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Turn an Old Book into a New Purse

Accessories, Crafts, D.I.Y. Project, Fashion, Homemade Gifts, Sewing, Style
By Mandi Johnson

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.The best accessories are functional, cute, and great conversation starters. This book clutch is the perfect little thing to carry to a party for stashing your necessities while meeting new friends and finding kindred spirits.

This project is fairly simple, though it does involve minimal sewing. If you have beginner to moderate sewing skills, you could whip up this fun little clutch in just a couple hours!

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.Supplies:
-hard cover book at least 1″ thick
-magnetic snap kit
-lining fabric that coordinates or compliments with book colors
-heavy weight interfacing

Tools:
-X-Acto blade
-fabric scissors
-marker
-hot glue gun
-iron
-sewing machine

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.Step One: Use an X-Acto blade to remove the cover from the binding and pages. Clean up the cover as much as possible.

Step Two: Cut out a piece of your lining fabric to the size of your book’s cover, plus a .75″ border.

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.Step Three: Use an iron to fold down the edges of the fabric lining, making sure the final shape is just a bit smaller than the cover of your book.

Step Four: Cut a small piece of interfacing and stitch it to the end of your fabric where the snap will go.

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.Step Five: Lay your snap back onto the area where your interfacing is, a bit more than .5″ from the edge of your rectangle. Use an X-Acto blade to cut through the slits of the snap back.

Step Six: Put the arms of your snap front through the slits of the snap back as shown above. Bend down the arms to secure it. The snap should be on the right side of the fabric.

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.Step Seven: Stitch around the edge of your rectangular lining, just about .25″ from the edge.

Step Eight: Begin making your snap flap. Use the snap back as a template. You want to make a shape generally like the one shown above. Make sure there is at least .75″ around the edge of the snap back. Cut out two pieces of patterned fabric and one piece of interfacing to this shape.

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.Step Ten: Stitch the interfacing to the wrong side of one of the patterned pieces you cut out the previous step. Use a wide stitch about .25″ from the edge. Then lay the snap back on it and use an X-Acto blade to cut through the slits of the snap back.

Step Eleven: Put the arms of the snap front through the snap back, making sure the snap front is on the right side of the fabric and the snap back is on the interfacing side.

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.Step Twelve: Layer the flap pieces so that the right sides of the fabric are facing each other. Then stitch the pieces together as close to the snap as you can get. Leave the bottom edge unsewn. Flip the flap pieces right-side-out and iron around the edges.

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.Step Thirteen: Create the side panels of the purse by tracing the edge of the slightly opened book cover as shown above. Make sure You fold the fabric at the opening of the purse so that you will have two layers of fabric.

Step Fourteen: Cut out the pieces of fabric and stitch around the edges of the folded fabric pieces, .5″ from the edge.

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.Step Fifteen: Attach the side panels of the purse by using hot glue. Begin with the binding edge of the cover as shown above, then do the front and back of the book. Make sure you don’t put the line of hot glue too close to the edge of the book, or you will have glue seep into sight as you push the fabric into the hot glue. You can always add more glue later if you need to.

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.Step Sixteen: Use hot glue to attach the snap flap as shown above.

Step Seventeen: Attach the lining to the inside of the purse. Use hot glue and work on only little bits at a time, or the glue will dry and harden before you can get to it. Work slowly to make sure the fabric is lined up with the book cover.

Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.Turn an old book into a new purse! Step by step instructions and photos.There it is! It might seem like a lot of steps, but it only took me a couple of hours to transform this old book into a purse, and that even includes stopping to take pictures along the way. If you prefer, you could add straps or handles to the purse when you attach the snap. The magnetic snap works like a charm, and I love the simplicity of a clutch design. So fun! –Mandi

Credits // Author and Photography: Mandi Johnson. Photos edited with Stella from the Signature Collection.

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