Today is the final day of the “30 Days of Titivations” and I hope you enjoyed all the great links, information and tutorials presented throughout the last 30 days. To finish up the month please enjoy this beautiful and titivating “Embellished Purse” tutorial. The purse is really quick and easy to make and the flap is plain so you can get creative and have lots of fun embellishing it.
If you need embellishing inspiration, you’ll find tons of fabulous ideas on my instructional dvd Titivations. You can find details here in the store.
And if you’re looking for even more free purse patterns, I’ve cataloged all my free purse pattern links and you can find them here.
So on to the tutorial …
Supply List
Bag Flap: 1 piece 10” x 9”
Bag Body: 1 piece 10” x 17”
Bag Lining: 1 piece 10” x 25”
Strap: 2 pieces 2 1/2” x 40” (or longer if desired)
Batting: 1 piece 11” x 26” (alternatively you could use a piece of heavyweight interfacing)
Decorative ribbon
Fabric scraps
Beads
Note: Use 1/2” seams throughout
Instructions
With right sides facing, fold each piece of the bag straps in half lengthwise, press and sew the edges together along the long sides. (Excuse my dirty looking cutting mat – it is really clean just well-used. I think maybe it’s time for a new one.)
Turn the straps inside out and press. With the two straps together, tie a knot in the middle and again centered down each side. Trim the ends of the straps even at the ends.
Along one short side of the bag fabric, pin each set of straps 1/2” in from the edge and sew in place.
Align the bag flap fabric with the bag fabric at the end where the straps attach and secure with pins.
Sew in place and press the seam away from the bag flap.
Place the batting on a flat surface, place the bag fabric on top of the batting right side facing up, and place the bag lining on top of the bag fabric wrong side facing up.
Note: The batting should be slightly larger than the fabric all the way round as this makes it easier to trim.
Make sure the straps are tucked inside, then pin along the edges through all layers.
Using a rotary cutter, freehand cut a wavy line along the edge of the bag flap. For added interest, cut at an angle.
Sew a 1/2” seam around the edge of the whole bag, leaving a hole approximately 4”-5”; just big enough to fit your hand inside in order to turn the bag inside out.
Using a small, sharp pair of scissors, trim away the excess batting close to the seam line then clip along the curved edge and clip into the seam so that when the purse is turned inside out, the wavy edge lays flat.
Snip each of the corners off at an angle close to the stitching and then put your hand through the opening and pull the bag right side out.
Close the opening with some hand stitches. Press. Topstitch all the way around the bag and where the bag flap attaches to the bag body, close to the edges.
If you used batting, stabilize the body of the bag by quilting it. You could quilt it using free motion quilting, or you could use rows of straight or decorative stitch.
Fold the bottom of the bag up to meet the edge of the flap, match edges and pin in place.
Sew the edges closed using a straight stitch or a decorative stitch.
Cut three pieces of ribbon and knot them together. I’ve used some beautiful hand dyed crinkly ribbon that I picked up in my travels somewhere. Then arrange and pin them in a pleasing arrangement. I’ve simply let them flow from the top left corner to the bottom and I’ve left a few long dangly bits on the left and I’ve left some short tails where they flow off the bottom edge of the flap. Then using either a straight or decorative stitch, sew the ribbon in place. You could also add some straight stitch detail in between the ribbon strands for additional embellishment. I’ve used a lovely metallic thread.
Make a 2″ diameter yo-yo from a fabric scrap and hand stitch it to the bag flap at the intersection when the ribbons meet. Attach some bead dangles to the center of the yo-yo and hand stitch some scattered seed beads in between the ribbon and the straight stitch. Tie knots at the bottom of the ribbon to finish.
Of course you could add any sort of embellishment you like, but I kind of like the way it turned out.
This post is part of the 30 Days of Titivations; a 30 day blogathon all about embellishing and embellishments.
You can find lots of free embellishment tutorials in the tutorials section of my blog which can be found here, and even more techniques can be found on my Titivations DVD. Please visit the Instructional DVD section of the store for full details.
Remember when you were a teenager and dressed just for the sole purpose of ‘p’ing off your parents? If you didn’t do that, then you really missed a rite of passage. I’m still very much a non-conformist at heart and love wearing clothing that’s original and one-of-a-kind and I guess I hang on to that small token of rebellion to keep myself young.
This month I’ve posted about all sorts of terrific books about embellishing on fabric and there are still a whole lot more I could add to the list, but if you’re looking for a great book about embellishments for using more than just fabric, then you can’t go past 
