DIY: Button Bag

 
My mom wanted me to sew her a bag for Christmas. I initially did some sketches of bags and picked one that I thought would be simple to sew. I used some fabric I had on hand to sew a draft of the bag. I got about halfway through…and I didn’t like it. So I simplified the design and tried again—this bag I finished and liked.

With my draft finished, I cut and sewed my mom’s bag. The flap can be buttoned in the front or back of the bag. I wanted some versatility, where the flap could be used to help close the bag, or buttoned in the back to make it more open. In addition, since two fabrics are used, buttoning the flap to the back of the bag allows for a different look, with the interior fabric showing.

This is what I did.

—1—
Cut out two sets of pieces, one fabric for the exterior and one fabric for the interior of the bag.

—2—
With right sides together, sew the two strap pieces together. Trim the seams. And turn the strap right side out. Press and topstitch.

—3—
With right sides together, sew the front and back pieces of one fabric together. Trim the seams and corners. And repeat this with the second set of fabric.

—4—
With right sides together, put one bag inside of the other bag and sew the flap pieces together. Trim the seams and corners.

Note: The two sides need to be kept open to turn the bag right side out and to add the strap.

—5—
Turn bag right side out. Try to get the corners as square as possible. Press bag.

—6—
Put a strap end in about 2.5 inch deep into the openings on each side. Sew the strap to the bag. (Sew a square with an X in the middle to help add stability.)

—7—
Sew the openings for the strap down.

—8—
Press and topstitch the bag.

—9—
Mark the position for the buttonhole on the flap. Sew buttonhole. Sew one button on the front side and one button on the backside. Button Bag complete.