Crossbody Sling Bag 2.0

No, it's not an April Fool's joke; I'm remaking it!

In my second "bucket list" post, I indicated that I wanted to make another one of my crossbody sling bags before retiring this blog.

It became apparent to me when we flipped over into a new year that I'd have to to make that bag sooner rather than later, plans for this blog notwithstanding. The ribbon and fabric pieced front flap had begun to separate along a seam, adding to the general signs of wear and tear that have become more and more noticeable to me.

Given that I've been using it almost exclusively since July 2020, it's actually held up well. (Avoiding future separating ribbon problems will be a priority, however, on the new bag.) On an unrelated note, it's surprising how well I've adapted to carrying so little with me.

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Actual sewing doesn't take long...

Since offering up the pattern free to all comers in August 2020, it's a mystery to me how many times it's been downloaded. (Because the file is just stored on Google Drive, there's no default way to track access.) However, an enhanced version of the pattern — enhanced with construction photos; still no actual "tutorial style" instruction — is also sold in my Makerist shop for a few dollars and I do know how many sales I've had there. The number is not insignificant and yet I've never seen anyone's actual finished bag.

Perhaps it's more of a challenge than I anticipated? Could be. (I'll admit that I had to get help from my past self for this redo.) But then there are pattern hoarders out there just as there are fabric hoarders. The number of people who have attempted the project is likely quite a bit smaller than the number who have downloaded/purchased it.

By way of a yardstick, apart from testers' efforts, I've only ever seen people's renditions of my MyTie, Hot Hues, Crafty Cosmetics Caddy, MIY and Wave Purse Organizer projects; nothing else.

To that end, I thought that as long as I was making another one, why not take photos along the way? Perhaps with that extra bit of help, my chances of seeing someone else's crossbody sling bag will increase.

A more subdued version than the first...

The fabrics used for this new bag are my own creations from Spoonflower. The main one is Untangle My Zen (Micro) in a lightweight cotton twill; the binding is Spirogr*phing in petal signature cotton. (Check out the origin story behind the zen fabric here; it was one of my favourite creative experiences.)

The lining is — just as with my original bag — a thin black ripstop nylon. I complained about the crinkling noise after I made the first bag and can now confirm that it does go away with use. But now I'm crinkling again!

Back view... can you see the two lower pockets?

Given the opportunity of new construction, I decided to add two pockets to the back of the bag. The first one is just a piece of ribbon at the top, underneath where the swivel hook is installed. The cart coin that hangs there often falls off (the coin itself; the obvious problem being that the holder is not tight enough), so this pocket should alleviate that issue while I'm carrying the bag.

Mini pocket to keep my cart coin in place!

The section of ribbon is only sewn down along its bottom edge. During the final binding of the bag, the sides are secured. (Kinda like adding a pocket to a bag gusset.)

Ironic point to make about this pocket, having now used this bag for over a month. I actually lost my cart coin recently! I think the token itself was the problem; I've since replaced it with a loonie (Canadian dollar coin) and it fits much more tightly in the holder.

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I am still masking up when grocery shopping (among the five to ten percent who do, but I've managed to avoid getting Covid and still don't want it) so this back slip pocket is where I store my mask. My grocery list has also occupied that same space up to now. With the opportunity for some reimagining, a new patch pocket was created for the back.

The main slip pocket in the back...

It wasn't deliberately fussy cut, but when it came time to place it, the pocket fit perfectly on top of an identical section of fabric, in a position that was also more or less centered. How serendipitous!

A serendipitously matched up pocket!

The fabric for this additional pocket was left over from the original fat quarter, so with this remake, I can confirm that a single (wide width; the cotton twill FQ is 18" x 29") fat quarter with a non-directional print — that's important, as this fabric has been used both right side up and upside down here — should suffice for the exterior of the bag.

Erk... why do I have straight binding??

On a side note, I'm not sure what happened with my supply of binding. Usually a regular (18" x 22") fat quarter will produce more than enough continuous binding, but something happened between the fall of 2020 and the near spring of 2023 in terms of the type and amount of binding that was in my project bag. (I actually made the binding some time ago.)

Always one to confirm whether or not there's enough of whatever before going forward with a project, I did the basic "lay the binding around the parts that are to be bound" and discovered that I had just enough.

That was a bit weird, considering I thought I should have more than enough. But that wasn't the most serious of my problems. Just before finishing off the flap pocket, I realized that one of the two sections of binding was straight; i.e., not cut on the bias.

Straight binding is not a substitute for bias!

In hindsight, I could have opted to bind the flap pocket in a different fabric altogether, but in that moment, a decision was made to make do. The corners would certainly wind up with a wrinkle or two, but since the print on both fabrics is so "busy", it likely wouldn't be obvious in the final finish.

As of this writing, I still don't know what happened to my supply of binding. I have a vague memory of having gone into that project bag to take some, but without doing an extensive search through my blog archives or my sewing room, I can't think of what it might have been used for prior to this... or why I ended up with some straight binding.

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Anyhoo.

Here is the interior of the flap pocket. You can see my almost origami card holder inside. I still keep my "older than old" cellphone in there.

The first day that I used this new bag, I realized that I'd reversed the direction of the two zippers. It felt slightly odd, but after a few days, I got used to it.

View inside flap pocket...

The next photo is of the main interior compartment. (You'll clearly notice in this photo that I forgot to account for the fact that when you split up a section of fabric to put a zipper in between, a diagonal pattern — in this case, the piece of ribbon — no longer has the illusion of continuing smoothly. D'oh!)

Main compartment...

To address the ribbon problem of the original bag, this one was directly sewn on top of the fabric. I also glued it first. Of course, all of this generally prevented me from easily fixing the off-centered-ness of the diagonal trim. (For those of you wanting to create the illusion of a smooth break, do not sew the ribbon all the way to the top corner of the underlying fabric. Stop at the point where the piece is marked to be cut for the zipper. After the bottom half of the zipper is attached, move the remaining ribbon segment to the left — a 1/2" or so; depends on the width of your zipper and how closely you sew it — before stitching it down onto the other piece of fabric.)

I was somewhat surprised by how much I needed to refer back to my "instructions" (such as they were) in the first couple of days. That was the main reason I decided to take apart the old bag after I started cutting fabric for this one.

Not only did it give me the chance to reuse certain components...

Does this look familiar?

... it also acted as a refresher course on how to make the bag!

If you've been stumped by this project and would like some additional help, I suggest you come back in a couple of weeks for the dismantling of my original bag. At that time, I will also upload a PDF with construction photos of this new bag for a limited time free access (after which, it will only be available via the paid version of the pattern).

'Til next...