diy faux leather bucket bag

I recently got a new sewing machine and decided that I would make a faux leather purse as my first project of 2014! It's a little more exciting to be making something like a purse, so I'm happy to share this one with you. It actually doesn't take much for this purse, and you will be thrilled with the results!

Materials:

1. A yard and a half of faux leather, make sure its enough for your straps! This will depend also on the width of the fabric, I got mine from an upholstery store. If you are not sure, fabric stores are generally helpful so don't be shy to ask. 
2. Sewing machine, leather needles, a walking foot (very helpful!)
3. Plastic bottom for purse (optional)
4. Hole puncher for leather
5. Leather cord, or "suede lace" to use as drawstring

The first pattern piece that I cut was the circle for the bottom of my bag. You can free hand this or find an object in your house to trace. Cut two of these if you are going to be adding plastic to the bottom of the purse. That means one piece for the bottom, and another piece to cover the plastic inside the purse.

Based off of your circle measurement, cut a rectangle. The length of the rectangle will need to fit the circumference of the circle. Take some measurements so that you are sure that they fit. Also keep your seam allowance in mind!

Once you have those pieces cut, you will need to sew the side seam of the rectangle, right sides together. Then stitch the circle to the bottom of your rectangle. This can be a little tricky, but just take your time, sew slowly and you will get good results. 

Take that nifty leather hole puncher, and punch some holes! This will be where the draw string goes in to keep the purse shut. Measure and mark these holes of course, and if you need to pin anything...well don't. Use clips! This helped me get an idea of how I wanted the bag to fold with the drawstrings.

Perfect! I grabbed my hole puncher from Ace hardware...the one that I bought at a craft store was simply not sharp enough.

Now just to make the straps! Figure out how long you like your purses to hang. I measured mine at 48 inches. Cut two strips of fabric 48 inches long, and 1.5 inches wide. Wrong sides facing together, sew a stitch along each side.

Sew one end to one side of the purse, and the other end to the other side.

Lastly, put the leather cord through the holes, pull, and tie a bow! Ta-da, you have your own DIY faux-leather bucket bag! I hope to shoot an outfit post this week :)