Gusseted Girly Messenger Bag – Great Valentine Gift

By Admin on January 11, 2012 in Wearable

Yo-yos on Girly Messenger bag by Niki Meiners

This feminine messenger style tote is perfect for a Valentine’s Day gift. It is soft and girly and it can be carried long after. Plus the flowers on this bag will last a lot longer than a dozen roses.

Gusseted Messenger Style Tote

Tools:

Scissors, Cutting matt, needle, thread, pins, Clover Yo Yo Maker in extra small, small, medium, large, extra large circle, small and medium heart and the small and medium flower.

Materials:

Confection Button Collection and FabriTacCream canvas, cream burlap small dark pink rick rack, large light pink rick rack, various scraps of coordinating fabric. Two strips of 6×24”, burlap, Velcro ®

Directions:

1. Cut burlap to 36″ by 22″ to make a bag about the same size as a grocery bag. So if you buy 44″ wide fabric, you can make two bags with a yard. Cut in half. to measure &&& Cut canvas to $x#. Sew the burlap to the canvas. Fold the top edge down 1/2 inch. Then stitch ¼” from edge. Place wrong sides together and sew on the three remaining sides.

2. To make a gusset, flatten the bag with the bottom seam on top. (It looks like an odd triangular shape, but makes more sense when you actually do it). Then sew across the triangle so that your seam is about 3-4″ long (mark it by sliding a ruler down until it reads 3″). When you turn the bag right-side-out, it will stand up like a paper grocery bag just not as deep.

Gusset on Messenger Style Tote

3. Cut striped fabric for handles to 6×24. Fold in one inch on each side finger press. Then stitch ¼” from edge. Fold ends of each tip to form a diagonal and sew along edges. Sew the other end inside the bag. Straps can be made of self-fabric, very sturdy ribbon, matching fabric remnants, nylon webbing, or whatever else seems you have handy. I tied the fabric strips into a knot for a decorative effect.

Knot at the top of the straps

4. To embellish the tote use Fabri-tac to adhere various lengths of rick rack. The rick rack mimics flower stems. Mine vary from 4-10″.

5. Follow manufacturers directions to make the yo-yos. I used a variety of the sizes listed above. Hand sew buttons in the center of each yo-yo. You can either adhere the yo-yos with a quick stitch or you can use the Fabri-Tac.