DIY Navajo Bag

This is a DIY for a Navajo print bag. I have wanted one for ages but haven’t found one in a print that I liked.... Well I do like the Ralph Lauren one but I don’t have that much spare cash!

I’m going to show you how I did it J  First you will be a piece of printed fabric (mine is a table runner from a Cypriot market), a bag strap (mine is off an old bag), two D rings, ribbon and a sewing machine. I have added the leather straps and toggles for extra detail.

·         First fold the fabric is half, making sure the right side of the fabric is folded inwards (I wil llater turn in inside out so all the seams are on the inside of the bag).

·         Next sew up both edges. I have not sewn all the way to the top as I want a flap at the top of my bag (I left about 10cm spare to make the flap).

·         To square off the bottom corners of the bag. Take the corner pull it out and stitch a straight line to make a triangle shape

·         After you have stitched the bottom corners, turn the bag inside out. As you can see the fabric is now the right side and the corner are tucked inside and squared off so the bag stands up a little better.

·         Ok now for the D rings, these are what are going to attach your strap to your bag. I used black ribbon to create the loop to attach the D ring to the bag. I looped the ring through the ribbon sewing together both ends to lock the ring in. I then pinned the ribbon loop and D ring to the edge of the bag just under the point where I stopped stitching up the sides. I then stiched the ribbon onto the bag 

·         Now the overall bag is complete I thought I would add some finishing touches. I found these spare toggles in my mum's sewing box they were for my school duffle coat when I was 5! I sewed on the leather strips and then the toggles so they would help fasten the bag ( but they are more for show than anything)

·          Clip the strap onto the D rings and the bag is ready to use J

      Hope you like my DIY, I will be posting some better pictures of the bag soon! Tonight I’m off to a friend’s BBQ , it’s a party as she is going away to Australia for 5 months, she is going to have such an amazing time, I’m very jealous!

Ashley x