The Courier Bag — Messenger Bag Sewing Pattern
Roughcut / Field Notes 002 · Sewing pattern + guided build
The Courier Bag.
Make your next everyday bag, one detail at a time.
A practical messenger-style sewing pattern with a zipped utility organiser, welted zip pockets, a padded laptop sleeve and an adjustable padded shoulder strap. Choose your fabric, binding and hardware, and build a bag that feels like yours from the first stitch.
A place for everything you carry.
- Zipped utility organiser: pen pockets, a darted pocket, a zip pocket and a back pocket
- Side pockets with an optional drawcord cinch
- Zipped flap, 25 mm Cobra-style buckle closure and grab handle
- Welted zip pockets on the flap and the back
- Reinforced base and corners, padded sleeve for a laptop up to 14"
- Fully lined, bound edges, removable padded shoulder pad on an adjustable 38 mm strap
What's in the download.
The Build BookA 34-page companion to the video. Shopping list with exact quantities, every zip and webbing length, cutting plan, pattern symbols and chapters A–H step by step. Designed to print in colour on A4.
Full-size patternThree A0 sheets at 1:1 with a 2" test square, plus A4 and US Letter tiled versions for printing at home.
Colour-coded A0Every piece tinted by its chapter letter, so you can sort the pieces before you sew.
Where to BuyA clickable guide to real shops in the UK, Europe, US & Canada, Australia & NZ and Asia, with stock checked at launch.
Full video sew-alongThe complete build on the Roughcut YouTube channel from 9 October 2026, chapter by chapter. Pause, replay, make it with me.
A clear route, all the way through.
38 coded pieces, sorted into eight stages. Each one is a chapter of the video and the book.
One size · ¼" seam allowance · Skill level 5/5. Not because any step is hard, but because there are lots of them. Beginners who follow the chapters carefully can make this.
Choose your format.
Digital download
£15.95
Everything above, delivered instantly. Print the A0 sheets at a copy shop or tile the A4 / US Letter pages at home.
Printed & shipped
£24.95
The full download, plus the three A0 sheets printed and posted to you. Includes £9 for printing (£3 per sheet). Delivery is calculated at checkout.
Plan your materials.
| Outer shell fabric (no stretch) | 1.5 m @150 cm · 2.5 m @90 cm |
| Lining (also builds the organiser) | 1.5 m @150 cm · 2 m @90 cm |
| #5 coil zip + 6 sliders | 1.5 m |
| Webbing, 38 mm and 25 mm | 2 m each |
| Binding, 25 mm | 6 m |
| Hook & loop, 38 mm sew-on | 1 m |
| 25 mm Cobra buckle, 2 × 38 mm side-release, ladderlock, keepers | 1 set |
| 4 mm closed-cell foam · bonded V69 thread | 0.5 m · 1 spool |
Full quantities, specifications and substitutions are in the Build Book. Every strap can be made from fabric instead of webbing, and the bag works just as well in denim or canvas you already own.
Share your finished build with #ROUGHCUTMYOG, or upload it through Community Builds at roughcutpatterns.com.