Starbucks mini-sling

by Linda Theil

A bagmaker from the Kandou Patterns Community on FaceBook posted a bag featuring the Kandou "Mini-Traveler Sling" pattern using a Starbucks coffee bag as part of the fabrication. I am from Pittsburgh, so perhaps it comes naturally that I am intrigued by the use of iconic advertising in works of art, so I asked Alisa to please buy me some Starbucks coffee so that I could sew with the bags. I am also a fan of this slim, six-by-twelve-inch sling pattern that has three pockets and no inside!

Alisa was particularly fond of the "Brown Sugar Cinnamon" limited edition bag, so I used this pink and gold bag for my first Starbucks sling.

For the body of the bag, I used a cotton from the "Seedlings" collection by Katarina Rocella for Art Gallery Fabrics. The lining is Roccella's "Stacked Stones" design from her "Abstract Art" collection, also for AGF.

"Stacked Stones" from "Abstract Art" collection by K. Roccella for AGF

The strap is a serindipidously perfect, color-match, twill ribbon from the packaging of a pajama set by Barefoot Dreams. I doubled the length of twill and stitched it down the sides to make a soft, but strong, cross-body strap,

The Starbucks coffee bag is made of a paper and plastic laminate with a thin aluminum lining. The packaging was created to protect the contents from oxygen, so the bag is impervious to air. I assume that making the fabric impermiable also makes it very strong, and so a realistic option for handbag material.

To aid in protecting the coffee, each bag has a little button that I thought I would have to work around; but I discovered with gentle but persistent encouragement, the button popped right off without damaging the bag. Even if the coffee-bag material weren't so great for handbag-making, the Starbucks logo makes a piquant talisman for carrying a credit card and phone.

To prepare the Starbucks coffee bag for sewing, I interfaced it with a Pellon extra-firm stabilizeer. Since I couldn't use heat to fuse stabilizer to the fabric, I used a spray-on adhesive. This was not ideal because the aerosol caused the bag material to curl up, making adhesion difficult. Self-adhsive fleece was the suggested option for interfacing, but I didn't have any so tried the spray adhesive. I'll try the fleece next time.

In order to highlight the Starbucks iconic artwork, I made a change in the bag design to eliminate a diagonally inserted, zippered pocket. and replace it with a horizontal zipper insertion. I re-drew the pattern piece that would be cut from the coffee bag material, and cut it so that I could insert the zipper in the standard way, instead of the diagonal insertion. This process had the additional benefit of making the zippered pocket on the front of the bag roomier, and easier to use.

To sew the bag, I used a teflon foot on my machine, but I'm not sure I needed it since the pattern piece cut from coffee bag fabric doesn’t require a lot of stitching. For topstitching around the zipper insertion, I just used a regular zipper foot, and that worked pretty well.

Kandou "Mini-Traveler Sling" back with vertical zippered pocket

Kandou "Mini-Traveler Sling" front with horizontal zippered pocket
and large slip pocket.

Full length slip pocket on front of Kandou "Mini-Traveler Sling"lined with "Stacked Stones" design from K. Roccella's"Abstract Art" collection for AGF

Bag makers can view "Kandou Patterns Mini Traveler Sling Tutorial" on the Oklaroots YouTube channel.

Update: May 7, 2025

I just finished my second Starbucks sling; this one uses the bag from Starbucks French Roast, Mora faux leather, and 1.5-inch "Wheat" cotton webbing from Penny Supplies.