag. I loved the bold grey pattern with the hints of yellow and teal. The inside fabric was a bit harder – I nearly went with a very vibrant teal-blue fabric when I saw the mustard colored fabric with it’s small white circle blooms. It seemed like a natural counterbalance to the outside fabric. Then all I needed to find was the interfacing, which I stumbled upon near the cutting counter. Hooray! Now nothing stood between me and this bag.

I think the longest part of putting this bag together was cutting out the pieces and ironing on the interfacing. I used Danielle’s trick of holding my paper pattern pieces down with spoons and cut around the edges with my rotary cutter and was able to get everything cut and ironed on within one evening. The next evening I sewed it all together, which was an incredibly straightforward process – Melissa’s teaching skills (yes, she teaches in-person sewing classes as well) really showed through her clear instructions. And by the end of the second night I had a beautiful, sturdy messenger bag.

I was thrilled!

If you have ever made anything you’re proud of, then you know how I felt once I finished. That special feeling of pride, tinged with a bit of disbelief that I MADE THIS. I tried it on – perfect fit! I sent pictures to my sisters and friends. I was so very happy with this accomplishment! And even more importantly I had the confidence to take on bigger patterns – things I didn’t think I could do yet (or ever).

If you need a new bag, a new sewing project, or a great gift to give, I highly recommend trying out this Messenger Bag pattern. It’s straightforward with easy to follow instructions and a most beautiful outcome. I know I couldn’t be happier!

**I was given the pattern for this bag in order to test the pattern, not to write a review. I’ve written about my experience because I believe in sharing things I love and love to make, as well as celebrating independent makers like Melissa. All the opinions in this piece are my own and I’ve received no compensation for them. I just really, really love this bag!

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