Quilted Messenger Bag Tutorial

Quilted Messenger Bag Tutorial

 

I recently decided to try making messenger bags to put my quilts inside to ship.  I hate shipping them "naked," so I decided they needed more than the basic tote I usually make out of left overs.  These were the results.  I hope you enjoy making one of these as much as I did!

You will need:

56" of the material of your choice - this can be split between 2 different prints if you want the lining to be different than your outer material.  I chose just a basic woven cotton for my bags and made the lining out of the same as the outer material.

fusible fleece or other dense batting - I had fusible fleece on hand, so that is what I used.  Whatever batting you use needs to be dense in order to give the bag some stiffness.  If you use a lighter batting I would recommend using a layer of fusible interfacing to give the bag more body.

Thread - contrasting or coordinating.  I used a neutral ecru because I wanted it to show a bit on the quilting, but not detract from the overall effect of the lovely print.

Sewing machine

 

 
Now, you need to cut your material in the following pieces:
 
1 - 17" x Width of Fabric (WOF) - outer material
1 - 19" x WOF - lining material
4 - 6" x 12" - 2 outer and 2 lining material
2 - 2" x WOF - outer material
1 - 4" x 54"  - outer material
 
You will also need to cut the fleece into the following pieces:
 
1 - 18" X 45"
2 - 6" X 13"
1 - 1.5" X 54"

 Layer the large pieces of fabric with the fleece and fuse.  The 19" piece will go on the bottom (right side down) and then the fleece and then the 17" piece right side up.  If your fleece/batting isn't fusible, pin the layers together.

Follow the same steps with the 6" X 12" pieces to make the 2 sides for the bag. (lining material on the bottom right side down, fleece, outer material right side up).


If you are using a lighter batting, layer the piece of interfacing on top of the lining material and then place the batting on top of that.  That way the quilting will show up on the outer piece.

(Alternately, you can quilt all the pieces together and then cut apart. If you want to do this, you will need a 23" piece for the outer material and a 25" piece for the lining.  The fleece will need to be 24".)

You are using a larger piece on the bottom since the quilting process may shift the batting and lining.  This will give you some "slop" for the lining and batting.

Quilt the layered materials as you wish, but it needs to be relatively densely quilted to again add some stiffness to the sandwich. 

I decided to use vertical lines as my quilting.  If you choose to use this style of quilting, remember to reverse the direction you quilt each line so the sandwich will lay flat. 

You can see kitty Percy's toes as he inspects my work

Square up the quilted pieces, trimming off the excess fleece and lining.  Make sure the sides and ends are straight and the corners are 90 degree angles.  Make sure you trim at least 1" off the ends to remove all the selvedge.  Your finished large piece should be about 16" X WOF less selvedge.  Your two smaller pieces should be about 5.5" X 12".

If you chose to quilt all the pieces as one, now is the time to cut the pieces apart.  You should end up with one 16" X WOF and two 5.5" X 12" side pieces.

Slightly round the bottom corners of the side pieces. 

 

With outer sides together, line up top of side piece and one end of the large piece .  Pin if desired, easing around corners.  Stitch 3/8" seam along entire length of side piece, ease around corners and back up the other side.

Trim seam allowance close to stitching, being careful to not cut into the seam. 

Turn bag inside out and make sure corners are fully pushed out. 

Now we are going to "French" the seams.

Sew 3/8" seam around the outer edge of side, completely enclosing the initial seam. 

Repeat for other side.

 

 Ok, I have to confess now!  I was so excited to complete the bag that I forgot to take pictures of the next few steps.  I will be making another bag soon and will be sure to take pictures of this part and will add them to this tutorial.


Now, on to binding the raw edges. . .

Fold narrow ends of 2" strips to wrong side and iron (about 1/2" is good).  Now fold the strips in half lengthwise (wrong sides together) and iron.  This will be the binding for the top edge of the bag and the outer flap.


On the outside of the bag, line up the raw edges of the binding even with the raw edge of the top of the bag (start where the side meets the flap).  Stitch to outside of bag with 1/4" seam.  Flip the binding to inside over the raw edges and stitch down close to the folded edge of the binding.


 
 
 



Slightly round the corners of the flap (just as you did the side pieces).  Use the other piece of binding to cover the raw edges of the flap.  Again, on the outside of the bag flap line up raw edges of binding with the raw edges of the flap and sew down with 1/4" seam.  Flip the binding over the raw edges and sew down close to folded edge of binding.








Almost done! Now to make the strap.



Piece the 4" X 54" strip if needed (I used part of the left over
6" strip and trimmed it down to 4" and added that to my 4" X WOF strip to make the strip 54" long).  Fold the strip in half lengthwise right sides together and sew 1/4" seam from raw edges making a very long tube.  Fuse the 1.5" strip of fleece to the wrong side of one side of the strap.  ** Be careful to put the fleece on the bottom with the fusible side to the strap.  The first time I did this I made the mistake of putting the fleece on top of the strap and tried to iron it directly.  Take my word for it, you don't want to do this.  The fleece melted and I ended up with the adhesive on my iron!  It took forever to clean it off.

Carefully turn the tube so the right sides are on the outside.  Iron flat. Sew several lines of stitching the entire length of the strap to hold the fleece in place and keep the strap flat.  Again, remember to reverse the direction of each line of stitching to keep the strap flat.

Fold end of strap under 1/2" and then again about 2".  Center on side and sew down, going over seams several times to reinforce.  I stitched each side 2 times and then made an X between the seams for extra reinforcement.  Be careful to not catch the front or flap into the stitching.

Do the same for the other end, attaching to the opposite side.  Be careful when you attach the other end to make sure your strap isn't twisted.  (It's a real hassle to have to take out all those reinforcing stitches when you have a twisted strap - ask me how I know!)

And we're done! 

The bag can be embellished with applique or pockets can be added to the front, back, flap, inside, or ?  Just be sure to add any pockets after quilting the layers and before sewing the sides on.  Have fun making the bag your own! 

I'd love to see your finished projects!  Just post me a pic in the comments.




Our cat Percy feels it's his job to inspect all work done in the sewing room



Loaded with a quilt for shipping


 


With quilts, ready to be shipped to their new homes