Outdoor Friendly Parachute Cord Backpack

This backpack is easy to make, involves no sewing, and is great for the outdoors.
It can also be made with a variety of materials and the size can be personalized.
It is a great on the go bag, and can also be a super fun craft. 

Materials
- 1/2 yard of canvas in desired color
- 16 feet of parachute cord in desired color
- 5 plastic parachute buckles 
- Pins (I used paper clips but pins are preferable)

Tools
- Ruler 
- Scissors 
- Whole puncher 
- LIghter

Cut the canvas to a yard by half yard 
If you wish can changes the dimensions to alter the size of the bag

Fold the canvas over so that it looks like a 1/2 yard by 1/2 yard square. Crease the folded edge as best you can.
Next, unfold the bag and fold each of the full yard edges over about 1in. Crease this edge too.
This is the basic shape of the bag. 

Take the bottom of the corner of the bag and fold over the sides to create the width of the bag. I made mine about an inch but this can be altered based on the needs of the person using the bag. 
Make sure you pin the corners in a very secure fashion because they are the base of the whole bag. 

Use whatever sharp point you have handy (I used small scissors) to make the wholes for the cord to thread to.
Make one whole on the bottom of the bag, close to the corner, and one on each of the inside flaps, also close to the corner. 
Tie the end of the cord near the bottom of the bag to one side of the parachute clips. Once the cord is on tight, burn the end to avoid fraying (If this is the end of the the cord, it was probably already burned by the company that made it.)
It is important that the wholes are big enough for the cord to fit though, but not big enough that the cord will wriggle inside the hole.
If you wish, would can also burn the edges of the holes to prevent fraying.
 

Starting on the whole that goes through the bottom of the bag, thread the parachute cord into the side of the bag.
Then snake it around and into the first hole on the inside edge. 

Using the same technique you did for the corner holes, make a whole on each side of the inside edge flap. 
If you want the parachute cord to show, you can put the holes through both the inside and outside edge flaps. 
Try to make the holes as close to each other as possible in order to secure the content of the bag

Continue treading the parachute cord through the holes, in a weaving manor. 

Tie a knot at the top of the bag to keep your sides as secure as possible. 

Figure out how long you want your straps to be. Remember that you can always cut some of the cord to make the straps shorter, but it's much harder than longer. 
Also consider what you plan on carrying in the bag. If the content will be heavier, shorter straps will make the load less straining. 

Once you have your desired length, tie the parachute cord onto the other end of the clip. 
Make sure the cord it tight and burn the end to avoid fraying once you cut it. 

Repeat steps 4 - 12 in the most symmetrical way possible. 
Awkward differences in sides of the bag will affect the weight balance. 

To keep the top of the bag folded over, create this detail at the top. 
First, poke holes through the top of the bag. Again try to keep the holes equidistant from each other 

Take the cord and thread it through the holes. 
Ones the cord it at the right length, cut the cord and burn the ends, to again, avoid fraying. 

So this if the basic look of the bag.
Obviously, if you changed the dimensions or you chose to expose the parachute cord on the sides, the bag will look different, but this is the general look!