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“Nice purse! Where did you get it?” your friend asks. I made it myself last night, you say with accomplishment. Yes, I know it’s difficult when you don’t have all the sewing skills, so I designed a pattern for you that is NO-SEW. It worked great in felt and also worked wonderfully in a medium to heavy weight leather. But really, it could be made out of whatever material you can cut and punch holes in. I have used pop-rivets to hold it together, and it is really strong. Most guys have a rivet gun in their tool drawer… just gathering dust. So, here goes your tutorial with the pattern. Enjoy!
Step 1:
Fill out form for instant download link. Print it, (it is large so you may need to print it on 3 separate pages and tape it together) If you want a wider purse, cut along center line and make it wider by adding some extra paper.
Step 2:
Lay out pattern on your felt or leather (or vegan leather). Since this is not sewn it’s best to be some material that does not fray and has some stability to keep it’s shape. Tape or pin your pattern and cut carefully with a rotary or matt cutter. Decide how much of a front flap you like. It can cover the entire front or be shorter as the felt one. The “soft bend” lines gives you the idea where the “corners” are. Poke holes through the pattern to make markings for the hole punching.
Straps can be cut from leather or from felt. You can also use a webbing material similar to seat belting. It is usually available in the trim sections of fabric stores. Or be resourceful, see what you can find. Even a dog leash works well. Or that old leather belt (kudos to your up-cycling) I like my purse as cross-body so I make it 48″. You can adjust to what you like. Be creative…
Step 3:
Punch holes. I use a hole puncher from a snap installer kit. Or you can use a leather punch tool.
If you would like an interior pouch, you can sew one. If you use wallets you don’t really need this.
Or you can rivet it together and fasten in with a couple rivets as I’ve shown here.
Step 4:
There are a lot of options for closures. Many fabric stores have appropriate hardware as do some leather supply places. You can also be creative and use carabiners and grommets(eyelets). I will include a list of links for my favorite suppliers locally. I found mine in an upholstery supply store. Tip: use tape to plan where you want it. It is best to install the closure prior to assembly.
Mark center and amount of overlap.
This “Coach” inspired closure is a turn style that needs a hole.
After punching line up back plate…
…and bend tabs inward.
The other “male” part only needs small cuts for the prongs and also has a back plate to install. I have given it a double layer for durability.
The clips used here are similar to the dog-leash style. I cut the 2 small tabs to attach the “D” rings to the purse.
Step 5:
Tool time! The size of rivet depends on a few things. How many layers and how thick the material is. I used the 1/8″ size that was 1/4″long. I also sourced some small washers under the head. NOTE: you also need to buy the rivet backup washers that fit your size of rivet. It holds it from the inside. The rivet gun pulls the rivets from the outside. I work from the bottom of the purse outward, matching the holes by letter. Make sure backup washer has enough depth to catch at the inside.
Once the gun pulls this tight, the shaft “pops” off, hence called pop riveter.
Note how the tab is held with 2 rivets and shares a hole. Rivet the “D” ring. I overlap front to back. Rivet your straps to the clips. Once you get the hang of holding the rivets it gets easier. Share your projects and questions. Enjoy carrying your creation!
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[…] madebybarb […]
Hi Barb, i just love this bag. I tried to downlpoad the patternbut nothing happens, can you please send to me. I have subcrive tour newsletter and been looking at your web site so many ideas. Thank you so much. Hugs and kisses
Marta ( from Portugal)
Thanks. Sometimes devices have issues. Email sent!
This is a great start… thanks for sharing!
One of my all-time favourite ways to work with felt and leather! Enjoy!
I absolutely love this!! Can you share the type of rivets you used and the link to purchase them?
They are pop rivets or sometimes called blind rivets. See here but to secure from pulling out also use the right size washer like these. The size will depend on your thicknesses. I prefer the aluminum ones. Happy making!
Never made a purse by hand. Would love to try this pattern.
I love that it uses the basic rivets to assemble. Enjoy!
Love this purse design, tried to download the pattern, clicked the link…nothing happened.
Could you please send me the pattern.
Thanks
Done! a bit late…
I can’t get the whole pattern to print. It wants to print one section of the pattern and prints only 1 page. I’ve tried different settings on my printer and nothing seems to work.
Adobe acrobat has some functions for PDF’s. Maybe this will help. I do know some of that is easier on a mac as I have. You could also try just manually printing sections without a reduction in size. Hope that helps
I have signed up for yur email letters and I wanted to download the leather purse but when I clicked on the download button nothing happens, could u please send me the download and thank you
Done!
Just made this from cork fabric and laser cut a design into it! Thank you for sharing this
Yes! Awesome! See it on my instagram!
Hi Barb ,where can I source sturdy leather and industrial felt from please
Check out Tandy Leather and search for industrial felt in your country. I am in Canada so it would not be worth shipping to UK. Hope that helps!
I received the download but I can’t get it to print across multiple pages, just a shrunk down version on one page. Any tips? I’m on Mac.
The image size is 24″ across so choosing to not fit to page should allow ’tiling’ pages. I sent you another pattern…
Very nice
Hi Barb love your post. i would like to making food shopping bags do you have a pattern perhaps? can you let me know rhe outlet you got the felt from too please. many thanks donna
So far I don’t have a a pattern. They are pretty simple, take measurements from one that you have. The felt I got was from a mill store and I think from the auto industry. There are felt stores with such amazing stuff nowadays. Happy making!
Thank you for the pattern. You website is hard to see with all the ads everywhere.
I am sorry, but if the patterns are free then the ads are needed to afford all the costs to maintain this site. Many do not realize what is all involved to provide a site without fees or a membership. When I search I rarely find a free pattern.
Very interesting
Love this bag. Thinking about doing lacing instead of rivets – hard to get any supplies here in rural area.
Thanks for the pattern.
Yes, there’s many options! When planning I often use cardboard from cereal boxes to see how it works out.
très jolie mais impossible de télécharger au complet toujours une feuille
(very pretty but impossible to download in full always a sheet) Yes, it is one LARGE sheet that should be printed in sections at 100% and not shrunk to a small page. Printer software usually has the controls.
merci mais ne fonctionne pas , toujours une feuille a 100% , dite moi la grandeur en long et en large de votre patron et je seraie le copier car intéressant merci
Love the no-sew method! What does the rivet look like on the inside of the bag? Thanks!
It looks about the same as the outside, very flat. The ‘stem’ pulls from the outside so there is nothing left to catch or snag on the inside.