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 