I’ve been having fun with something a little bit different this week, with a modern take on a childhood accessory. Having been a child in the 90s, there is a bum bag in quite a few photographs. More recently, bum bags made a comeback, being referred to as “belt-bags” and worn across the chest.

Whilst the pattern I used is the well-known Fennel Fanny Pack, as a Brit-kid, they’ll always be “bum bags” to me!

With card payments widely accepted and loyalty cards in my phone ‘wallet’, I frequently find myself leaving the house with a phone and inhaler. Of course, this might be limited to summer months due to the need for a “just in case umbrella” most months in the UK. However, I increasingly find myself wanting a small “hands-free” bag. A quick online search brought up two very different images of bum bags. Mr Motivator is an iconic figure of 90s television in the UK, but I was keen to stylistically lean more towards Carrie Bradshaw.

Careful cutting placement

I chose these two lovely Rifle Paper Co canvas fabrics from Sister Mintaka to make two bags. The Monstera fabric is a nod to one of my favourite houseplants (and a little more “grown up”). The jungle print is so fun, but not something I would use for a garment.

For the linings, I raided my quilting cotton stash for something fun – gnomes and crocodiles feature heavily!

The Monstera fabric has gold dots on the selvedge, which I used as a feature on the back panel, by cutting on the cross-grain.

Only the back outer panel is visible in its entirety once the bag is made. I suspected this would be the case from reading the instructions, but wasn’t sure. I wanted to try and avoid accidentally decapitating an animal for the front piece, so chose a section with only foliage and flowers. There’s also a monkey peeking out of the front pocket when the zip is opened!

Binding and zip woes

The inside of the bag has binding all the way around, which initially felt like a nice way to finish the bag. However, my machine struggled in parts where there are up to 9 layers of fabric (if I’ve counted correctly). Everything is enclosed, but it looks a bit messy up close.

I also think I sewed too close to the zip teeth because I ended up with a narrower top panel (where the main zip is) than bottom panel, plus the front zip pocket piece was smaller than the main panel when I came to put them together.

As it was my first time sewing this pattern, I was “trusting the process” and didn’t realise there was a problem until I had gone too far. Knowing this now, I can be aware for any future versions and sew further away from the teeth, as well as check the size of the pieces before going further.

As a result, I suspect my bags aren’t as deep as intended and the binding is very close to the zip at the corners. I’ve seen a YouTube tutorial/hack that omits the binding, which is something I’ll definitely consider in future as binding is rarely my friend!

Hardware

My aim was to source the hardware from one place, but I really struggled. I bought the buckles and sliders from Little T’s Haberdashery, and the cotton webbing from Sew Hot. I also got a metal buckle from Sew Hot, but couldn’t find a slider in the right size or colour from anywhere.

I anticipated the hardware to be tricky to install, but it was pleasantly easy!

Thanks for reading :o)