Duct Tape Shoulderbag Tutorial

It's possible to make things, like bags, wallets, hats - even clothes - entirely out of duct tape. I have a roll which I hadn't used much so I decided to make a bag. This is where I got the general look of the bag - there are other sites out there with duct (or Duck) tape craft.

The basic method involves making panels out of duct tape. You lay out maybe three long strips of duct tape horizontally, their edges overlapping, and then on top lay more strips, sticky sides together, perpendicular to the first lot. You end up with a non-sticky panel of duct tape.

I made two of these, each 9 inches square. I attached them together using some of the free ends of duct tape, folding in others, and applied more strips of tape to firm up the edges, especially the bottom. At this point I had a plain pouch, 9" square.

I added a handle, a purple 'L' logo, and a pocket.

The logo was easy. Because the rest of the bag was waterproof I wanted to keep it that way, and so I found a piece of water-resistant purple craft paper (it came in a multipack from W.H.Smiths). I cut it to a large L shape, which I then stuck down in the centre of one side of the bag using tape. I kept the tape only slightly overlapping the edges of the paper. (Patterns could also be made with foil, coloured tape, or pictures covered in clear plastic.)

The pocket was a little trickier. I made another, smaller panel of tape, just under 5 inches square, trimmed off the bottom corners, and left some tabs of stickiness at the sides and the very bottom (the bottom was most important). I stuck it in the centre of the other side of the bag, and added tape over the top to attach it firmly.

Lastly, the handle was quite fiddly. I wanted a shoulder strap, rather than just a handbag-length one. I tried a couple of methods of making this; first, folding a strip of tape in half along its length. I had no luck, as I can't fold that accurately at the required length. Instead, I took a long strip of tape, folded the end across itself, sticky side down, to form a triangle, and kept folding. The grain of the tape runs diagonally across the handle strip, not straight. It is easy to add another piece of tape to the work when one is needed. When I had the required length, I trimmed the ends and stuck the handle to the bag with more tape.

I'll get some photos sometime. :)

Lucy

Last edited 2007-06-05 14:09:56 (version 1)