Clear Vinyl Purse

by JOANN |

Item # 262112220P71

Intermediate Over 5 Hours

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

Kraft Paper or other large paper
Pencil
Quilter's ruler
Scissors or rotary cutter/ X-Acto knife / cutting mat
Acrylic circle purse handles - 5.75 in diameter, tortoiseshell
Clear vinyl - 1 yard
Painter's tape
Sewing clips
Large piece of thin cotton scrap fabric (for ironing vinyl)
Canvas - 1 yard
12" All-purpose zipper - natural
Straight pins
White thread
Sewing machine with zipper foot
Iron
Ironing board

DIRECTIONS:

Draft Vinyl Bag Pattern

Draw a rectangle that is 10 3/4"x 20". Cut it out.

Draw a line 3/8" in from the edge across each long side (this will denote where to fold the vinyl to create a seam.)

Draw a perpendicular line 8" in from the short left side and another line 8" in from the short right side. This will create two 8"x 10" rectangles with a 4"x 10" rectangle in the center. (this will denote where to fold the vinyl to create front, back, and bottom of the bag.)

Draw another perpendicular line 2" in from the short left side and another line 2" in from the short right side. Find the center of that line on each side and mark it. Next, take your circle purse handle and center its outer edge with one of the marks on a 2" line. Use your ruler to check that the circle is the same distance from each long edge. Use your pencil to trace the outer edge of the circle onto the pattern, then cut the arc out. Repeat on the other side.
This is the pattern for the main body of the vinyl bag.

Next, draft the side pattern. Draw a rectangle that is 4 3/4"x 8 3/8". Cut it out. Then, draw a line 3/8" in from the edge across each long side and one short side (this will denote where to fold the vinyl to create a seam.) Cut out the corner squares where the inner lines intersect.

Use the main body pattern to cut out one vinyl piece and use the side pattern to cut out two vinyl pieces. In addition, cut out six 1"x 3" rectangles of vinyl.

Set iron to the lowest synthetic setting, place scrap cotton over vinyl and press out any creases. Fold the 1"x 3" rectangles in half, matching short ends together, cover with the cotton and press with iron to make a crease.

To construct the vinyl bag, you will attach the handles first. Use the painter's tape to attach the handle to an inset arc on one of the main body's sides. Next, wrap a folded vinyl rectangle around the bottom of the handle, with one end on the front and one end on the back of the main body vinyl. This will be a tab that will hold the handle in place. Measure to ensure that it's centered, and make sure that both ends of the rectangle line up with each other (because you can see both edges from the outside of the clear bag), and tape to the front and back of the main body. With a zipper foot on the sewing machine, sew along the bottom edge of the rectangle, then sew along the arc of the handle. Repeat the process for the rectangular tabs on either side of the center. Line up the uppermost bottom corner of the tab about 1/2" from the top edge of the bag.

Once the handle is in place on one side of the bag, repeat all steps for the handle on the other side of the bag. When positioning the tabs on this side, however, you will fold the main body of the bag so that the top edges are aligned, and attach with sewing clips to prevent shifting. Then line up the clear tabs to match the position of the already sewn tabs on the other side. Tape in place and sew as before.

Use the iron (still set to synthetic) (still with a layer of cotton between the iron and the vinyl), to crease the sides of the main body in 3/8". You can set the bag on top of the pattern and fold the crease following your previously drawn pattern line. After the 3/8" seam lines are creased on both sides, use the iron (with the cotton layer over top of the vinyl) to form the vinyl into a front, bottom, and back, by creasing it along the two lines drawn at the center of your pattern.

Next, find your vinyl side pieces and fold in 3/8" on both long sides, and 3/8" on the one short side; again you can use your pattern piece for reference, and press with the iron still on synthetic and still with a layer of cotton in between.

Begin to assemble the sides of the vinyl bag. With creases facing out, line up the creases of the main body with the side piece creases, attach with sewing clips all the way around. If at any point in sewing you are unable to maneuver easily with the sewing clips (the bottom of the bag becomes difficult to sew in this way) replace the sewing clips with painter's tape. You will want to do whatever you can to make sure that your seam lines are as straight as possible, because you will be able to see them all from the outside. If it's easier to work in numerous short sewing lines, overlapped; this will look better than one continuous but crooked line. Sew all the way around the creases on one side, then repeat the whole process on the other side.

Once the sides are completed, turn the bag right side out, so that the seams are on the inside.

Change the iron setting so that it's on its hottest setting - Cotton/Linen. Run the hot iron over the surface of your ironing board, so that the surface of the ironing board itself is hot. Set the vinyl bag on the hot ironing board surface and use your fingers on the inside of the bag to press out wrinkles. Do this on all sides of the bag. As the ironing board surface loses heat, refresh the heat by moving the bag out of the way and running the iron over the ironing board surface again. Once you've worked the wrinkles out of the vinyl, use this same process to form the vinyl firmly into bag shape. Use the heat of the ironing board and your fingers to crease the bag sides inward, make the seamed sides into crisp edges, and the folds along the bottom into crisp edges.

Set your finished vinyl bag to the side as you create the inner canvas bag to make the completed purse.

Draft Canvas Bag Pattern - Draw a rectangle that is 8 1/2"x 6 3/8".

Use the quilting ruler to draw a 2" line out from the bottom right corner. (Find the 60 degree line on the quilting ruler and line it up with the line on the righthand side; draw out a line that is 2".) Connect the end of the angled line to the top right corner of the rectangle. Repeat on the left side.

Extend the sides of the rectangle down 2" to form another rectangle at the bottom of the first. (To confirm: this rectangle is 2"x 8 1/2", same width as the first.) Connect the ends to complete the rectangle.

Cut out the pattern.

Use the pattern to cut out two pieces from the Canvas. In addition, cut out two rectangles from the Canvas that are 1"x 2".

Place one 1"x 2" canvas rectangle on the zipper end with the metal crimp, with the long 2" side of the rectangle facing inward over the zipper. Extend the fabric about 1/4" over the metal crimp, pin with straight pins, and sew the fabric onto the zipper, using the sewing machine's zipper foot to sew close to the metal crimp.

Open the zipper, then place the other rectangle 7 3/4" from the first rectangle. Once again, the long 2" side of the rectangle is facing inward over the zipper. Pin with straight pins and sew the fabric onto the zipper.

Press the fabric rectangles outward away from the zipper with the iron. Trim fabric and zipper 3/4" away on the outside from the seams you just made on either side of the zipper.

Turn the zipper facedown and place the zipper at the top of one of the Canvas pieces (the top is opposite the side with the additional rectangle.) Align the long side of the zipper with the top side of the fabric and center it at the top, then pin with straight pins. Sew with the zipper foot, about 1/4" away from the zipper, pausing to move the zipper pull out of the way of the sewing machine so that your line can continue at 1/4" all the way across.

Attach the other canvas piece to the zipper in the same manner - ensure that the zipper is attached to the piece right sides together, and that the other fabric piece is entirely out of the way of the sewing machine. Pin and sew.

Open out the entire piece and lay flat with the zipper facing up. Press down the seams alongside the zipper with the iron, then topstitch the seam down on both sides of the zipper.

Next, you will sew the body of the bag. Open the zipper. When the body of the bag is sewn, you will turn the piece right side out through the zipper opening.

Align the two canvas pieces, right sides together, and pin. Sew together the two angled sides of the bag, and sew together the bottom of the bag. The L-shape on either side of the bottom will remain open.

Take the whole bag in your hands and flatten the side to create one large triangle with a flat bottom, the seam running straight through the center of the triangle. Match the open bottom of the triangle with the open bottom of the bag, with the center triangle seam matching the center bottom seam. Pin and sew together. Repeat for the other side of the bag.

Turn the whole bag right side out, inspect that all your seams are correct, then go back into the inside of the bag and clip any corners that have too much inner fabric bulk to turn out into crisp corners - likely this is just the corners at either side of the zipper. Clip fabric about 1/4" away from the seam and push out into a crisp point. Take the bag over to your iron and reinforce the crispness of all of the bag's angles by running your iron over the edges.

JOANN HACKS:

It can be difficult to see the edge lines of the clear vinyl while you're sewing. At any point you can clearly denote an edge line by lining it with painter's tape on the side opposite your seam. If you accidentally sew over the tape, you can tug it out of your sewn line easily enough.