"Marilyn" purse tutorial

Well, you've asked for the tutorial for "Marilyn." So here goes.

• Start with a fabric that you LOVE.
  
• You also need lining. This can be the same as your main fabric, or a lighter weight lining. You'll be bonding it to interfacing, so even if it's rayon, it will work.
• You also need some heavy fusible interfacing like "Pelon." and some fusible web like "Heat and Bond." and some medium weight fusible interfacing.
  
• You need a 18" regular zipper. Not the large plastic tooth one, and not a separating one. It should be longer than the width of your bag. It will be trimmed later.

Fabric requirements:
1 meter fashion fabric, more if you want to fussy cut for the design on the fabric.
1/3 meter lining fabric. If using interfacing, fuse it to the wrong side BEFORE cutting pieces.
2/3 meter heavy weight (Pelon) fusible interfacing. This is only 22" wide, so you need more.
1/3 meter medium weight fusible interfacing.
Optional - up to 2/3 meter fusible web to firmly secure Pelon (It sometimes lets go because of the amount of handling)
Matching thread.

• Cutting:
• Back, Front - 10 1/2 " high by 11" wide. Cut 2 of fabric, and 2 of Pelon (trim seam allowance on the pelon and trim the corners to reduce bulk in the seams.)
• Front pocket - 9" high by 22" wide (to allow for pleats or gathering) Cut 1 from fabric
• Side panels - 10 1/2 " high by 4" wide. Cut 2 of fabric.
• Inside pockets - 10" high by 13" wide. Cut 2 of fabric.
• Handle - 4" wide by 27" long. Cut one of fabric and cut one of Pelon, but cut the Pelon only 1 1/2" wide.
• Zipper edges - 1 1/2" wide by 11 1/2" long. Cut 2 of fabric.
• Front pocket band. Make a template. Use a paper, 3 1/2" x 11 1/2" long, fold in half so it's 3 1/2" x 5 3/4 ". On the folded edge, mark 1" from the top. On the open edge mark it 1 1/2" from the bottom. Join the top open corner with a line, to the top mark on the folded edge. Join the bottom mark on the open edge with a line to the bottom edge of the folded edge. Open the paper. Where there is a sharp "V" in the middle, round it off by trimming the point off and round out the inside of the "V". Cut out the template.
  Cut 2 of fabric, and one of Pelon (trim seam allowances and top corners.
• Base. 4" x 11 " , cut one of fabric, one of Pelon (trim seam allowances) and cut one of reinforced lining.
• Side lining, 4" X 11" wide, Cut 2 of reinforced lining fabric
• Front and Back lining - 9"X 11" Cut 2 of reinforced lining fabric.
  

• Assembly
• Trim the seam allowance off the Pelon and fuse one piece to the wrong side of the back fabric, and one to the wrong side of the front fabric.
• Handle - Fuse the Pelon along one long edge. Fold it lengthwise along the edge of the Pelon and press again. Fold the remaining side under to hide the raw edge and fold it again over the strap and topstitch as desired. You may want to use a decorative stitch.

Pocket band. Trim the seam allowance from the Pelon and fuse to the wrong side of one piece of the front pocket band. Place the two pieces right sides together and sew along the top edge seam making sure the stitching is beside the edge of the pelon and not on it. Sew from one edge to the other. Clip the seam allowance in the "v" area and turn. Press and topstitch along the top edge.









Take the Front pocket piece and lay on top of the inside pocket piece to match the width. Take up the extra width by making soft pleats along the top edge, or alternatively, gather the top edge until the two pieces are of equal width. Pin to the bottom edge of the front pocket band (the side without the Pelon) , right sides together and sew the seam from edge to edge. Leave the right and left edges open. Open and press the seam, then turn the other front pocket band piece over the raw edges. Fold the seam allowance to the inside and pin into place. Topstitch along the front edge, making sure it catches the Pelon on the back piece.











Lay the front pocket piece (with the band) on top of the Front piece (has the Pelon) so that the right sides are facing you. (the wrong side of the pocket is on the right side of the front piece.
Place the top of the band 2" down from the top edge of the front piece. Machine baste the left and right sides inside the seam allowance, so it will not show when finished. Leaving some slack in the pocket piece, machine baste the bottom edges together. Trim the bottom edge of the pocket even with the front piece. Treat this as one "front panel" piece now.

Sew the side pieces to the front piece, one on each side, with the bottom edge even. Sew the back piece to the other sides of the side pieces so you now have a "box" with no bottom. Turn is so the right side is inside.
Take the bottom piece and fuse the Pelon (with seam allowances trimmed) to the wrong side . You may want to use fusible web on the Pelon to make sure it fuses well. Now it does not matter if you sew the front and back panels first, or the side panels first. I did the sides first. But these instructions are for the front and back panels first.
Pin the bottom edge of the front (both layers) to one of the long sides of the bottom so the right sides are together. Mark a dot where the side seam allowances meet the bottom seam allowance on the bottom piece. Sew the seam between the dots. Do not sew it edge to edge.
Repeat by sewing the back panel to the other long side of the bottom piece. Again, sew from dot to dot and not from edge to edge.
Now, pivot the sides so you can sew the side panels to each short side of the bottom panel using the same technique of sewing only from seam allowance to seam allowance. The stitching should stop where the other seam starts. Do not overlap them but get them as close as you can.





















Your "box" now has a bottom. Turn it right side out. Fold down the top 1 1/2" over so the right sides are together and Press. This will give you a line for the top edge of the purse when topstitching the top edge.
Take the two pieces of "zipper edge" fabric. Fold one lengthwise, right sides together and sew a seam at each end. Repeat with the other one. Fold right side out and push out the corners and press. These will be extra wide sides for your zipper. Place one on each side of the zipper tape, folded side towards the zipper teeth and topstitch in place. Make sure the ends are even with the top of the zipper teeth, not the zipper tape. Now for the fun part.
Unzip the zipper, and place the raw side of one half at the edge of one side of the purse. Make sure the top of the zipper edge fabric is at the side seam. Sew the raw edges together (the top edge of the front and the back), with a 1/2" inch seam allowance. The zipper pull should be to the outside of the purse when you unfold that side over and turn it into the purse interior.
Now, carefully, so as not to get the zipper twisted, repeat with the other side. This is where the extra length of the zipper comes in - to give you the space and flexibility to do this.
Turn that side into the inside of the purse too and adjust the top so it is open now.










Now, for the fun part. Do it all over again with the lining. If you haven't fuse the interfacing to the lining yet, do it now.
Take the inside pocket pieces and fold each one , right sides together lengthwise and seam the raw edge. Turn right side out and press with the seam to the bottom. Topstitch the top edge. Place one on each of the front and back lining pieces, 1" from the bottom and topstitch along the bottom edge. Divide it into 2 or 3 pockets each and stitch up the line to form the strip into individual pockets. The sides will stick out longer than the bag is wide, but this is ok. Machine baste the sides in place inside the seam allowance on the left and right.
Then construct the "box" shape the same way you did with the fashion fabric, BUT - leave one long side open along the bottom. (for turning the purse right side out once it is done. Once you have it together, you will notice that it is shorter than the outside. This is so the fashion fabric folds over and reaches about an inch into the inside of the bag so the lining doesn't show.
To attach the two, place the lining "box", inside out. Place the fabric "box" right side out , into the lining. Push the fabric down so you can line up the top edge of the fabric with the top edge of the lining. Sew a seam around the perimeter MAKING SURE YOU CATCH THE ENDS OF THE ZIPPER IN THE SIDE SEAMS, backstitching to reinforce the corners. If your zipper is extremely long, you can zigzag across the teeth, and trim it to about an 1 1/2" leaving a 'tail'.

Now, "give birth to your purse." :) Reach into the open seam of the lining, and grasping the fashion fabric, pull it out of that hole so both the fabric and the lining are right side OUT, and they are joined at the middle. Push the purse part into shape, then push the lining down INTO the purse. Once it is lined up , pull the lining up again enough that you can either hand stitch, or machine stitch the open seam - closed. Push the lining back into the purse. Make sure the zipper closes properly, then leave it open. Press the top edge and then topstitch along the top edge. The "top edge" will not be where your seam is. The joining seam should be about an inch down the inside of the purse.

Take the handle and place it with the raw edge facing the top edge, but about an inch down and secure it with machine stitching. Then fold it up so it is the proper direction and machine stitch across it at the side panel to secure it. Repeat on the other side.
Now, if you do not like the look of the side panels being wider than the strap, fold the side panels into the purse, making them into a pleat and hand stitch them in place. Repeat on the other side.

Ta Da!