I don't recommend trying to sew this bag by hand, but if you are really ambitious or just lacking a sewing machine you can certainly have a go at it. :)
To begin with, create your main pattern piece. I drew a rectangle, rounded the bottom edges, and made a shallow rounded cut-out at the top. You can make yours any size you like. This main piece will be the body of your bag:
Here are all of the parts I used:
To make the trim pieces for the corners, I just drew a sort of football shape, using the corner of my pattern as a guide to get the size and amount of curve right.Ê For the top trim pieces, I traced the top of my pattern onto the felt, and then eyeballed about an inch down and freehanded the same shape again to get the long curved line.
For the flap closure, I used this pattern from my quilting mat, but you can makes yours in any shape you prefer.
You need a piece from the liner, a piece from the outer fabric, and a piece from the interfacing, of course.
Now that you have all your pieces cut out, go ahead and put your flap together.Ê Line up the outer and liner pieces with their good sides facing, and stittch all the way around, leaving the bottom part open so you can turn it out.Ê Then turn it right side out, press, and top stitch around it.
Next you can sew the darts into your outer pieces:
I tried to show in the picture what I did.Ê Basically you just pinch the dart area together and sew along the line.Ê You'll need to do this to both sides of the outer fabric and the liner as well for a total of 8 times, so go ahead and do that now.
Now that you're done with that part, you can attach your trim.
I'd like to add at this point that I did not use coordinating thread for this project!ÊThe reason is that I wanted the stitching to show in the images so you can see what I'm doing.Ê But of course you'll want to use thread that matches your bag's fabric. ^_^;
Line up your top trim piece with the top of your outer body piece, pin in place, and sew.Ê It may be helpful to use a little fabric glue stick to keep it still.Ê Do this on the other side of the bag's body as well.
Attaching the corner trim pieces is a little tricky, and there's no real science to it.Ê Hopefully my photos will help explain it, but you can also do this in any way you find that works for you.
Basically what I did was try to center the corner trim onto the bottom corner of the body, using the dart seam as a sort of guide.Ê Then I pinned the top and bottom to keep it centered (first pic).Ê Next, I pleated the sides a little bit to gather up the excess felt, and pinned those in place (pics 2 and 3).Ê Then I very carefully stitched around the whole thing, and pic 4 is what is should look like when it's done. Do this on all four corners of your outer body pieces.
Now here's the fun part...embellishing your bag!Ê I used rick-rack on this bag because I thought it looked best with the fabrics I used (which were chosen rather quickly, just to be used for this tutorial), but you can embellish your bag in whatever way seems best to you.
This is what mine looked like after I attached the rick-rack:
Now it's time to make the strap.
You can do this any way you want.Ê The original plaid bag is much larger than this green one, and the straps are long enough to carry it over your shoulder.Ê This bag is smaller, so what I did was cut one piece (4"x24") and then just cut it in half.Ê That made two straps that are the perfect size for carrying in your hand or over your wrist.
Anyway, you fold your strap's edges in to meet each other, press it, then fold that in half, press it again, and stitch down each side of the strap.Ê I cut it in half lengthwise to make the 2 straps *after* I sewed it, but you could do it before, too.
Now that you've done all of this, take your outer fabric, match up the top and sides, pin it together, and sew all the way around the 3 outer sides.Ê Do the same with your liner fabric, but leave a space big enough to turn the bag through on either the side or bottom of the liner.
Here's my liner all pinned together; I left my turning hole on the side.
Now you're ready to assemble the bag!Ê
Turn your bag inside out if it isn't already, and pin the flap inside, good sides facing. Pin the straps in on the edge of the curved part.
Lay your liner in on top of all that, good side facing the good side of the outer fabric, match up the edges, and pin.
Now stitch all the way around the top of the bag, making sure everything is lined up as you go.Ê It helps to go slowly since this bag has an odd shape at the top.Ê Once you've done that, you can turn the bag right side out, press the top of the bag down and top stitch it so it lays nice and flat.Ê Then sew up the hole in your lining, attach a snap to the flap and front of the purse, and admire your handiwork, because you're finished! ^_^
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