DIY Easy Hip Bag Mod

I mentioned a while back how much I've been digging Fiona's leather hip bag on Burn Notice:

(I've had minor lower-back issues since college, so I only wear cross-body bags these days - but I know a hip bag would be SO much better on my back.)

Since then I've seen one or two crafty bloggers convert a regular purse into a similar style bag, and I've been itching to give it a try. Essentially it's just a regular purse with the strap attached to the sides of the bag instead of the top, so really the hardest part is finding a purse style that will work best on your hip.

As luck would have it, I had this small cross-body bag from Beya (which cost a whopping $10) already tucked away in my closet:

Technically you could take a bag like this and just slide the strap over your waist, but I wanted something a bit better.

First I ripped open the seams on the side buckle straps:

Once I removed the square metal buckles, I glued the small straps back in place to cover the unfinished side edges, where you can see the yellow lining poking out.

Next I cut two three-inch pieces off the purse strap and (messily) hand-stitched them in place on the back of the bag to form belt loops:

(I passed the edges of each strap piece over a flame to melt/seal them and keep the fabric from fraying.)

If you make these loops between 2.5 and 3 inches long, then you'll have the option of wearing your bag on your own belts, in addition to using the existing bag strap.

Another lucky break: I was able to put the the two square metal side pieces together to make one D-ring clasp/buckle for the bag strap:

This essentially gave me a long canvas belt with a square D-ring clasp, which makes the "belt" adjustable.

So now I have a hip bag I can wear two ways: with the canvas strap over things like skirts or dresses, or on my own leather belts when I wear jeans.

I've already used the bag a lot more than I expected, and it was a minor life-saver at Dragon*Con, where I initially planned to only lug around a giant leather messenger bag. (John brought a backpack, so some days I got away with just wearing this!)

The only issue with wearing the bag on your own belt is that it's then fairly high up on your waist, and if you tend to wear longer t-shirts it will make them ride up:

Shorter shirts are perfect with it, though, and it's not so bulky that you can't wear an over shirt with it, too, if you slide the bag forward a little more:

(Here I've got the bag loaded up with my iPhone, wallet, gum, pill case, and lip gloss. It's *just* big enough for everything I need.)

Of course you could also use the canvas strap to wear the bag lower on your hip, if you don't want it it up so high. The only issue I found there is that the bag wants to slide forward over your crotchal region as you walk, which is super annoying. I fixed this by clipping an extra long bobby pin to the strap right in front of the bag, to keep it from sliding. For a more permanent fix, you might try stitching a small square onto the strap that the bag can't slide past to keep it in place.

I'm still on the lookout for a nicer, leather bag that I can convert into a larger hip bag - maybe one I can even add a leg holster strap to, like this:

Blaster 3.0 Brown, $269 from JungleTribe

Or I'd also like to try adding two hanging straps to a small messenger bag, kind of like this:

Purse Wallet Hipbelt, $120 from stashpack

If you make the hanging straps into two big loops, then you can use your own belts *and* have the bag hang much lower on your hip.

So many fun possibilities!

Well, I hope this helps get some of your creative juices flowing! And if any of you end up modding your own hip bags, please, send me a picture - you know I wanna see!

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