Sew a Thread Room Handbag
This handbag is such a great project to work on!
It doesn’t require a lot of material and it can be done in a few hours. The bag is nice and simple, but goes through some really great skills. At the end of it you get a beautifully finished piece that you can use.
The handbag has a pocket, a zipper, box corners and it is fully lined.
The instructions do seem a little long, but don’t be intimidated by them. I have tried to spell everything out really clearly, step by step.
There is also a very detailed video of the process at the end, this can be really helpful for seeing how things are done. I’ve noted on each step of the instructions where in the video that step is.
If you make a ‘Thread Room Handbag’ we would love to see it! Please please send me a photo of it or tag us on instagram.
Email: hello@threadroom.co.nz
Instagram: @thread_room
#threadroomhandbag
Fabric and Equipment
-Fabric for outer
-Fabric for lining (can be the same as outer)
-Zip a regular dress zip that is 20cm or longer
-Interfacing (optional)
-Zipper foot for sewing machine
-Printed pattern.
-Pins, scissors, thread, iron
For this example I have used a light weight cotton for the lining and a heavier cotton for the outside.
These bags will work in a range of different fabrics. I think it is quite nice to use a slightly more structured fabric for either the bag or the lining, to give the handbag some shape. If you are working with lighter fabrics you could use interfacing on the bag and lining to give it more structure, this is what I am going to do. If you don’t have that available then your bag will just be a bit softer which can be lovely too.
Video: 02:30
Pattern
Printable pattern link is below. Print off at 100% scale, you can check that it is the correct size by checking that the test square is 2.5cmx2.5cm. Print the three pages, trim sides A, B so that you can join A to A and B to B then cut out pattern pieces. Then you are ready to cut your fabric.
I have included pattern measurements, just incase you aren’t able to print.
Cut out all of your pieces.
If you are using interfacing, iron this to the wrong side of the bag pieces.
Video 01:30
First we do a hem along the top edge of the pocket. Fold over to the wrong side of the fabric 2cm, then fold over another 2cm and pin. We will do two lines of stitching one really close to the top edge and one really close to the folded edge.
Video: 03:28
I have added white lines to this image to illustrate where we will be stitching.
We now baste the pocket to one of the outside handbag pieces. This is just to hold it in place until we sew it all together properly, so don’t worry about the edges being exposed.
Put the machine on the longest stitch length. Take one of the outer pieces of the bag, lay it on the table with the good side facing up. Place the pocket piece on top with the good side also facing up, pin, then stitch around the sides, corner cut outs and bottom pocket piece, close the edge to hold it in place.
Then we do some more basting stitches, these keep things from moving around and they will be unpicked right at the end. Stitch across the top, just below the hem you did in the last step. Now stitch a diagonal line across both of the bottom corners.
Video 04:50
Sewing the strap. Join pieces if needed (if you were unable to cut the whole strap in one)
1. Fold fabric in half lengthways, with the good side of the fabric on the outside and iron.
2. Open out with the wrong side of the fabric facing up, fold both long outside edges to the centre.
3. Then fold in half again along the crease line that you already ironed. Pin in place. This should mean that the raw edges are enclosed along the length of the strap. Don’t worry about the short ends being exposed, these get tucked in later.
Topstitch along both edges of the strap to make it secure and stable.
Video 07:35
Try the strap of the bag over your shoulder to check that it is the correct length on you before continue. I trimmed a couple of cm off of the strap.
Sew the strap to the outer piece of the bag that doesn’t have the pocket. Have the good side of the bag piece facing up. Mark 2.5cm in from each edge along the top of the bag. Place the straps in line with the marks. We sew the strap to the bag with good sides together, see picture. It feels a little like you are sewing it incorrectly, but sewing it in this direction ensures that the strap gets enclosed as we sew it all together, it will be secure, look really tidy and pop out facing the right way once we are done. Stitch with a back tack close to the top.
Video 09:18
Tabs. We are sewing little tabs on the end of the zip to make it look really nice and tidy.
First we will fold and iron the tabs to give us some crease lines to follow. At each of the short end of the tab fold over1cm to the wrong side of the fabric, iron then open out again.
Mark out on your zip some where close to the bottom, then mark out 19cm along from that length with chalk or a pencil. It is fine if your zip is longer than this, we will trim it in one of the next steps.
Video 11:22
1. Start with the bottom end of the zip with the good side of the zip facing up. Place tab face down, good sides together on the zip, aligning the edge with the marking. Pin and sew across in crease line, where pin is in the picture. Go slowly as you go over the zip. Trim off the end of the zip at marking/edge of tab- don’t use your fabric scissors.
2. Fold tab over the end of the zip to the other side of the zip, the end will tuck in because you ironed it earlier.
3. Pin and sew from good side, ensuring that you catch to fabric that you’ve just folded over.
Video 12:34
We now repeat it at the top end of the zip, it is a little trickier because we have to pull the zipper down. Pull zipper down to a few cm below your marking. Pin zipper together at top as above being careful to keep the two sides of the zip teeth together, as if they were closed.
Repeat the exact same process as the other tab.
Place tab face down, good sides together on the zip, aligning the edge with the marking. Pin and sew across in crease line, where pin is in the picture. Trim off the end of the zip at marking/edge of tab.
Fold tab over the end of the zip to the other side of the zip, the end will tuck in because you ironed it earlier.
Pin and sew from good side.
Video 15:20
Great work! That is all the components done, now we just need to sew them together.
1. Sewing the zip to the fabrics. Take the bag piece with the pocket and place it on the table with the good side (the pocket side) facing upwards. Take the zip and place it face down along the top edge of the outer piece, the top edges must be perfectly aligned and the zip should be centred, there will be 1.5cm of fabric left at each end of the zip.
2. Now take one of the lining pieces and place it face down on top of the zip, align it so it is also perfectly matching, pin really well.
3. Use a zipper foot to let you get closer in with the stitching and sew right along the edge with a 1cm seam allowance. We don’t want to stitch around the zipper pull. To avoid this, start with the zip undone halfway. Sew along until the zipper pull, put the needle down, lift the presser foot up, pull the zip up and out of the way, continue sewing to the end. This may be easier to follow in the video.
Video 17:55
This is what it should look like once sewn.
To sew the other side of the zip we repeat the same process, it just looks a little different this time, because the zip is already attached to some pieces. Place the bag piece with the straps on table with the good side facing up. Take the zip edge that hasn’t been sewn and place it face down along the top edge of the piece with the straps. The good sides are together, get those pieces very well aligned.
Take the lining piece and place it face down on top of the other pieces, all the layers lining up well along the top edge.
Stitch along the top edge with a 1cm seam allowance. Again we don’t want to stitch around the zipper pull. To avoid this, start with the zip undone halfway. Sew up until the zipper pull, put the needle down, lift the presser foot up, pull the zip undone and out of the way, continue sewing to the end.
Video 21:40
This is how it should look once sewn. All the raw edges along the zipper are enclosed and it looks really nice and tidy.
The next thing I do is take the strap and bundle it up, tying it in any kind of knot to keep it out of the way for the next steps.
Open out the fabric so that the two outer pieces are together, with the good side of the fabric facing and the two lining pieces are together with the good sides facing.
Pin first at each end of the zip, making sure the layers are all aligned nicely. Then pin all the way around the outside of the bag and lining.
Video 24:45
I have used the orange lines to illustrate where we will be sewing.
We are sewing each of the edges, right from the edge but not sewing the cut out corners. 1cm seam allowance, I like to keep the zipper foot on for sewing the long sides.
First sew the long edges on each side, from one end along, past the end of the zip and right to the other end. Be careful as pass the end of the zip, this area will be quite thick and it could be challenging to keep to the 1cm seam allowance, you may need to adjust the presser foot to keep it there. Sew both sides.
Sew the short edge of the bag.
Sew the short edge of the lining but leave a gap in the middle, this is the gap that we will turn the bag through.
Video 26:10
I have used the orange line to illustrate where we will be sewing.
Box corners. Open up the gap in the corner, at the corner of the cut out, pinch each side and pull apart until they form a straight line. Pin and sew across here with a 1cm seam allowance. Be careful that it is flat and that no extra fabric is getting caught. Repeat for all of the corners.
Video 27:22
Turn the bag the right way out through the gap, all the way out so that it is the same big rectangle, just with the right sides out. Poke all of the corners out too.
Video: 30:30
Unpick the visible basting stitches that we did at the start. This will be the line across the pocket and the diagonal lines in the bottom corners.
At the gap in the lining tuck in the 1cm of seam allowance, sew close to the edge to close.
Video 30:45
Tuck the lining well inside of the bag, right into the corners. Give the bag a light iron
Video 31:22
You are all done YAY!
If you make a ‘Thread Room Handbag’ we would love to see it! Please please send me a photo of it or tag us on instagram.
Email: hello@threadroom.co.nz
Instagram: @thread_room
#threadroomhandbag