Reversible Tote Backpack

Sometimes your shoulder starts hurting on one side when you carry a bag for too long. So, automatically you would change it to the other side. But, at that time you may want a backpack. Other times you may want easy access to things in your bag. A tote might come in handy. With the reversible tote backpack you can have the comfort of both.

The bag also has a two in one formal looking leather base bag and a bleached ripped effect bag to suit the different moods!!!

Step 1: Gather Materials

1. Sewing Machine

2. 3-4 Old Jeans

3. Old Leather Material

4. Threads

5. Needle & pins

6. Scissors

7. Tape Measure

8. Bleach & Water

9. Rope

10. Scrap paper

11. Marker or pencil

12. Sticky Tape

Step 2: Create the Paper Template

1. Take scrap paper, scissors, tape measure, sticky tape and marker

2. Stick together the papers using the sticky tape

3. Measure using a tape measure, a height of 18 inches and a width of 17 inches and mark with a marker pen

4. Cut of excess paper

5. Use this as a template

Alternatively, these measurements could be marked on the material and cut avoiding the step of creating a template.

Step 3: Cutting and Attaching the Pieces of Jeans Material

1. Take a pair of scissors and cut open the legs of the Jeans

2. Cut as much material as required to form 4 pieces to the size of the template

3. Using the sewing machine attach the cut materials to create 4 x (18"x17") pieces of material to the template size

Step 4: Bleaching for the Ripped Side

1. Mix any standard bleach (with gloves and goggles on) with water according to instructions on the bottle to create the bleach solution

2. Soak 2 of the pieces of material into the bleach for approximately 4-5 hours

3. Leave the material in sunlight until colour starts fading

4. Wash and dry the material before using

5. Using scissors scrap the surface of the bleached material to create a ripped effect

Step 5: Sewing the Leather Jean Side of the Bag

1. Take the old leather material (21” x 8”)

2. Make a 1 cm dart stitch along the middle of the material for 17 inches (leaving 2 inches on each side)

3. Make 1cm vertical dart stitches for 4 inches on the ends of the dart line forming the base of the bag

4. Pin the right side of the Jean materials to the right side of the leather leaving 1 cm seaming allowance

5. Sew both pieces of Jeans material to the Leather using this method

6. Pin the wrong sides of both the jeans material on both sides and sew the side seams with 1cm seaming allowance starting from the leather base

7. Fold 1cm on the top round into the wrong side and make a top seam

8. Turn the bag inside out to get the leather Jean side of the bag

Step 6: Making the Piping for the Bleached Ripped Side

1. Cut pieces of 3-inch-wide jean materials to form a 53-inch material pinning them together

2. Sew the pieces together to form the desired size (53 inches)

3. Place a rope of length 53 inches in the middle of the wrong side of the material

4. Fold the material over the rope and sew along close to the rope forming a piping (leaving extra material to sew to the jean)

Step 7: Sewing the Bleached Side of the Bag

1. Pin the piping along the corner of the right side of one of Bleached ripped Jean material

2. Sew along the pin line

3. Attach the right side of the second bleached ripped Jean material to the sewn line using pins and sew along

4. Fold 1cm on the top round into the wrong side and make a top seam

5. Turn the bag inside out to get the bleached side of the bag

Step 8: Attaching the Leather Jean Bag to the Bleached Ripped Jean Bag

1. Place the bleached ripped bag inside the leather jean bag wrong sides facing together and sew along the top seam lines of both the bags

Step 9: Making the Handles

1. Cut and sew together pieces of jeans to form handle material (3.5” x 55”)

2. Fold right sides together of the handle material and sew along the edges forming a long cylindrical shape

3. Using a thread and needle make a knot on one side of the sewn cylindrical handle

4. Push the back side of the needle through the cylindrical handle and pull out to the other side

5. Pull until the material turns right side out

Step 10: Attach the Handles

1. Make two 1cm holes, approximately 2 cms from the top on both sides of the bag, 5 inches apart

2. Make two 1cm holes four inches from the bottom of the bag, 10 inches apart on both sides

3. Handsew along all the edges of the holes for it to hold together

4. For the leather Jean side of the bag, insert the handle through the top two holes

5. Thread through the bottom two holes and make a knot in the end (that will appear on the ripped side)

6. Repeat the same procedure for the ripped side (the knot will appear on the leather-jean side)

Step 11: THE REVERSIBLE TOTE BACKPACK IS NOW ALL DONE!!!!!

* To close the bag both the handles can be tied as shown in the pic while using the backpack version