I've got a friend. She's a lovely friend. She's very talented and makes jewellery that I drool over frequently!

She asked me to make her a bag. A messenger bag with many pockets, so I did. She said I could photo it along the way for a pattern so I thought rather than write yet ANOTHER messenger bag pattern I'd just write it up as a tutorial for you to save you all some pennies!

It's quite a long tutorial so I'll be splitting it up this week. Here's the finished bag.

My friend is the perfect client, she buys the fabric she wants, gives me dimensions and her pocket specifications, so this bag is to her liking.


I used upholstery fabric for the outside with some contrasting piping and lined it with natural calico.
It's stabilised with felt but you can use fusible fleece.


Whilst the strap is adjustable, you can make it a fixed length if you prefer.


The bag has a hidden zipper pocket on the inside of the flap which fastens with a magnetic snap.


Inside are a zipped pocket, three patch pockets and a small key chain. My friend uses the keychain to hang bag charms on the outside so it's placed near the top.


The back of the bag has a large back pocket fastened with a magnetic snap. If you wanted to use this to store your iPad or other tablet you can pad and quilt this well to give it some extra protection.

If you're interested in making this bag, I'll post the materials list tomorrow so that you can get ready to sew with me. I think I'll make another one, but for myself, I kinda like it!

If you can think of nothing worse than sewing this bag you're gonna want to skip my blog for the week, you may get kinda bored!