Messenger Bag for DH

By now as most of you know how DH* thinks I should concentrate on my job and try and enhance it further than 'waste' all my time outside work searching patterns and looking tutorials and oohing and ahhing at everyone's creations and inspirations...

Well, I asked a few of my friends and the trick to 'winning him over' was apparently to sew him all the stuff he'd say he needed to buy. Problem is, he never 'needs' anything! I'm the one who keeps buying things that are rarely used but are there for the just-in-case moment that arrives once every three months (okay.. I admit it.. I'm a shopaholic). But so what!! He still needs to buy SOMETHING!!



And so it goes, if you look for something hard enough you find it! He has joined this Computer class and needs to carry his CDs, Notes and a book to the class. He uses the Store-bought Messenger/Laptop bag we have. On the 5th day of the class, he made a BIG FUSS of how bulky his current bag was (or may be he just passingly mentioned it... I forget.. ;) So I took upon myself the task of freeing him of his weighing-down bag and make him a smaller, comfier and a more resourceful one instead.


 

This was my first ever try at making a bag with a gusset. It was inspired from all the numerous tutorials I have read from all you wonderful people out there but was mostly based on an old tattered bag from our college days I still carry that he mentioned he'd like to have a bag like. It has a gusset all the way like a Hobo bag. If I had sewn a zipper top like the tutorials I found, there'd have been room at the top for the rain to seep in (Its the rainy season here). Hence the flap. The bag is made of water-proof material (vinyl backed nylon). I never thought I'd be able to sew the gussets.. but using pins... LOTS of pins did the trick. I still wasn't able to get perfect corners because of the extra-stiff and thick fabric, however I'm pretty pleased with the result. Besides you wouldn't know the difference if you sewed and I barely know anyone who does around here.

The second photo seems a bit weird (according to me) because its a full shot showing my foam board resting on the chair and all the mess around, I usually shoot photos so that the foam board is the only background. Its the first time I've sewn something as big (after the Gym bag but I shot pictures of it outside the house) as this and so the poor little foam board was rather inadequate.

The black bag was too plain so I painted the Tribal Sea Shell on it. It was inspired (but not copied - I ran out of carbon paper) from this T-Shirt print. Here's a Close-up (I spelled hubby's name 'Shailesh' in those spikes on the shell and D is our Family name).




Oh I forgot to tell you how over-joyed DH* was after I gave it to him!! He was over the moon that I sewed something for him! I don't understand why, though. All he needed to do was ask and I'd have made it for him. I hate that no one seems to care for hand-sewn stuff here. We get custom-tailored bags, clothes and everything so cheap that people just don't seem to appreciate the efforts behind them I guess :(

So you see winning husbands over is not that hard... Just keep listening to their subtle hints. Oh, why am I telling you this, most of you know that already! I learnt that strategy from some of you you!

So glad to have sewn something after sooooooo long. I realized again how relaxing actually making something that's on your mind for a while is (this time it was 3 whole days!).

BTW, if you're wondering how long it takes to make this,  I drafted the pattern using a cardboard file and cut the pieces in a hour and a half (while DH* was sleeping) and made the bag in 2 and a half hours while he was out for his class (his class is for 3 hours).

Here are some super cool messenger bag tutorials:

• Messenger Bag with Zip top Closure
• Basic Messenger Bag
• A Cool Messenger Bag
• Messenger Bag with a Gusset
• A Pink Messenger Bag
• My All time favorite Kiddo Messenger Bags With the cutest Appliques

But the bag I made is mostly based on this methodology plus the basic construction of a messenger bag like the flap:
Boxed Cushion Covers


*Note - DH to be read as DICK HEAD! Because of whose stalking I had to move all my posts to a blog that's not searchable and I'm never posting its link up here again.

I mean it.. If you don't stop visiting the blog I will irrecoverably delete it. Its only fair.