John was refilling the dog food tin yesterday morning. I noticed that the bag the food came in was made out of some thick, waterproof, plastic-like fabric. It seemed a waste to throw it away. I decided to repurpose it into a messenger bag. This is one quick and easy project and only requires basic sewing skills.
First, get a nice durable dog food bag. I’m partial to Purina dog food mainly because it’s affordable, my dog loves it, and they are a local company.
I cut the top off the bag, and then cut the remaining bag in half. This one was about 20 inches long, leaving me with a bottom that was 10″ high and a top piece 10″ high. The bottom will be the “body” of the messenger bag. Decide which part looks more attractive and keep that for the back since the front of the bag will be partially covered by the flap.
Examine your top piece and decide which portion will look best as a front for your bag. Cut this panel out. Flip the panel over and use a drinking glass to draw a curve to the bottom edges. Cut along curve.
This curved piece will be the flap of your messenger bag. It would look nice if the edge were finished with bias tape. Since I had no bias tape on hand and was too lazy to make my own, I cheated and just serged around it.
Pin this flap to the back of your bag and sew it on. Just for reference, I used a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
Turn under a small hem all along the bag edge (1/4 inch is fine) and stitch in place. Now it’s time to make the strap.
Using the remaining portion of the top of the bag to make strap. I cut the remaining piece width-wise in half and then sewed them together to make one long 5″ wide piece.
I turned under a small seam allowance on each edge, then folded the piece in half and sewed the seam shut. This made a strap that was about 2.25 inches wide. This seemed like a good width to me. Alternatively, you could also use belt webbing to make this look more professional.
Sew the strap firmly (I triple stitched) to the sides of the bag.
Voila! You have saved a bag from the trash bin and created a very cute and useful carrier for leashes, frisbees and tennis balls.
Off to the park we go!
Living my simple life 
John said
Awesome bag! I had no idea you could sew them. I am glad someone else thought that these bags are too good to just throw away. I do a lot of woodworking and I use them for covering my workbench during glue up projects. They also work great for yard and garden trimmings.
Tutorial: Messenger from recycled dog food bag · Sewing @ CraftGossip said
[…] Jill from Living My Simple Life shows how she transformed a dog food bag into this messenger bag. The strong graphic elements of the dog food bag give the messenger a hip, edgy look. Want to make one yourself? Go to her tutorial. […]
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Betty said
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Betty
http://smallpet.info
Marleen said
This should work for me too!
And thinking about tomorrow, when I’m visiting my sister, (who has a few horses that eat a lot!). And thinking of the friends of my eldest daughter, all about 10-11 y. old. Many go to horse-riding-lessons.
So I think this is a great bag for the birthdays to come in the new schoolyear! Saves a lot of money! Thank you (when it works out very well, I’ll send a picture!)
Groetjes uit NEderland,
MArleen
Marleen said
My first bag is ready, to bee seen at http://motmugje.blogspot.com/2009/08/geknutsel-geknutsel-geknutsel.html.
See you!
Crochooley said
Did you spray the bag with anything because the bag has real nice luster sheen, shininess to it?
Great job on the tutorial!
Chantal said
Thanks for the tut. After I threw out my dog food bag which we go through frequently, I decided I could have used it, figures. I am going to use it a bottom to a floormat for everyone to put their wet shoes on. I am glad to have found this so now I know it’s possible! Thanks