Impermeable Book Belt Bag

One of my birthday's presents was a handmade leather notebook. It was so cool I decided it would carry it everywhere in case inspiration got me on the run!

I wanted to make a kind of bag to hang on my jeans. But it had to be something I could detach every time I need to wash my trousers. Also, I wanted to switch it from one pair of trousers to another. Not so difficult so far…. but what if it rains? Ok, it also had to be impermeable… that seemed a bit more difficult. But I found a way to do it.

Wanna know how? Here are all the answers!

MATERIALS:

- A cool leather handmade notebook (or anything you want to carry around)

- An impermeable tablecloth (a piece is enough)

- Any fabric to cover the impermeable and ugly tablecloth (I used velvet)

- Velcro

- One carabiner

- Two jumping rings

- Something to decorate it

- Thread + needle + thimble

Look for a piece of an old impermeable tablecloth (preferably those that are plastic-like). Take the notebook (or the object you’ve chosen) and cut a piece big enough to cover it. Then cut it into the desired form. Cut it with a little tab to close it. I added some pins to see whether the notebook fitted inside.

(the plastic side of the tablecloth will face outwards).

Do the same thing with the fabric you’ve chosen. This time it will be easier because you already have the tablecloth piece as a pattern. Make it a little bigger than the impermeable piece because it needs to cover the whole inner layer.

Remove all pins. Then put a pin in the spot that you will fold. This will prevent the fabric from moving (see picture).

Attach both layers together with more pins. Place the notebook inside to make sure it fits. Remember you need to do this with the whole bag inside out!

Stitch (temporarily) both layers together.

Cut the extra fabric.

Sewing machine time! Now, sew the layers together (you can also do it by hand, if needed). You'll need a strong needle because the impermeable piece is quite hard and you can break it. Once you have sewn it, turn the whole thing outside in. Ta da! The work is almost done!

As you can see, the tab was white so I decided to cover it with more fabric. I sew it with the sewing machine.

Now the hardest part: sewing the velcro. Due to the stiffness of the impermeable fabric I couldn’t sew it with the sewing machine; I made it by hand, so… USE A THIMBLE!!

And the last two steps: the decoration and holding it to the jeans. I wanted to do something witchy but punk at the same time. I had a piece of chain I sewed by hand on the lateral. If you want you can sew it with invisible thread: it's so cool because it’s totally invisible but I didn't have one at the moment and I had to use regular thread…

The chain is part of the decoration but also the way to hang the bag on my jeans. I attached the chain to a carabiner with two jumping rings. I used a carabiner because I thought it would be perfect to change the bag from jeans to jeans.

And finally, I add a little key to give it a misterious touch.