Homemade Makeup Bags: Cutting the Fabric

Series Summary

The last ten years have seen an undeniable surge in the popularity of homemade and handmade crafts, clothing and accessories. As television shows that demonstrate do-it-yourself projects and arts & crafts techniques gain popularity and more people learn to create things on their own and gather inspiration from other crafty artists, the techniques and methods for making a wide variety of items become more available ... and more interesting! There is no limit to the amount of creativity and uniqueness you can reach when you're given some very basic instructions on sewing, embroidering, stitching and fabric cutting. Don't be intimidated to begin your own arts & crafts or homemade clothing or accessories project because you lack some skills in the more technical aspects of creation: let an expert show you how to cut the material, stitch together the pieces and put those finishing touches on your work, then go from there to begin your own creative process!

In this free instructional video clip series, our expert will show you how to make two different types of bags from fabric: a more traditional handbag and a small tote that can be used for makeup or whatever you wish. These homemade bags and purses make excellent gifts and are easy to make when you have gathered your materials (typically thread, sewing machine, fabrics and small accessories). Once you have learned how to trim the fabric and construct the basic framework for a bag, the details are up to you—insert a zipper, add handles or side panels, iron on transfers for added flair and artistic expression.

Video Transcript

" Hi! I’m Candi Cane-Canncel on behalf of expertvillage.com. In this clip we’re going to get started on making a fabulous tote bag with a matching make-up case. So the first thing you want to do is cut out your fabric, now I’m using felt because it’s a really inexpensive material it’s very durable and it has like a really fun finish to it and comes in great colors. So I already cut out my pieces, you’re going to need two side panels that are 18 inches wide by 14 inches tall. And the way we’re going to put this together is instead of having two separate side panels and a separate bottom panel we’re just going to use one continuous piece. So this piece is 46 inches long and it’s about 6 inches wide, so after you’ve cut out both the sides and the bottom and side piece you’re also going to have to cut out two handles because we’re going to be making handles out of the same fabric. And these handles are 3 ½ inches wide by about 25 inches long and this is going to make a fairly long handle, if you want something that’s shorter more like a hand bag handle then feel free to just cut the measurements down. To find out more info about this project feel free to go to my website at candiland.com."