I have grown to really like a belt pack (or fanny pack), and they have become popular again in recent years. I have found them perfect for going to concerts, festivals, and sports events where full-sized bags are not allowed (or have to be clear). These belt packs are convenient to carry my wallet, keys, and phone. They are also great when I am wearing a dress that doesn't have pockets and I don't want to carry a larger bag. And, I really like how I can carry them like a cross-body bag (and not just around my waist). I also wear them when I am riding horses (which isn't often any longer, but when I do ride, it is for a long time!). The belt pack can hold all the things I might need on a ride (other than water) -- phone, keys, ibuprofen -- without being bulky in my pocket (or falling out of my pocket!) and being quickly accessible.
So, when I decided to make the 208 Belt Pack pattern into a PDF pattern, I thought I would make one (or more) to use for myself. Making a bag like this yourself means that you can make it in whatever fun colors or fabric you want! This is a quick and easy sewing project, so it also makes a great gift. The pack finishes at 7.25"x4.75"x1.5" and has 3 interior pocket pouches.
I will walk you through how I made this bag below, along with some tips and tricks.
For my bag, I chose a bright blue pack cloth and white notions (webbing, zipper, and thread). And you don't need much fabric (or notions) to make this bag - just 3/8 yard - so it is a great pattern for using up scraps. You can make this bag from just about any woven fabric, but I highly suggest using fabric with some stability. Canvas, denim, pack cloth, Cordura, corduroy, or something similar would be good. If you want to use a lightweight fabric, I would suggest interlining the fabric with a sturdier fabric or a sturdy interfacing. The bag is unlined, so use an interlining fabric that you want to see. Also note that you can use a different fabric for the inside pocket piece than the bag piece, so you can make a coordinating or contrasting accent here.
Sewing the Bag
Be sure to transfer markings from the pattern to the bag. You can mark with anything that can be removed, such as chalk or erasable markers. The pattern suggests clipping at the side notches, but I prefer to mark these notches. I used a chalk marker because I wanted the markings to be able to rub off rather than be washed off.
Belt Loops: First, cut out the pattern. You only need one bag piece and one pocket piece.
Then, cut two 2" pieces of webbing. You can use 3/4" webbing or even 1.5" or 2" wide webbing here. I used 1" wide webbing. Seal the ends of the webbing with a flame (candle or lighter) to keep them from unraveling. The pattern has these two pieces of webbing sewn directly to the bag, but I wanted to turn under the ends of the webbing to make it a little neater. You can do either one. If you turn under the ends of the webbing on the bag, make sure the opening you have will be large enough for the waistband webbing to pass through.
You can see above the webbing without the turned-under ends.
And here, I have turned under each end of one piece of webbing.
And here (above), I sewed the webbing pieces in place with the ends turned under.
Sew the webbing to the bag, where indicated by the pattern, with two rows of stitching to secure. Center the webbing on the placement lines, no matter what size webbing you use, or if you turn under the ends.
Pockets: Take the pocket piece and turn under 3/8" on each of the shorter ends. I use a slightly warm iron to do this with my pack cloth. Then sew the ends near the cut edges. You can see that I pressed all edges at first, but you only need to press and sew the shorter ends of the pocket piece.
Then center the pocket, with the wrong side down, over the wrong side of the bag piece. Pin in place and stitch the edges together 1/4" from the edge.
Once that is done, use a ruler (or straight edge) to draw a line from the notches (clips) on the pockets to mark the bottom stitching lines of the bag.
Stitch along these lines to create the bottom of the pocket and bag.
Then measure 4" in from one side on the line closest to the belt loops and make a mark there, and at the top of the pocket. Connect these marks and stitch along the line.
Zipper: We use a coil zipper by-the-yard for this bag. It is important to know what is the right side of the zipper and what is the wrong side of the zipper. The right side of your zipper will have a bump where the teeth are. The wrong side of the zipper only shows the zipper tape (and you can't really see the teeth -- and it is flatter).
Take your 3/8 yard of zipper tape and pull the zipper apart, starting at one end.
Place the right side of one zipper half to the right side of one side of the bag top, centering the zipper and lining up the edge of the tape with the cut edge of the bag. Pin in place. The teeth of the zipper will face toward the bottom of the bag.
Stitch the zipper tape to the bag in the center of the zipper tape. It helps to use a zipper foot here so you can easily stitch in the center of the tape. After stitching, fold the zipper tape and seam allowance to the wrong side (inside) of the bag and press. You can fingerpress or use a warm iron. Then stitch close to the folded edge.
Do the same thing for the other side of the bag with the other side of the zipper tape.
Zipper Pulls: Trim the ends of the zipper tape to be even with the bag. But, to be honest, I like to trim the ends just a little be longer than the bag before I put on the zipper feet. This gives me a little bit more room in case I have trouble getting the foot (feet) on the tape (in case it starts to unravel) and I can trim again to get a clean edge to work from.
Fold the pack in half so the wrong sides are facing each other and the zipper edges are together. Hold one zipper pull so the rounded end with the bar in the middle is toward you. Put the coil of one zipper half about two-thirds of the way into the zipper pull.
Put the other half of the zipper in the other side of the zipper pull. You may need to angle the zipper slightly to put it into the zipper pull. Then carefully place the zipper and zipper pull on a flat surface. While holding two halves of the zipper next to each other, with one hand, gently push the zipper pull with the other hand until the zipper starts to zip. You can see a video of how to do this on our YouTube channel, or below.
Zip the zipper closed to the center of the pack. And put the other zipper pull on the other side of the pack in the same way and zip that pull to the center of the bag. Pulls will meet in the middle!
If you don't get these pulls on evenly, especially the second one, just unzip it, take the pull off and start again. This is why I like to leave a little bit of the tape at the end of the bag to give myself some room to try again. Amazingly, these worked out perfectly on the first try. The trick is to get the tape ends into the zipper pull at the same length and then push the pull onto the tape so it feeds evenly.
Now open the zippers at the center by 8" to 10" (be sure not to accidentally pull the zipper pulls off the tape). And turn the bag inside out.
Finishing: Pin together the ends of the bag that stick out from the top and bottom of the bag, with right sides together. And sew the ends together with a 3/8" seam allowance. Stitch again at 1/4" from the cut edges to reinforce.
Do this to both sides of the bag. And press the seam allowance toward the bottom of the bag (away from the zipper).
Next, pin the cut edges together on all 4 sides of the pack. Be sure to line up the cut edges evenly before pinning.
Stitch in place along the 3/8" seam line. Then, stitch again 1/4" from the cut edges.
Turn the bag right side out.
Belt: Cut a piece of webbing that is 8" longer than your waist measurement. Webbing can be 1" wide, or you could go with a wider webbing, as long as it fits through your belt loops. Also, I cut my webbing a bit longer than suggested because I want to be able to wear it as a cross body bag too.
You can cut small corners off one end of the webbing to make it easier to thread. Again, sear both ends with a flame so the webbing doesn't unravel.
Thread the flat end of the webbing through the rectangular half of your side release buckle. Leave about 1.5" of a tail (or as short a tail as possible) and stitch with two rows of stitching to secure the buckle.
Thread the other end of the webbing through the other part of the side release buckle. Be sure not to twist your webbing. Then thread this belt through the belt loops. And you are finished!
Close-up of the inside of the belt pack. Three pockets for credit cards, keys, tickets, etc.
