ChronoTrigger: Lucca Costume Bags

All right, we have the helmet, and we have the tunic. What's left? Oh yes. The bags. Lots of bags on Lucca's concept art.

First things first: scope out some thrift stores to make this not cost an arm and a leg. Or maybe your closet if you are well stocked with accessories.

A brown belt. Nothing flashy, just a normal brown belt, preferably at least an inch wide. You may already have one.

And a small brown purse. It doesn't have to look like this; just something small that can be easily modified to add belt loops to slide onto a belt.

Additionally, if you can find a super cheap beat up brown leather-ish bag that can be cannibalized, it's a great way to get cheap leathery type fabric that is just going to be used for small modifications, like so:

Adding belt loops to the back of a small brown purse

And another shot of the belt loops

 For these, I just salvaged some brown leather-type stuff from a purse from DI, cut it into small strips about 2 inches long and maybe an inch wide, hemmed the sides, and hand stitched the ends to the purse. (Something of a pain, to be honest, but it's not very many stitches. I just hate hand sewing because I'm awful at it.)

The only other modification I made to the bag was I took off the shoulder strap. That's it. Slide it onto the belt, and you're good to go. Perfect for stashing business cards, cell phone, cash, etc. while you are out and about showing off your lovely costume.

Next we have her larger blue bag. For this, scout out the remnants bin at Joann's for some light blue duck cloth. It's durable canvas-like cloth that comes in all sorts of colors and is perfect for making satchels out of. You'll also want to consider getting some pretty fabric to line it; your choice, really, since nobody sees it but you. Oh, and you'll need some light blue thread (or a contrasting color like brown if you want the top stitching to be visible).

The bag is basically one long rectangle for the body, so you only have the seams up the sides to actually sew. And then the top stitching if you are extra ambitious.

Basic pattern

To be honest, my sister in law figured out how to make these, so I can't really remember all the details. But I know we made it so that all the actual seams along the sides are inside the bag. It involved sewing each piece (outer part and lining) separately and inside out, and then sewing them together inside out, and then flipping it through a 2 inch hole before sewing up the hole. Then we top-stitched the front flap and edge showing in the upper left corner of the picture above.

front view of the strap

When you make your strap, make sure it is wide enough that if you sew it inside out, you can turn it right side in without a long struggle. I'm speaking from experience here. Make it as wide as you can to still have it work with your strap piece thingies.

view of the back of the strap

I used this same technique to make Chrono's bag too, just slightly modified as far as the straps go:

His slides onto his belt instead of being a shoulder bag.

So there you have it. Some not very detailed tutorials on making bags/satchels.