I most definitely did not need another purse. As a matter of fact, this week while carrying around a way too heavy purse I made the remark I would so much like to be "free" - I want to live a purse-free life. Why is it that men can leave the house with just a wallet and a set of keys and we carry around entire survival kits? Do I really need all this stuff? Let's face it: right now, I have in my purse
- a wallet
- another purse with change
- keys
- car keys
- sunglasses
- small pencilcase
- handsanitizer
- paper tissues
- several packs of chewing gum
- paper wrappers
- loose change
- organizer (although small, really heavy!)
- MOO cards (that's right! I didn't mention them yet but I ordered some MOO Mini Cards a little while ago - so cute!)
- pass Navigo (Metro travel pass)
- cell phone - which I usually can't find when it rings, because obstructed by all of the above
- a small umbrella
- card holder for store fidelity cards, membership cards ...
- a notebook
- a little pouch with medication and band aids
Surprisingly, I do not carry around any make-up, not even a lipstick.
But seriously: do I really need all of this? When I take out the umbrella you can rest assured it will start raining. And the girls only fall or get hurt when I don't bring any band aids. But one pen would do, wouldn't it, instead of a pencil case. And how about all the plastic cards from stores where I come only once in a while. And the organizer?
With that in the back of my mind and the upcoming vacation I thought I should try to go light again. And is there a better way of doing so with a brand new, cute little purse?
The inspiration for this one comes from a little purse my dad brought me from a business trip to Ohio - I was about twelve when I received it and I still have it. It was just the perfect size to hold a wallet and a set of keys and I used it way into adult life. It was handmade and all seams where sewn with leather strips - something you see showing up everywhere again lately (see also my bohemian belt). Hence the leather shoelace stitched seams. In addition, I decided to have a flower closure and since I liked the rough edges of the leather I chose to integrate these as well into the design. The body of the purse is made out of a single rectangular piece which makes it a really easy project.
What you'll need:
- a rectangular piece of leather
- leather scraps for the flower
- leather shoe lace for binding the edges (2), strap (2), closure and flower attachment (1)
- leather punch
- scissors, rotary cutters
- ruler and marker
Instructions:
1. Cut your leather to size for the body of the purse. ~ pic.1
2. Make flower from leather scraps by cutting two flower shapes, one slightly bigger than the other. Punch two holes in each one (make sure they correspond to each other).
3. About 1 cm from the edge, mark where the holes should come, one every cm. Also punch two holes at the top fold (for the strap), four holes (two by two) near the bottom center for the closure loop, and two near the bottom of the flap for the flower (same distance between holes as in flower). ~pic.3
4. With leather punch, punch holes as marked. However, on the side seams skip the one at the bottom fold (marked with a cross in pic.3 - enlarge picture) on either side (left and right). ~ pic.4
5. Sew seams with shoe lace. Start and finish with a knot ~ pic.5
6. Attach the loop for closure as shown ~ pic. 6-7
7. Attach flower to the flap and secure with a knot at each end. ~ pic.7 and 9
8. Attach strap (I used two shoe laces for that, knotted together) ~pic.8
Designer notes: Except maybe for the punching part, this would be a perfect craft for the (older) kid. If you don't have any leather handy or do not want your kid to ruin some precious leather, try using felt or denim. In the latter case, no punching is required as one can just sew the seams with needle and thread. The flower can be made out of any material, really or replaced by a button.
Use your imagination and more importantly - have fun!
This little purse has exactly the right size to hold a small wallet, keys and a cell phone and will keep me company on the beach, hopefully soon!
As with all of my tutorials, please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!
If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.
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