How to Make a Sling Bag out of a Backpack

There may be no more multifunctional bag than a backpack that's converted to a sling bag. It's unisex enough for both men and women to carry it, and it holds all your gear, including your laptop. All you need is a few basic sewing skills, a backpack, and about an hour.

Things You'll Need

• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Heavy-duty needle
• Heavy-duty material
• Metal clips

Instructions

1. Detach both straps from the backpack. You can either rip the seams or simply cut the straps. If you cut the straps, leave a few inches of strap material attached to the bag in all four places where the straps attach.

2. Stitch heavy-duty strap material to the four corners of the backpack if you elected to rip the seams. Form the material into loops onto which you can attach metal clips or carabineers.

3. Hem both ends of each strap to make them look neater and to prevent fraying. If you don't have enough material left on each end of each strap to form loops, attach heavy-duty material to each end to form loops after you hem the straps.

4. Sew metal clips or carabineers to all four ends of the straps (so you can hook them together and to the top two pieces of strap material left on the backpack. You can then clip the straps together, clip the long strap to the top corners of the bag, and wear it as a sling bag.

5. Attach clips or carabineers to the bottom two pieces of strap material left on the backpack. This way, you can unclasp the long strap into two, reattach them into their original places and wear your bag as a backpack again.

Tips & Warnings

• Though you can hand-sew all of the modifications to your backpack, all this sewing is much easier if you do it on a sewing machine. Use a heavy-duty needle.