The first thing you need to do is get your pattern pieces ready. I made mine with tissue paper, and drew my shapes on a vertical fold so that they would be symmetrical. If you have a cutting mat with a measurement grid like mine, it's very helpful to have underneath your paper when drawing your pattern pieces. You can make your purse any size you like as long as you make the pattern in the same basic shapes as these:
Each square on the grid in the picture above represents 1 inch. You can use the photo to help you make a pattern that is roughly the same size as mine if you like.
The smaller, shorter pattern piece is for the sides, the larger is for the front and back. Cut two of each from your liner fabric, your outer fabric, and interfacing if you wish to use it.
First of all, sew the bottom of the front and back of the outer fabric together (right sides facing), like so:
Next you attach the first side panel. Line up the straps and top. There will be a space between the bottom of the side panel and the front/back of the bag, but that makes the bottom of the purse so it's okay. Put wrong sides together since you are going to cover the raw seam with trim later.
This is how it will look after you've stitched the seam:
Next you have to pin the bottom of the front and back pieces to the bottom of the side panel. This is a little fiddly; you have to bend it and get it to line up with the bottom of the side panel. This is how it looked when I pinned it:
At this point, repeat all of the previous steps with the other side of the purse as well. Then you should have something like this:
Now you will need to sew the other front panel to the side panels. Again, it's a little tricky on the bottom corner but it shouldn't be too hard.
It should look like this when you're done:
Now repeat all of the above steps with your liner fabric pieces. You don't need to leave a "space" open for turning because this bag will not be turned inside out! ^_^
Once you have assembled your liner fabric, you need to place it inside of the outer fabric bag, wrong sides together, and sew the whole top part, all the way around the straps and everything. It will look like this when you have pinned it:
Now comes the interesting part! Your bag is pretty much assembled but you have all these raw seams sticking out, right? So, now you get to cover them with ribbon, which is both fun and annoying. ^_^
Again, I would like to strongly recommend using bias tape instead of ribbon for this part, but if you want to use ribbon it's okay. The method is basically the same for either one, so it's really a matter of personal preference.
Anyway, I started with the front of the bag, and at the top of the strap. I used 7/8" wide ribbon, and I just sort of pressed it in half with my finger nail. Then I used fabric glue stick to hold it in place while sewing it since pinning seemed out of the question. Here's a pic of me putting it on:
When you are attaching the ribbon trim on the front and back panel, you can add your ribbon ties in the center between the liner fabric and the ribbon trim. I just cut two lengths of ribbon, folded them in half, and sewed the edge (you can do the same thing with bias tape if you're going that route):
Continue to attach trim in the same way on the raw edges at the top of the side panels.
When you're all done with the top seams it will look like this:
Now take your two front straps, and press up a small hem on the edges to hide the raw edges and sew it down. Then turn the strap so that the raw seam on the top of it is facing toward the front of the purse. Put the two straps together and sew them almost all the way across, but leave a little space near the opening of the bag. It's hard to explain, here are a couple of pics trying to show what I'm talking about:
Do the same thing on the other side of the bag. Now all that is left is to cover the raw seams on the side panels and tops of the straps. It's basically the same process you've already done. When you have finished that, your bag is completed! Enjoy! ^_^
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