Mini Duffle Bag Purse With Liner + Adjustable Shoulder Strap

One of my guilty pleasures is watching reality fashion-making shows. Recently I watched an episode of one of these shows and one of the contestants made a mini duffle bag purse as an accessory. I was intrigued by the idea, and I decided to try making my own.

I was a production sewist for Duluth Pack a few years ago, so I know a little bit about bag construction, and I remember a lot of the techniques I used there. I also have similar supplies, so aesthetically this bag is similar to something Duluth Pack would make (mine is missing the rivets and leather detail, though). However, I prefer to work with all or mostly natural and organic fabrics, which isn't important for making this bag, but I am taking the opportunity to advocate publicly for the support of organic, local, and regenerative fiber production. I think it is important to keep pesticides out of our soil, water, and bodies. We can work toward that goal by supporting organic fiber producers and choosing more sustainable fibers when we shop.

I'll step off my soapbox now and tell you the things I skipped, which include pre-washing and ironing my fabrics. Pre-washing is generally recommended to avoid the unintended consequences of shrinkage. Ironing fabric makes it easier to cut accurately. I just have a sort of "eye-ballin' it" approach that still yields acceptable results, which some might find annoying. So this is your reminder to pre-wash and iron your fabrics, if you're into that sort of thing.

Fabric + straps:

Medium to heavy weight fabric: 1/4 yd that is at least 36" wide

54" - 60" strapping (I used 1.25" wide cotton webbing but you could also use thinner webbing or nylon webbing)

(optional) for liner: Light to medium weight fabric: 1/4 yd and at least 36" wide

(optional) for raw edges: 1 - 2 yd twill tape or bias tape [the second yd is for seams]

(optional) for adjustable shoulder/cross body strap: 6' - 7' cotton webbing or other strapping (in addition to amount above, which is for hand carry straps)

Hardware:

Zipper, length should be within 1-2 inches of the length of the bag (mine is 9")

1-2 zipper pulls (if using zipper tape rather than a finished zipper)

(optional) for adjustable shoulder strap: 2 D-rings, 2 lobster clips, 1 tri-glide slider (all should be the same size as the webbing!!!)

Tools + Equipment:

sharp scissors

sewing machine

measuring tape/T-square/yardstick/string

straight pins or safety pins

push pin + cardboard for makeshift compass, if needed

lighter (if you are using nylon webbing)

(optional but helpful) NEW, HEAVY DUTY sewing machine needles

Medium to Heavy Weight Fabric: For this instructable, I used a 9" x 18" piece for the main body, a 5" x 14" piece for the side pockets, and two 6" diameter round pieces for the sides. SEE NOTES ON DIMENSIONS BELOW.

(optional liner) Light to Medium Weight Fabric: same dimensions as the main body (here, 9" x 18" and two 6" diameter circles. If desired, you could also line the pockets; in which case you would also need a 5" x 14" piece of your lining fabric.

cut 1 side pocket piece 5" x 14" (this will be divided using stitches to form both pockets)

cut 8" - 9" zipper (or get a premade zipper) and 1-2 pulls

twill tape or bias tape: ~ 1yd for pocket tops + zipper

(optional) twill tape to cover seams 1 yd additional twill/bias tape

webbing 4.5' - 5'

{A NOTE ON THE POTENTIAL FOR NEEDING A BOTTOM SEAM:} When I got to step 7 I realized it might be difficult to add the zipper without having a *still open* bottom seam. I was able to add the zipper without cutting the bag, but it will depend on your sewing machine and the bag dimensions you choose. I would need to experiment with different sizes to be able to say for sure but I think a larger bag would be harder to finish without adding a bottom seam. In the case that you want a bottom seam, you can cut the main body and pocket pieces in half, then rearrange the steps as follows: 1, 2, 5, 7, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9.

[A note on the bag dimensions:] You can easily adjust the dimensions to suit your needs, but if you want round sides you need to match the length of the main body of the bag with the circumference of the sides. If you choose the size of the circular sides first, measure the circumference with flexible measuring tape or a piece of string to get your bag body piece length. Otherwise, you choose the length and then figure out the side circle radius (divide the length by 6 for a little margin of error). For example, I wanted to use a specific fabric for my liner and I had just a fat quarter of it. Half the fat quarter is 9" x 18", which gives me some extra fabric to line the sides and maybe make a little matching coin purse. 18" / 6 = 3", which is the radius. I made a compass by cutting a piece of cardboard 3" long, secured it to another piece of cardboard with a thumb tack, drew a reference dot at the end of the 3" piece, and held my pencil against the dot to draw a decent circle.

Mark the bag with a pencil, chalk, washable ink or other temporary indicator of where you want your straps to be. My straps are 1.25" wide and I want them about 1.5" from the sides of the bag. I want my pockets under the straps so I need to prepare my pockets first. I just want to center my pockets over the bag's main body. The pocket piece should be 3" from the zipper edges and 2.25" from the side edges.

Cut a length of twill tape to fold over the raw edges of the side pockets. Fold the twill tape in half and wrap it over the pocket tops. Sew it in place. If you don't have twill tape or don't want to use it, you can add an extra inch to the length (5" x 15") and then fold the ends of the fabric twice to finish them with a hem. Pin the pockets in place on the twill tape edges. Find and mark the center line between these two edges and sew along it. This separates the two pockets from each other. I should note that I ended up sewing 2 lines at the bottom of the bag since the pockets were too deep and narrow to reach all the way in.

The fourth photo gives you an idea of what my bag would look like if I just hemmed the pocket instead of covering it with twill tape.

Pin the straps where you want them before sewing. I traced a line with my T-square about 1.5" from the fabric edge on either side to guide strap placement, which helps. However you place your straps, make sure to cover the raw edges of the pocket fabric for a more polished look. I used one continuous piece of webbing for the straps. I started by sewing one end along the center line, then following the lines I drew with the outside edge of the webbing, and leaving enough material on either side for grab handles. I folded the other end of the webbing once and overlapped the starting end so that no raw edges are showing. Then I sewed the edges of the webbing down, making a long rectangle with a "boxed X" on either side next to the top of the pockets. I also made a "boxed X" over the spot where the edges of the straps are joined.

If you want to line your bag, now is the time to sew your liner fabric to your shell fabric. Pin the WRONG sides together (right sides facing out) and sew around the edges. Try to keep the margins narrow so your stitches don't show in the finished product. Finish zipper edges and pocket tops with twill tape or fold over and hem. The first photo shows the stitches you are covering up by using a liner. The second photo is a reminder to keep the straps out of the way as you sew the liner to the shell.

If you want to be able to put a long strap on the mini duffle to turn it into a cross body bag, adding D-rings will be immensely helpful. If you use nylon webbing, burn the edges to stop it from fraying. Thread the webbing through the D-ring and fold it in half over the straight edge. line the edges up with the bag body side edge, at least 1/2" from the zipper and tack it on close to the edge. I left a big margin with my webbing as I sewed it to the bag body. Since I planned to cover the seams, and covering the seams is MUCH easier when all the seam edges are even, I trimmed the webbing back to align with the bag seam edges and burned it again.

Add the second D-ring on the opposite side of the zipper but in a similar position. This will help balance the bag if it is carried by a longer strap. You can play around with the positioning of the D-rings by pinning them in place and suspending them with a strap or twine to see where they work the best.

If you are using a pre-made zipper, skip to the NEXT paragraph. Otherwise, cut a length of zipper that is almost as long as the edge you are adding it to (my edge is 9" and I cut an 8" zipper). I wanted 2 zipper pulls on my mini duffle, so I added both from opposite sides. I used a Singer heavy duty sewing machine to make the bag, but even that is not capable of sewing through a zipper without breaking a needle or worse. Industrial sewing machines can handle such a task, but if you don't have one there are a couple of options for securing a zipper:

1. work your way through the zipper using the manual crank on the side of you sewing machine (I haven't tried this but I recently read an instructable that suggests it)
2. Using either twill tape or your shell (outer) fabric, cut a small rectangle at least as wide as your zipper tape and long enough to fold in half and still make up the difference in length between the zipper and the bag edge. Keep in mind you are going to add this to both sides of the zipper. Fold in half and put it on the end of the zipper so that the folded edge is perpendicular to the zipper and overlapping it by at least half an inch. Sew both sides of each end.

Take the finished zipper and line it up with one bag edge, pinning it if needed. Position it so that the zipper tape is covered but not the action part of the zipper (the fabric could get snagged).

Now the next part (attaching the zipper to the other edge) actually was really tough and if the bag was much bigger I probably would have had to cut it in half. I recall now that many of the Duluth Pack bags I made in the past had bottom seams, and that zippers were added earlier in the construction process. My sewing machine has a removable section, so I took that off. This enabled me to reach the middle of the zipper from either side. The main concern is avoiding sewing through another part of the bag. If you can do that, you won't need to make a bottom seam.

Side seams can be on the inside or outside of your bag. If they are outside of the bag, they should be covered in twill tape for both protection and aesthetics. On the inside you can leave them raw or cover them in twill tape to increase bag longevity.

If you want your side seams on the outside, pin the sides on with the liner fabric touching. If you want the side seams on the inside, turn the bag inside out and pin the sides together with the shell fabric touching. Then sew around the circle.

If you put your seams on the inside, you can topstitch the seams on the outside (best done AFTER covering the seams with twill tape, if desired)

Once you have sewn your sides on, you can prepare them to be covered with twill tape by trimming the raw edges so that all of them are even. It is okay to cut through stitches, as long as there are intact stitches further into the margins that will hold the bag together. Start the twill tape at the bottom of the bag so the joining of the two ends will be less noticeable. Finish the twill tape by folding it over on the end so no raw edges are hanging out.

Making adjustable straps is actually super easy! As long as you have the supplies (5-7 feet of webbing or other strapping, 2 lobster clips or similar clasper, and a tri-glide), all you need to do is sew 2 boxed Xs at the ends of the strapping. I used a dog collar to help me figure out where to place everything--it might help you if my photos or instructions aren't clear enough. Start by threading your strapping though the middle of the tri-glide, then fold the raw end over. Sew a boxed X over this fold close to the tri-glide but not so close that your sewing machine foot gets in the way. Then take the long end of the webbing, thread it through one lobster clip, then through the tri-glide, then through the second lobster clip. Fold the end over and sew a boxed X over it.