diy fashion Archives - Darling Darleen | A Lifestyle Design Blog

DIY Round Leather Bag Tutorial

A recent obsession and current trend is the round leather bag clutch. It’s a modern take on the classic bag styles you would see in the 1960s. Retro vibe but it still has a simple look, the round leather bag is a fun accessory to incorporate in your summer style. Another trend is the metal round handle. I’ve been seeing many European bag with that style and it will definitely be making it’s way to the States. With all these new trends, I thought it would be a good idea to do a round leather bag tutorial that is easy and simple for a novice, which I am in the leather-making category. This round leather bag tutorial is also a quick tutorial and took me about 30 minutes to make. So if you are in the need of a new going-out bag that is budget friendly, this is the one for you!

Supplies for Round Leather Bag Tutorial

a plate or something that is round

pencil

Ruler

Scissors

Sewing Machine

Instructions for Round Leather Bag Tutorial

Roll out your leather and fold in half, putting the wrong-sides together. Place a large plate face-side down on the leather. Use it as a template to draw a circle. Then cut out the circle. You should have two circles.
Place a ruler on the upper side of the circle about two inches down from the top. With a pencil, lightly mark a line on each side and mark the middle of the ruler. The move the ruler up a little, centering the ruler on the mark lines, then do mark another line all the way across on the bag.
Pull out your sewing machine and set it up to be able to sew on leather. Make sure you have upholestrey thread. Sew the two circles together starting and ending at the short lines marked from the ruler.
Cut out two squares in the leather that are about 2.5 inches in width and height
Take your leather hole puncher and punch where you marked the center of the bag. Then using your scissors, cut where you marked the line all the way across. That will remove the excess leather, and the round circle will now be flat on top.
Take each square and fold. Using the ruler, mark the center just a few centimeters from the edge of the square. Then punch out with the leather puncher.
Grab your rivets. Place the metal ring behind the round sewn leather and take the small square and feed the rivet through and secure with the other side of the square’s hole. Hammer in place so the rivet can’t be separated.
Repeat on the other side, and then enjoy your new bag!

To go along with the round leather bag tutorial, here are some other round leather bag options:

DIY Pom Pom Bag

This summer stay on trend with anything pom pom! Grab a few of your girlfriends for an evening of pom pom making! This DIY Pom Pom Bag is a fun craft and easy on the wallet, and so stylish. Everyone will be complimenting your tote bag at the pool! Most of the pom pom bags I’ve seen around are well over $100 (I’m obsessed with this one), but this pom pom bag can be made for under $10. During the summer months, straw/raffia tote bags can be found all over the place for a good price–dollar store, grocery store or maybe you have an old one sitting in your closet. Easily turn a boring woven tote bag into a colorful glam take on a classic beach style. Make this for your 4th of July holiday!

DIY Pom Pom Bag

Straw/woven tote bag

yarn (assorted colors)

Scissors

Pick up an assortment of yarn or stick with just one color. Or as a friend who might knit if they have yarn to spare. You won’t need a lot!

Take the yarn and place over your hand, leaving one side long enough to tie off at the end
Take the other end and wrap it around your hand.
Continue to wrap the yarn over and over your hand. The more wrapping around the hand, the fuller the pom pom will be. I wrapped about 60 times around my hand! I would not do anything less than 20 times.
Once you are done wrapping, take the yarn and place it in between your two middle fingers.

Wrap it behind the yarn, and slide it back through the middle two fingers.
Then bring it back up toward the middle two fingers. Slightly pull the yarn up to your fingers from your palm
Then continue to wrap the yarn around and around, tightening the middle part of the yarnd
Once it is tight, pull it off your fingers. Tie it off with the other end of the yarn string with a double knot. Cut the shorter end with scissors. Make sure not to cut off the long string side.

Take your scissors and cut the loop ends
Pull the cut yarn strings together
Gather them together and cut the strings so they are all even.
Trim until you are satisfied with your pom pom.

Take the long string and tie to the handle of your bag. Add more pom poms in different colors! Add pom pom layers to make a tassel by tying pom poms to each other.