BERNINA Corporate Blog -
Welcome to the 9th door of the blog advent calendar! Today I have brought you an idea for sewing really colorful small leather bags from scraps. You can conjure up such pretty gifts with little material and very little time. You can download the pattern as a PDF below. The wonderful Julie from Blooming Sewing has provided a free pattern for a round and a square version. I opted for the round version of the Blooming Pouch.
The pouches are also perfect for trying your hand at sewing real leather with a sewing machine. And with a little magic, as you will see, this is very easy to achieve.
Sew colorful leather bags
Required material
- Pattern
- Remnant of leather
- Leather needle
- Sewing thread
- Label if applicable
- Stylefix adhesive tape if necessary
- Press studs or ball fasteners
Download free pattern
You can download the pattern for the leather bags free of charge from the following link:
The download is from a French website. First click on “Ajouter au panier” (add to shopping cart).
Then on “Placez votre commande” (order).
Click on the purple check if you do not wish to receive newsletters:
Enter your address and confirm with “Vérifier la commande” (confirm order).
Now you have to click on “Valider le paiement” (confirm payment method). The costs amount to EUR 0.00.
You will then be taken to a confirmation page where you can download the pattern as a PDF by clicking on the blue “Télécharger maintenant” button.
Cutting the leather bags
When printing the pattern, make sure that you print in original size (or 100%) and that you have not adjusted the size in the print settings. Check this using the 3×3 cm test square.
Cut two front parts (1 x mirrored), one flap and one back part for each bag. The position of the catch on the flap can also be transferred immediately.
You can then combine the leather cuttings as you wish to create different bags.
Sewing leather bags with a little magic
The first magic ingredient is: always use a leather needle when sewing!
And in the best case scenario, the sewing machine adjusts to the leather material, then the thread tension and presser foot pressure are adjusted accordingly.
A test seam never hurts. Don’t start with the thickest leather right away. Contrary to the standard setting for leather, I like to increase the stitch length a little to 3.5 or 4, as I like the stitch pattern better this way.
The second magic ingredient is high-quality yarn. For leather, you can also use a slightly stronger thread, such as denim thread, but this is not absolutely necessary. In any case, I recommend using the same yarn for the bobbin thread.
And the third and final magic ingredient is Stylefix. I use it to fix the leather so that I can then sew it better.
Let’s get started with the leather bag sewing
First, apply Stylefix (or Wondertape) to the flap and one of the sides of the front section. I glue the Stylefix flush directly to the edge. Then fix the flap to the center of the back with Stylefix so that it overlaps by approx. 1 cm.
And then prepare the front: it doesn’t matter whether the right front piece is sewn onto the left or the left front piece onto the right front piece.
Lock the beginning and end of the seam well.
I deliberately don’t sew at the point where the Stylefix is attached, but a millimeter or two away from it so that the needle doesn’t stick.
Lay the front and back pieces right sides together and sew together close to the edge, adding a label if desired. Here I use clamps to align the two parts while sewing.
Finishing the leather pouch
If you have not sewn close to the edge, you can trim the seam allowance back a little. Then turn the bag right side out.
You can roll the seam a little between your fingers so that it forms nicely.
If you have not already done so, mark the position of the fastener and attach either the ball fastener or the press stud.
I opted for the ball closure. I apply a drop of threadlocker to the thread, and a hole with a small slit on the flap using the hole punch pliers is sufficient. I cut this with small scissors.
You can repeat the whole process as often as you like for many bags!
Look forward to it!
Personally, I can’t decide which leather bag I like best. I think they’re all great!
I hope you enjoy making them and wish you a magical Advent season!
0 Responses