Good morning Michelle,
Good morning Everyday and Someday Crafters!
My name is Caroline. I'm a wife, working mom, compulsive crafter and for the past year , a blogger. My little blog is called:
Creating is my therapy to stay happy in a very busy life. Juggling family, marriage, household and work is a complicated balancing act. It takes a bit of organization to save some "Me" time to blog and craft. Here are a few of my latest creations:
I'm very excited to guest post for Michelle with my latest handbag creation. A few months ago I fell in love with this Anthropologie handbag:
Did you know that Farfalle means butterfly in italian? Unfortunately, three-hundred dollars purse, even this cute, does not fit in my budget. No matter. I decided to make my own. Not in leather but in denim. And here's is how:
Supplies:
NOTE: Measurements account for 1/2inch sewing allowance around the sides and bottom seams
- Two pieces of 16x12&1/2 inch denim- new or upcycled (new will be stiffer than upcycled)
- Two 3x25 inch strips of denim for the handles
- Two pieces of 6x12&1/2 inch of your choice for the lining, cotton or satin
- One 2x3 inch piece of card stock for the bow template
- 43 to 48 2x3 inch rectangles of denim for the bows
- 1 yard of coordinating blue satin ribbon
- Fray Check
- Sewing machine and sewing supplies
- Glue gun and glue sticks
- Magnetic snap (optional)
- Extra material for inside pocket
- Medium weight interfacing (optional)
How-to steps:
- Round the edges of your card stock for the bow template
- Use the bow template to cut the pieces needed for the bows and apply fray check on the edges
- Make an accordion with 4 fold "peaks" on the side that will be up
- With a matching thread, secure the fold by threading through the folds twice
- Secure with a knot
- Cut the pieces of matching ribbon for the center of the bows (1.5" long)
- Put a dab of hot glue on the back of the bow tucks
- Put the end of the ribbon on the hot glue let it cool for a couple of minutes
- Put another dab of hot glue on the end of the ribbon and fold over
- You will need roughly the same number of light and dark bows
- You will save time by stitching all the bows then applying the ribbons in batch of 6-8 bows
Make the bag shell - I didn't make a detailed tutorial for this part as there are a number of very good existing ones around the blogosphere. There is a very detailed one HERE.
- Cut the fabric pieces for the outside shell and the lining
- Sew the outer shell and the lining for a basic bag.
- Tuck in the top corners of the outer shell as shown on the picture below i.e. 2" wide x 3" tall
- Pin the sides and bottom of the shell
- Optional step : add one or 2 inside pockets to the lining
- Add a pin a the corner of your tuck
- Top stitch the fold all the way around
- Once top stitched, the outer shell should look as shown below
- Optional step : fuse the interfacing to the outer shell
- Pin the lining and outer shell right sides together along the top of the bag lining up the side seam
- Don't forget you will need a hole in the bottom of the lining to turn the bag right side out
- Stitch along the bag opening with a 3/4" seam allowance and turn the bag right side out
- Optional - Place a magnetic snap for the bag's closure using the 3/4" fold of denim as support
- Close the opening in the lining of the bag
- Cut and fold the straps for the bag as shown - first in half, then fold the edges in like for bias tape
- Tuck the short edges in
- Top stitch all sides of each strap
- Pin the straps about 1 1/2" from the top corners
- Stitch the handles on the bag
- Layout the bows evenly on the front side of the bag alternating dark and light ones
- For the layout below you need 43 bows (21 light and 22 dark) 5 across by 9 high (minus 2 at the top corners)
- You will need more 5 bows for a tighter layout
- Put a dab of hot glue on each side of the center ribbon
- Secure all bows to the bag's outer shell
All done - Good news, it cost under $20 even with new denim and interfacing
Thanks again Michelle for having me over.
I hope you liked this project and will take the time to visit my blog
THANKS, Caroline! What an awesome knock-off! The bag is simply adorable! Visit Artfully Caroline today and take a look around at all the goodies she's made!
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