DIY: Hand Made Ankara Purse

Hand Made Ankara Purse. 

This is something you can easily do at home planned or unplanned, alone or with your sisters, friends, daughters or nieces. The boys can most certainly join in. 

You need your main fabric which should measure about twice the size you are hoping to end up with. I used 16 by 11 inches. Inner or linning fabric of the same size, press buttons, thread, hand sewing needle, chalk, pins, measuring thread and scissors.

Fold your main fabric on the longer side, such that the right sides are facing each other and the wrong side is facing you. Pin the edges together. Thread your needle. Measure 0.5 inch on both sides of the folded fabric. Also measure 0.5 inch from the top of both sides. This 0.5 inch on top is to let you know where your sewing starts/stops. Now hand stitch gently from the bottom to the 0.5 inch mark at the top or from that mark down to the bottom on both sides. 

Do the same thing with your linning. Press down the 0.5inch on top and iron it. Iron the main fabric too. 

Turn the main fabric inside out and insert it into the inner fabric pouch. The right sides of the main and inner fabric should be facing. 

Line them up properly and pin them together. 

Measure about 2 to 3inches on the middle of one of the sides. Use your Chalk to mark the points. Start your sewing from one point and sew all the way to the other. Making sure you knot your stitches at the beginning and end of every length of stitch. 

Turn the pouches out through the small opening you left. Do this gently so that you do not tear up your stitches. After turning inside out, place the inner fabric inside the main fabric. It should look like this. 

Every stitch we have done to this point you can also do with a sewing machine if you have one. Use hand stitching to close up the remaining small opening that you turned out with. 

Insert your press buttons. If you used the same measurements as I did, you can use five press buttons of about 2 to 2.5inches apart. After you are done inserting the buttons, they should look like the picture. 

Your purse is done. You can leave it this way or go on to insert one more set of press button on the outside, so that it can be folded too. I placed one at the sort of middle of the top and I measured the fold I would like to have and placed the other part of the press button there. 

You can totally do this at home and have an array of purses, perhaps one fit or every outfit. 

X0X0

Faith. A.A