Utility Sling Bag From Old Pants

Hello there! It's been a long time since I wrote an instructable, and looking back, the ones I did make me cringe, but I was making this at the same time as the fabric challenge, so I just had to write it up.

I'm not actually sure what to call this bit of gear - I took my inspiration from cross-body sling bags, but it's all pockets and no bag. I made it primarily because I hate using my pants pockets. Half of them are too small and even when they aren't, my phone/wallet just make little sweaty patches on my legs and are impossible to pull out if I'm sitting (say in the passenger seat of a car, or on an airplane, etc where I can't easily get up). Moreover, it annoys me to pull out all my stuff every night - during the spring/fall/winter I usually have a coat or jacket that I simply leave my keys, wallet, and any other currently-important items in, and then I just know I have them when I leave the house (or the cold reminds me I don't!).

Finally, I'm broke. I barely manage to pay for college, let alone decent fabric yardage, so when my dad ripped a large and awkwardly placed hole in a pair of work pants, I jumped on the material. I couldn't find a tag, but they seem to be a cotton/synthetic blend. And, while the hole indicates otherwise, they have a similar appearance to ripstop nylon weave, which makes the bag look pretty slick.

So, given the convenient material and some travel coming up (I mentioned plane seats?), I made this panel of pockets to solve the problem. Have similar issues with your pockets? Read on!

Can you tell why these pants were slated for scrap?

Fabric - exact yardage, I'm not sure. I didn't use a particular pattern for this, so the first step is to figure out your dimensions. In fact, I'm not even exactly sure what size the pants were, but suffice to say that an XL+ pair will get you in the ballpark if that's how you want to make this.

Nylon strap - pick up a roll at Walmart. You'll have spare.

Strap hardware - buckle if you want it, slide adjusters, tab adjuster. You can find it right next to the nylon strapping.

Athletic shirt - ok, ok. It's not *all* pants. If you're buying raw fabric, look for a breathable material; this is for the backside/strap of the bag. This is optional, however; I'll explain more when it comes up.

Old socks - why in the great blue dickens? I use them as padding in the strap. Very optional, and very replaceable; again, I'll explain more in the relevant step.

Some kind of paper for cutting a pattern shape - I happen to have a roll of tracing paper. If you don't, newspaper will work fine for this project, as long as you can see the lines you mark.

A sewing machine - I actually fully believe in the power of handsewing, but I'm too weak to walk the walk. I used a machine, but there aren't any fancy stitches, so if you know your way with a needle then it shouldn't be a problem.

Snaps - completely optional. They were part of my original plan for the pockets but I haven't had time to add them and may or may not bother. Don't get heavy duty ones - they're too heavy.

A different zipper (or an extra, or both) - depending on the size of your pants and how good you are at cutting zippers, you may not need one. The pants I used had a humongous zipper that didn't suit my needs and I didn't have the supplies to crimp the end of it... So instead, I took the zippers out of two other, smaller, pants that were also headed for the donation bin. Don't worry, I'll use the fabric at some point, they won't be wasted.

Standard sewing tools - scissors, ruler, tape measure, a marking tool, thread, seam ripper, etc. An iron is handy but not really necessary. Highly recommend you use one anyway.

I don't deal much with exact measurements unless I need to make identical pieces of something or a similar scenario. And even if I did, this is a project that is very customizable (and should be customized to fit you better), so this step is less a series of steps and more an explanation of how I made my design.

First and foremost, I made a drawing of what I wanted. I knew I wanted a pocket for my phone and one for my wallet; I also knew I wanted at least a more pouch-styled one and a few more. Drawing it out made it obvious that I would need to put the phone at the bottom part of the bag, and I worked from there. I figured I could stack a pocket on both the phone and wallet ones, and simply put the pouch at the top where there was space.

Next, I took an eyeballer measurement. I don't remember exactly what I came up with, but I have a very small torso, so there are good odds that you'll want it bigger anyway, to maximize space. After that, I drew out the general curve of the right length on a piece of paper and put my phone and wallet underneath it, using them to sketch out the rest of the shape. Then I cut it out and held it up to be sure. Don't be afraid to do this more than once - I actually made two patterns total before I was happy. It's just paper. MAKE SURE you add half an inch of seam allowance around the whole thing.

Speaking of the two patterns - my second pattern was actually just a modification of the first with an extra two inches in the back, for the strap to attach to. Make sure you account for the strap attachment point when you're designing this. AN IMPORTANT NOTE on the attachment points: this is my second attempt at a sling bag. My last attempt flopped when I attempted to "improve" the strap, and made new attachment points lower than the top of the bag. This caused any part of the bag above those points to sag away from my chest in an awkward and uncomfortable manner. Don't make my mistakes - attach the strap at the highest points on the bag.

You are probably wondering why I don't have a picture of pants being disassembled. Unfortunately, I didn't think of making an instructable for this until I was halfway through the project. Fortunately, I had some other disassembly to do, and taking apart assembled, sewn objects tends to follow the same general pattern.

Now, will you need to actually disassemble the pants? Well, if you want the zipper, you'll need to do at least a part of it. I also find this is a generally useful skill to know because if I need an extra inch of fabric, I can often find it in a hem or seam allowance that I haven't undone yet.

So - introducing my former sling bag (also made from a pair of pants, actually), which I mentioned in the last step. I removed and reused the strap from it in this new bag - just without the faulty attachment points.

TO BEGIN - find the seam. If you examine your pants/other object, you'll likely find seams - places where two pieces of fabric are attached together with thread. I point to one in picture two (using the seam ripper). This is a very delicate and complicated process - you need to hook a bit of that thread and push the seam ripper through it so that it cuts on the tiny blade the thing has. After that, you pull at the fabric until you can see more seam and 'rip' that too. Repeat until it comes free, as demonstrated in pictures three and four.

Picture 5 illustrates a slightly trickier seam - you can't *see* the thread. At this point, I usually stick the seam ripper in along the seam as demonstrated in picture 6, and push until I feel something cut. The risk? You could slice a few millimeters of your fabric instead. This method gets me a hole often enough to risk a few millimeters. Once I have the hole, I can usually see more thread and finish it off.

Congrats, you have scavenged material!

There are two pieces I cut out with the main pattern. First was the front - this came from the pants. A word to note on using old pants - try to use fabric from the front of the thighs and back of the calves - it tends to be the least worn. You can also usually tell where it's worn or not worn by looking at them.

Anyway - this front piece, I simply traced the pattern on the calf of the pants and cut it out. The back piece, however, was on stretchy material that was too dark to mark. So, I pinned it in place - see picture 3 - and cut around it. Easy money... Just don't accidentally cut your pattern.

You know how I said I got the idea to write an instructable halfway through? Well. This is a demonstration, not the actual pockets. That works, though, because it means you can customize the knowledge to your own benefit all the better!

Once again, I demonstrate my disregard for exact measurements. This time it bit me - the pocket I intended for my wallet ended up being too small. Fortunately, one of the extra pockets served perfectly, but learn from me and add at least 1/4" to 1" of slack in your design, depending on how big it is. Use your judgment.

Our demonstration pocket will be for a sharpening stone I found (picture 1), which is conveniently cuboid. That doesn't mean you can't make pockets for less exact things, like say wallets - simply estimate sizes if you can't trace well and err on the side of too big. To begin with, I take the object I want to make a pocket for (or a general dimension if I just want to make a general pocket) and sketch out a rectangle of some sort to represent the front of the pocket (picture 2). Trace it if you can, do the best you can if not. Then I add the sides (picture 3) - don't forget the bottom, or the top if the pocket calls for it (the next step will quickly show zipper additions.) Now. The important part. I add at least 1/4" for seam allowances (picture 4) - otherwise your pocket will be notably smaller than intended. After that, as noted, add more extra for slack (not pictured because mistakes were made). And if there is no top (read; you have an open pocket), add material for a hem! I didn't picture this well, but unless you plan on sewing the top of the pocket to the bag, add a half inch or so to the top.

Next - you may want to draw this out more than I did, but don't cut out the shape you just made. There are corners to be sewn! Which means, you need corner seam allowances too. Who remembers the paper cubes we made in middle school geometry class, and the little tabs along each edge so you could glue them to the other sides? You're making a paper cube out of fabric. Don't forget the tabs! See pictures 4, 5, and 6 for this. I simply keep the "corner" of the design, cutting out a full rectangle shape instead. Then I cut from the outer corner to the corner of the actual design, and cut out a small square from that - this allows me my seam allowances, without trying to cut odd shapes and get arthritis from holding the scissors at weird angles.

Next, I like to iron every corner and seam allowance. Basically, if there's a line in the design I sketched out, I crease it. Makes it easier to sew.

The corners are easy - fold so that the seam allowances line up and sew it down (picture 9/10). Make sure you sew them both the same way so that the seam allowances both end up on the inside. If you have a top hem, sew that now as well.

Now, there may be a fancy way to sew pockets, I don't know. What I do is simply sew the folded seam allowance down, straight from the top, working one edge at a time and folding the rest of the pocket out of the way. This may be why my pocket was slightly too small - it will suck up some of your material, but the closer you get to the edge of that fold, the less it will do that (pictures 11/12).

And we have a pocket! It should even be attached to your bag.

Zippers - these are relatively simple. I didn't take enough pictures, however. In step one, we have a zipper slit cut out - it is just a slit. Do not cut a hole, as the picture seems to show. Cut a slit (about the length of your zipper; make sure it's the length of the zipper itself and not the extra fabric past the zipper that simply helps to attach it better). Then, cut very small, perpendicular slits at each end, so that the slit becomes two flaps. Iron them flat, folded down. This creates a neatly hemmed 'hole'. After that, simply sew the zipper against this hole. If you're using a machine, you may have to pull it out, move the zipper pull, and continue sewing.

A note - the phone pocket on this has the zipper at the top. Don't even bother cutting a hole of any kind - stitch one half of the zipper to the top of the pocket, then treat it like part of the fabric and stitch the whole thing down on the bag just like this. The only difference you might want to make is to stitch the zipper side from the inside instead of across the top like with the other sides.

Pocket flaps - these are even simpler. Cut flap shapes the size you want (make sure to add seam allowances first!). Sew them flat together, except for the top edge. Turn them inside out. Iron them. Fold the top edge down to create a hemmed in top. Sew it flat to the bag, above the pocket (don't go too far above - most of mine are literally right on top of the pocket). If you're using a machine, I recommend a zig zag stitch - it helps secure a bit more area of the flap, which I think is important.

This, I strongly recommend you consider carefully.

I don't particularly like the strap I made. I wanted something wider and more padded, but I don't think the amount of work I put in to make this originally was worth the strap. Granted, it's lasted a good deal on the old bag and shows no signs of wearing out, but the stitch lines are sloppy because it's hard to control in the machine and I think it's generally overkill. I would consider simply stitching two nylon straps together for the width, possibly creating a slide strap like on most shoulder bags.

However, I will explain my strap anyway.

To begin with, I used old socks for padding (that's why!). Cut the toe and ankle off about where indicated by the scissors in step 1 - try to make it more straight than they are. You want to end with a rectangle.

Before you cut anything else, measure your strap. Use the same technique as with the bag design in step 1, but remember - you can make a nylon strap adjustable. You *can't* make this one adjustable. So, make this strap for a length, but not the whole length of the strap you need, then sew it to a nylon strap for the last six inches at least. You don't need padding across the whole strap to be comfortable. So measure a good length over your shoulder and onto your back, but not all the way around.

From this, you can find out how long to cut strips of fabric and nylon straps for the edges (you can't adjust this strap, but nylon straps are built into it for support). I used the athletic shirt, although I'm starting to think that the folded sock padding made that pointless. It looks better anyway. Make the fabric strips a good three inches wide, you'll be folding them a bit.

Now, examine picture 2. You want to sew both strips with a nylon strap sandwiched in between. You do want the nylon strap to stick out a bit as it does in the picture - you're making a hemmed edge on it. On the other edge of each strip, iron a half inch crease all the way down.

Now, fold the strip over the nylon strap as demonstrated in pictures 3 and 4. Sandwich the sock between the strips (pictures 5 and 6) and pin it - you really want to pin this. Don't put socks all the way to the end of the strap - leave two inches of just fabric and nylon strapping at the end. You'll thank me for this later.

Finally, sink another stitch down the whole length of the strap on each side, in order to secure the sock and hemlines of the strips. I've inserted a seam ripper to show you that seam in picture 7 - do not rip that seam, it's only to point.

Final product is shown in picture 8, along with the nylon + hardware at one end. If someone finds a better way/another instructable/any kind of replacement for this part of the process and comments it, I'll edit the instructable to credit it.

At this point, you should actually begin by sewing and turning the front and back panels of your bag. I forgot to take pictures of this, but you're simply going to line up the main and back panels (make sure the pockets are on the INSIDE for now) and sew three sides. do NOT sew (picture 1):

• the attachment points for the strap
• the short side (unless you customized the shape - in that case, pick a short side to not sew)

Once you've done that, flip it inside out (or rather outside out) through the unsewn side. Iron the edges down inside, then sew across the top to close the bag.

Now, the strap. This was the most finicky part for me, but that's because I was using this ugly padded strap contraption I made. If you followed my advice at the beginning of the last step, it should be a lot simpler, and if not, get your needle and thread out, it makes things simpler.

The nylon strap part was easy - fortunately, I had this added in already so I could adjust the strap. As always, iron the edges of the bag inside to form a hem, then simply stick the fold of nylon that holds the adjuster inside and stitch across. See pictures 2-7.

The other end is annoyingly fat. The same general process is repeated, but I had to pin and hand stitch it first to get it to hold, then machine sew the very end of the strap (thankfully, I didn't fill it with sock right to the edge). It takes a fair bit more finicking to get the end of this strap in, but if you're having trouble, try ripping the seams along the edge of the main bag for a half inch further down, then resewing them across the top again when you're done.

And that is how I made this whatchamacallit! I'm actually writing this from out of state and can confirm it works brilliantly in an airport. It was much more comfortable than the first sling bag I made and, while it had slightly less space capacity, had plenty for what I needed at a quick notice.

Some things I may yet add/improve, as well as some other ideas:

• a buckle. I'm not sure if I would put it at the top of the shoulder or under the arm where there's already nylon strap - the latter would be more convenient to add, but the former would be more convenient for use. If I did the former, I would likely just cut the strap, sew the ends up in some manner fitting with the ugly rest of the strap, and either attach it in between or with one half on top of one end of the strap so that they overlapped.
• Snaps! I almost had these on the pocket flaps, but the ones I have are too heavy duty. In fact, I ripped the inside of a pocket slightly trying to undo the one I did install, so I'll have to patch that up now to boot. Get the medium or even light duty ones.
• some short pockets built into the inside of the pack instead of on top - a coat of mine has these, just large enough for change, a few dice, or a string of prayer beads. I use them quite often. I'd likely stick them in the wedges at the bottom between the other pockets.
• a hidden pocket at the back - why? Because making hidden pockets gives me joy. Plus I might be able to redeem the wallet pocket idea.
• a long, narrow pocket to store a buck knife sheath in - just in case the zombie apocalypse happens, I can have my grandpa's trusty combat knife stored in the bag I'll already be using for the basic essentials. Can you tell that being nineteen hasn't made me grow up in the slightest? Now, this one is definitely dreaming because there's nowhere on the bag to put such a pocket, except lengthwise (and that would lift the bag off my chest at either end because my chest is curved and the knife is not). But you can be darned sure that if an apocalypse does happen, I'll attach it somehow anyway - likely à'la GI shoulder knives from the WWII era :D

I hope this instructable has been inspirational at least for you, and I hope to post more as I make more things to simplify my life. Please vote for it in the fabrics contest!