A couple of week ago I was fortunate to go and see the book Kite Runner as a play at the theatre. My father -in -law loves going to the theatre and happily came with me – somewhat different to his usual choice of a musical. Despite the many bags I have made over the years I realized I didn’t a crossbody bag the perfect size for mobile, wallet and car keys to take with me. This crossbody bag is designed for the essentials, add some boro stitching to add embellishment – one beautiful bag unique to you.

Personally I am rather passionate about bag making – if you are new to bag making I have the perfect Beginners Bag Making Course for you which covers so many essential skills for bag making, and includes many free bag tutorials.

Boro Cross Body Bag Pattern

To make: Layout base pieces of fabric for front of bag, measuring 8 by 12 “.  Place cotton pieces onto the base. Use running stitch and embroidery threads to stitch the patches in place. Hand stitch with running stitch. Be creative. Think about the direction of your stitches. The majority of my stitching runs horizontally, however, I have emphasised the cotton patches with circular stitching or vertical stitching. Choose whether to stitch or leave plain the back of the bag, add any stitching you would like to the back piece. Adhere fusible fleece to the back of the main bag pieces, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Iron the heavyweight interfacing to the back of the lining fabric. Cut out pattern pieces. You will have two front pieces – one of main fabric and one of the lining fabric, and two back pieces. Mark the darts on the front pattern pieces. Stitch them.

Straps

Fold the fabric in half lengthways right sides together. Press. Open out. Fold the raw edges into the middle crease and press. Unfold and refold along the crease marks, for the middle fold so the raw edges are now on the outside. Stitch along the short edges. Trim. Then turn right sides out. Your raw edges will now be encased in the middle of the strap. Two side straps – Fold the fabric in half lengthways right sides together. Press. Open out. Fold the raw edges into the middle crease and press.  Refold along the central crease and press. Top stitch these two side pieces.

Zipper tabs

Fold in short edges of your fabric and press. Fold the fabric in half and press. Cut into half, place zip into folded fabric. Topstitch in place. Place your zip parallel to your front panel piece, trim the zip to correct length. Place second zipper tab over the end of the zip and stitch in place.

Create the bag

Place the front lining piece right side up, the zip on top right side up and then the front main piece wrong side down to create a zip sandwich. Using a zipper foot stitch along 1/4″ from the zip. Fold out and lightly press. Top stitch to prevent the fabric becoming caught in the zip. Repeat for the back of the bag. Place side straps, with a threaded D ring on each 1/2″ down from the zip, facing inwards towards the bag. Baste in place. Unzip the zip part way (essential step!). Place the right sides of the external bag together, and the rights sides of the lining together. Pin round. Stitch all around the bag leaving a turning gap of 4″ along the base of the lining. Trim the seam allowance, Turn through. Ladder stitch to close the opening in the base seam of the lining. Lastly, thread your long strap through the D Ring and stitch to secure. If you love making bags you may like my alternative super simple small crossbody bag, or how about a sashiko denim tote? Or check out all my free bag patterns and tutorials. Don’t forget to sign up to my resource library, through the newsletter. There are several free PDF bag patterns for you to enjoy.