Lovely Li'l Heart Bag

I wanted to create something really nice for the bag contest, but I didn't have any good ideas. Then I mixed valentine's day into it and this little bag is the result.

- a piece of vegan leather (mine was about 12x17 inch)
- 2 strips of vegan leather 2 inches wide 20 inches long (for the handles)
- 4 cut out hearts about 2x2 inches
- 2 strips of vegan leather (lenth of circumference of the cut out heart of the bag boby+ 1-2 inches
- a zipper, same length
- a paper template (I'll tell you how to make it in the next step.)
- measuring tape
- sewing clips
- and a sewing mashine

Making the template is super simple. Take a piece of paper, fold it in half and draw a half heart into it. Cut out. Unfold. Add sewing notes onto it. Use it as a template that includes the sewing allowance.

Use the template to transfer the shape onto the vegan leather. Draw the seam allowance into the heart. Fold the upper half of your paper down. From the centre outward measure the same length and mark it on the vegan leather. Cut the heart out twice. Measure the circumference. Mark the length, you will need two strips of vegan leather of that length later. The zipper must be the same length as well. Measure and add about 1-2 inches. I used some strips I already had and just cut them to the correct length. Later I also cut off the zigzag on the side. Lay down the strip that will become your handle on your cut out heart shapes. Cut the length of your future handles to liking.

OK - after a lot of preparation the sewing can start!
Start with the handles. Fold the strip lengthwise in half and stich along the side. I turned and stiched from the other side too because I had different colored thread on top and in my mashine and I liked the coloring that was created that way.
Place the small cut out heart onto the endings and stich tight. As before I stiched some more because I liked the effect. Repeat with the second handle. Put aside both handles.

For the bag body stich the narrow strip all around. I started out with a regular sewing foot. When I sewed the second part I used the zipper foot, that worked a lot better. I also dampened the vegan leather a little, that made it softer and easier to work with. In the tight spots on the top and bottom of the heart I folded the strip so I could see exactly where my last step needed to be placed before changing directions. When you are finished, cut away the best part of the sewing allowance and add little cuts all around. Bend along the seams to soften them. Bend open.

Sew the zipper in next. Make sure that you have the pretty sides on top of each other and the zipper handle is on the inside. ALSO take care that you have the zipper opening on the TOP of your heart. I DIDN'T and realized that when it was too late. Vegan leather just like real leather doesn't allow mistakes, so the damage was done. Will definetely doublecheck that next time!

Turn the heart with the zipper already atached to it inside out. The nice side is on the outside. Now lay this into the other half. Allign the beginning points of the zipper, stich along the side and the zipper. Stich all around. You need to push aside the other part of the zipper, so that it doesn't get tangled up.

Turn the endings of the zipper over and topstich. Cut off any remaining flaps. Secure unravelling endings by melting them.

Add a little piece of double-sided tape and stick the handle in position. Stich around to secure. Repeat with all four handle hearts.
Fill with your usual stuff and ENJOY!