Tutorial: The Day Bag. Assembling

We're continuing making the day bag as seen  here . By now you should have finished making the pattern as shown in the tutorial part 1 (see here)

In this final part we are going to assemble the bag.

Notice: the front center piece of my bag is the wrong side of the leather (the print was just to fabulous to leave it un-noticed), so don't be confused when you see same fabric :)

  For this bag I used 0,5 meter of faux-leather (with some leftovers), a scarf for the lining and a magnetic button. If you make a bigger bag, you'll need more leather. And since for the front center piece I used the inside of the leather, I can't tell you exactly how much fabrics you will need.  

Step 1. Assembling the front part. Take the front side part A, put it on the front center piece like in the photo (part A is facing wrong side up, front center piece is right side facing up). Pin it (DON'T PIN if your leather is very thick or it will leave marks. Also, pin just a little outside the seam, so that if there's any hole it's not visible on the bag outside).

Open the side.

Make a seam. Repeat with other side.

Put the top front detail (wrong side up), pin it (if you can pin the leather) and sew.

Open the detail and make decorative seam (I made two seams, but it's completely your chioce :)

Put the bodice part on the bottom of the front detail (once again, the wrong side is up) and sew like you did with the parts above. You've finished the step 1!

Step 2. Take the bottom part, put on the main bodice (wrong side up) (you should mark the main bodice with the lines where the bottom part is going to be added) . Sew the pinned line.

Open the bottom like in photo.

Make two seams.

 Fold the other long edge (so that raw edge isn't visible) of the bottom part and sew (make sure the leather doesn't make any waves). That's the end of the step 2.

  Step 3.  Take the main bodice, mark the place you want your magnetic button to go, and install the button.

This is my front detail wrong side. Added extra fabric to make sure the button won't rip fabric. 

 Add the other magnetic button part to the flap. That finishes step 3.

Step 4. Now this is the most interesting step :) Take the flap details, put them together (right sides facing outside), take your cut-out flap pattern piece (I made mine on a newspaper), put it on leather (like in the photo. If the paper slides, you can tape sides with tape).

Sew around the edges, about 2-3 millimeters away from a side. YES SEW THE NEWSPAPER. Don't worry - you will the it away later (by the way, newspaper makes it easy to sew leather, so I use this trick then I 'm dealing with hard-to-sew leather). Don't sew the long edge (the one without places for straps). Don't take the newpaper away jsut yet.

This is how the other side of the flap (the one without a newspaper) looks like, when you sew around.

Cut around (or use a knife), make sure the edges are even and nice (well, mine where not the prettiest ones :D carefully rip the paper away. When you've taken the paper away, make one more seam (decorative one). The end of step 4.

Step 5. Take the flap, put it so that the side with the button is facing down, put the bodice wrong side up, so that  the raw long edge of the flap and the top raw edge of the bodice back are together. Pin and sew.


Take your lining part (if you put any pockets - this is a time to put it on. I didn't make pockets, so I can't show you how it's done), put it on the main bodice (right sides facing up), pin like it photo and sew. (How nice is the lining?!)

"Close" the flap and make a seam on the top. This will make the flap stay nicely in the bag when it's not used. If it gets to thick to sew (many leather layers), either skip this step or make stiches by hand.

Take the other short edge of the lining and bring it to the short edge of the main bodice, make sure the fabric doesn't make waves, fold the top of the bodice on the lining as shown and make a seam. (I how I've explained this step clearly - if there's any misunderstandings - let me know!). End of step 5.

Step 6. Take the handle parts, fold them like in photo, and make seams along the long edges.

Take the main bodice, put on the straps where they should be, and sew. Attach both straps.

This is how the seam of the attached strap one edge looks like in the inside. End of step 6.

Step 7. Take the side details, put on the lining details (right sides facing outside), fold the top of the leather and sew. Repeat on both sides.

Take the sides, pin them to the sides of the bodice (as in photos) and sew. Sew both sides. Then sew the bottom. Make sure you're using a short stitch - it will make the seams stronger.

Cover the raw edges (I covered mine by simply folding long leather straps and sewing around the raw lining edges). Put snap buttons to the sides, if you want the sides to close up nicely (I'll sure add them as soon as I get more snap buttons!). Turn the bag inside out and the bag is done! :)

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial. If you make this bag - please show me the photos: I'd love to see them!