Bike Messenger Bag – Free Sewing Pattern!

Sew a cute messenger bag that fits on the front of a bike – it’s perfect for kids or kids-at-heart! This free sewing pattern is fast and easy – and fat quarter friendly too.

My 7 year old son Connor has been nagging me for ages to sew him something for his bike. His sister’s bike came with a little zipper case to carry things in, but alas, his did not. I did not feel particularly inspired by this request for a long time so other things got in the way. Finally I realized that I needed to make his bike bag pretty quick or feelings would be hurt.

This cute little bag attaches perfectly to his bmx-style bike. The back of the flap wraps around and sticks with velcro so kids can put it on too (see the picture at the bottom of this post).

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When I went to work drafting the pattern I wanted something #1 – fast, #2 – easy, and #3 that used materials I already had on hand.

The finished bike bag measures approximately 8” tall x 8” wide. There is plenty of room for a small water bottle, rocks, shells, and other treasures.

Most of the bag is cut from measurements, but you will need a pattern piece for the flap. You can download the pattern here.

***NOTE*** after your download the free pattern piece for the flap, make sure you print it out at actual size. If your print settings are ‘fit to page,’ it will be the wrong size.

Let’s get started!

You will need:

• approximately 1/2 yard fabric for the bag exterior (I used two different fabrics, one for the flap and one for bag body)

• approximately 1/2 yard fabric for the bag lining

• 1/2 yard of fusible fleece or quilt batting

• 6” of hook and loop tape (velcro)

Cutting

For the flap, use the pattern piece to cut:

• one piece from your main fabric

• one piece from your lining fabric

• one piece of fusible fleece

For the bag body, cut:

• two rectangles 11” tall x 13” wide from your main fabric

• two rectangles 11” tall x 13” wide from your lining fabric

• two rectangles 11” tall x 13” wide from fusible fleece or quilt batting

Preparation

Iron the fusible web to the wrong side of the flap and bag body exterior pieces according to the manufacturer’s instructions. It adheres just like fusible interfacing. If you are using quilt batting instead of fusible fleece, I recommend securing it with quilt basting spray (SpraynBond) or stitching around all of the edges with a long basting stitch within the 1/2” seam allowance.

Sewing

All seam allowances are 1/2”

Place the exterior bag rectangles (with fusible fleece) right sides facing and sew around three sides, leaving the top long edge unsewn. Repeat with the lining rectangles, except leave a 4” opening in the bottom of the lining in order to turn the bag right side out later.

Box the corners: flatten one of the corners from the bottom of the bag, centering the bottom seam. Draw a 4” line across the corner and pin.

Stitch across the line you drew, and trim away the corner with a 1/4” seam allowance.

Repeat for all four bag corners on the exterior and the lining.

Place the bag exterior inside the bag lining, right sides facing. Pin around the top.

Stitch around the top of the bag.

Turn the bag right side out through the opening in the lining. Press. Stitch the opening closed either by machine or by hand. Then topstitch around the top of the bag, 1/4” from the edge.

You now have a nice little bag and we need to make the flap.

Pin the flap pieces right sides together. Stitch around all the edges, pivoting at the corners and leaving a 4” opening for turning at the narrow end, shown close up in the picture above.

Without cutting the stitches, cut the corners diagonally. Clip notches around the curves. Clip notches at the inside corners, too.

Turn right side out, press. Topstitch all the way around, 1/4” from the edge. This will close the opening for turning also.

On the lining side, sew one side of the 6” hook and loop tape close to the edge of the narrow end.

Sew the other side of the hook and loop tape to the right side of the flap, in the middle where the narrow end meets the wide part. The narrow end of the flap will now be able to loop back and stick to itself in a loop.

Almost done! Pin the flap to the back of the bag. Center it on the back of the bag with the topstitching on the inside corners of the flap lined up with the topstitching on the top of the bag. Stitch the flap to the bag through the hook and loop tape along the dashed line drawn on the picture above.

This is what the stitching looks like on the inside where the flap is stitched to the bag.

This is the outside where I stitched through the hook and loop tape.

To attach the bag to the bicycle: stick the back (narrow) part of the flap under the bar and wrap it around to attach to itself. Done!

Optional bag closure:

After I was done, Connor requested more hook and loop tape to make the bag close more securely. So I added it for him. Am I great or what?

Happy sewing!