Making My Own Tardis Bag: Part 3 - Bigger on the Inside

If you have a Tardis bag, the implication is that acts like a Bag of Holding or at least a bag that has had an Undetectable Extension Charm placed upon it (which makes it a bag of holding....). In essence, it is nondimensional space that makes it bigger on the inside or (if you prefer slightly different terminology) it transcends dimensions.

Now, to accomplish that (lacking Timelord technology) is to simply add a lot of pocketsess (sorry for the Hobbit references) so that the bag can hold a lot more than appearance should dictate, or at least stay very organized. For me, it also means holding knitting projects, a book, maybe an iPad, a small notebook, pen, and all the little extras necessary to traverse a given convention, including a sonic screwdriver --- because if you're going to walk around with a Tardis, you need a sonic screwdriver, naturally!

When I made the original mockup, I noticed that many of the inner and exterior pockets designed into the bag weren't really all that usable.

I looked at my own favorite bag that I use nearly every day, the Patagonia Black Hole Mini Messenger Bag, which has some very usable (and not so usable) pockets.

I also wanted to be able to add this embroidered patch to a pocket. I had picked it up at some convention, which had originally given me the idea for making a Tardis bag. The pocket had to be the size of the patch so I could sew it as a front covering.

So, I redesigned the pockets a little bit more to my choosing. I did the following:

• Made the pocket area slightly larger than the mockup.
• Resized one of the pockets to actually be able to hold my smart phone securely.
• Added two extra pockets to the front, as well as transforming one giant pocket to a divided version that hold pens, pencils, crochet hooks, knitting needles (you get the drift).  This pocket was the size of the embroidered patch.

I added a zippered pouch and a separator to the inside, as well as adding a "bottle" holder to the inside lining (or in my case, a Dalek cup, because...well, I can....)

(Inside bottle holder and zippered pouch)

The finished outer pockets turned out fairly well. I used a heavy duty "purse" zipper with double zippers.

In addition, I added a key fob to the inside zippered pocket. I used a swivel hook and some grosgrain ribbon. I find this feature useful on my other bags -- it allows me to attach my keys and find them relatively quickly.

The rest of the pattern pieces were fairly straight forward, so I followed the instructions for the pattern (McCall M5824) for the larger pieces of the bag (front piece, back piece, gusset, and all of the lining).

Next up, sewing the front flap!

You can also find more posts about making this bag by searching on TARDIS MESSENGER BAG or click on the following links:

• Planning out a TARDIS Messenger Bag
• Embroidering a Police Box Sign
• Bigger on the Inside
• Making the Windows
• Making the Straps