How To Make A Market Wallet (medieval bag)
First, you’re going to get a rectangle of fabric that’s as long, and twice as wide as you want the bag to be. A nice big one is about 1.5 metres by 1 metre. The fabric should be something sturdy - a thick linen is probably most period-accurate, but a sturdy cotton drill works quite nicely.
You also want 2-4 little squares, about 1 to 1.5 inches. These are a surprise tool that will help us later.
First off, fold the rectangle in half across the width. Work out how big you want the pockets of the bag to be, and pin on both sides (I usually fold lengthwise to get similar proportions). Make sure to leave a good amount of space in the middle, as this will become your opening.
It should now look like this.
Next, backstitch from the ends up to where you’ve pinned, leaving a slit in the centre.
Fell the seam by cutting one side of the seam allowance down by half, folding the other side around it, and securing with a whipstitch (this stops it from fraying AND creates a very strong seam).
(Sorry for the bad lighting I was in the car).
Next, fold the bag so the seam is in the centre. This is almost what the finished bag will look like.
Sew along the ends with more backstitches, and fell the seam. We’re nearly done!
Then you wanna hem the centre slit. I rolled the fabric over twice, and whipstitched into place.
Next, you want those little squares of fabric. At each end of the opening slit, you’re going to position them diagonally, with their edges folded inward. I like to do one on the front and reverse sides (so 4 squares total), but you might be able to get away with just 2. Whipstitch these into place. They will stop the slit ripping open (this is a real problem).
Well done, your bag should be finished!! Wear it by folding it across the centre slit, twisting it slightly, and slinging it over your shoulder. It is best to weight the sides fairly evenly, but I’ve never found this to be too difficult. The wide “strap” does make it very comfortable though.
Feel free to comment/reblog, or send an ask if you have any questions, or I haven’t made anything quite clear enough! The photo limit makes it difficult to show every step as it happens unfortunately. I am considering doing some video tutorials in future for a couple of my bigger projects (likely hosted on YouTube with the link sent here). Let me know if you’re interested!
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