purse tutorial- metallic + neon beauty

Adam and I were talking about Piper Jane recently and he asked, “Are all girls this girly?” Ha! She might’ve gotten an extra dose of love for all things pink, and sparkly (and, of course, sprinkled). Which means that, by now, my new metallic-plus-neon-pink purse has been commandeered and filled with ponies and hair bows from Forever 21 (they’re the cheapest ones, so Pi’s collection is probably into the hundreds by now).

However, I fully intend to reclaim this little beauty for Girl’s Night Outs and Date Nights (it isn’t big enough to be an every day bag- not for this crazy-amount-of-stuff-toting-mama, at least).

My favorite things about this purse (besides that it was a super-easy-make-in-one-naptime project?)? I like how it’s the perfect size for a few essentials- phone, sunglasses, lip gloss, a notebook (what, you don’t carry those everywhere like I do?). And I am loving the gold plus pink combo (like mama, like daughter I guess). And the flipped-bow front, I really like that. Ooooh, and the color blocking on the handle. Yes please.

Want to make your own metallic and neon purse too?

You’ll need– metallic pleather (ordered mine here- I ordered 2 yards and have to-ons left), bright pink satin (I had a quarter yard in my stash, but only used a fraction of it), heavy interfacing (1/4 yard would be plenty), a magnetic purse snap, sewing machine and supplies.

First cut out all of your pieces. You’ll need-

A- Two 4″ x 16″ pieces of metallic pleather/main fabric

B- One 4″ x 12″ piece of neon/other fabric

C- Four 6.5″x13.5″ rectangles of metallic/main fabric

D- One gold/main and one neon/other 6.5″x14.5″ rectangles

E- Two 6.5″x3.5″ rectangles of metallic/main fabric

F- Two 13.5″ x 3.5″ rectangles of metallic/main fabric

Assemble the outer shell and inside liner (I used the same metallic fabric for both, but you could also use a different fabric for the liner). To assemble the liner, sew Piece C to Piece E along the 6.5″ edge. Then sew another Piece E to the other 6.5″ edge of Piece C.

Complete the ‘box’ (bottomless and topless at this point) by sewing another Piece C to the two available 6.5″ edges of the two Piece Es.

To make it easier to attach the bottom, don’t sew all the way to the bottom edge of any of your lines.

Take Piece F and pin into place along all four bottom edges of your ‘box.’ The trickiest parts are the corners (because you are pinning three things together. Fit the corner of Piece F into place with the bottom edge of Piece E and Piece C and pin all three in place. Sew along the entire perimeter, leaving a 4″ or 5″ gap in the middle of one of the 13.5″ sides (this will allow you to turn your purse right side in when it’s finished).

Before you repeat this process to assemble the purse exterior, take both Piece Ds and sew together, right sides facing in, along the 14.5″ edges. Flip right side in. Rotate until you have a half-neon, half-metallic tube.

Pin one side of the tube to the 6.5″ on the outside of another Piece C. Then, flip the tube in half (making a turned-bow) and pin the flipped upside down edge to the other 6.5″ edge.

Using this pinned together piece in the place of one Piece C, repeat all of the assembly steps outlined above, sewing together the exterior of the purse (including the bottom, even though it’s not pictured… also, don’t leave a gap when attaching the bottom).

To assemble the handle, sew one Piece A to Piece B along the 4″ edge, right sides facing in. Then sew the other Piece A to the still-free 4″ edge of Piece B (making a Piece B sandwich with two metallic sides and a neon pink center).

Fold in half, right side facing the middle, pin along the open edge and sew into a long tube. Turn right side in.

Take the exterior of the purse and stand it up, inside out (with the metallic side facing the interior). Then, take the interior with the metallic side facing outward and tuck it into the exterior.

Tuck the right-side-in tube handle in between the two. Make sure that when you turn the purse right side in, the handle will be facing the right direction (I actually pinned everything in place and turned it right side in to check).

Pin the entire top edge together and then sew in place. Turn right side in by pulling through the opening in the bottom edge.

Optional- while there is still an opening in the lining, add a magnet to secure the interior pieces together. Then sew the opening closed and you are done!

One gold plus neon purse with a bow on the front… perfect for two-year-olds and their hair bow and pony collections and girls’ night outs alike (well, I’m speculating on that second part, but can affirm the first part with confidence).

ps- If you follow us on FB, you know that this project did not start well (and by ‘not well,’ I mean that Round 1 was a complete fail, not even salvageable to turn into something else). I was trying to copy this purse I got in Italy ten years ago. It didn’t work. But, honestly, I like this metallic and neon, color block-y one even better, so there’s that. Just in case you thought all of my projects turned out, I thought I’d start giving examples of when they don’t. RIP Round 1 purse.