I wanted to make a cool and practical purse for my sister's birthday - she's going to Australia and New Zealand, and I figured something similar to the hip slinger would be appropriate to hold her small but important stuff. She turned 21 today, yay!
This was my first time sewing a zipper and a lining, so I actually made a practice purse for myself at the same time. I didn't follow a tutorial or a pattern, so I put together one thing for the practice purse, then sewed the same thing on the real one, and so on. (This meant changing the thread colour about a hundred times, but it turned out good.)
Here's my sister modelling her bag (white and black) - fortunately, she liked it! There is a heart inside the lining since she's my sis
Then there is me modelling my bag, the green one - it actually goes with a lot of my clothes, but today I was wearing a black ballerina skirt which may not be the best combination.
Here goes:
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DESCRIPTION***
(I bought the fabric in a small town in Sweden, so I doubt that will help you, but thanks for asking!)
Here's how I did it:
* I cut a piece of paper the size I wanted the bag plus seam allowance. This turned out to be 23x27 cm, and I cut another piece of paper the width the belt should be to fit the d-rings, again including seam allowance.
* Then I drew the "pattern" onto the fabric, starting with the belt so I was sure there would be enough fabric. I cut the squares for the bag and the lining the same size.
* I made an opening where I wanted the zipper to be, in both the outer and inner fabric, the same width as the zipper. At first I didn't make it fit but a friend told me to cut a couple of small arrows by the opening,
like this: >----------< Then I could make a neat rectangular opening.
* I sewed the zipper loosely by hand to the front fabric, then sewed it on properly.
* Then I sewed together the pieces for the lining, and then the outer fabric so I had two pockets.
* I fit the lining into the outer fabric and made sure the zipper was in front of the zipper opening in the lining, then I sewed the zipper through both layers of fabric. This means there are two seams around the zipper, but I think that looks good and feels more secure.
* I sewed together the top of the purse, just straight across.
* I ironed the fabric for the belt carefully so it would fold in the right places even without pins.
* I pinned the purse inside the belt and then sewed together the belt. I added a seam at the top of the belt for symmetry.
* Then I checked how long the belt should be, cut it off, sewed around the edges and added the d-rings.
* I also made a little holder ring for the belt.
The finished bag measures 25 x 22 cm and holds several small things like a wallet, mobile phone, passport, small guide book and keys.
Hope this makes sense!
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