What is the Best Way to stitch Hand Bag at Home?

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Mavisrandal

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Mar 7, 2025
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#1
Hi everyone!

I’m looking to try my hand at making a handbag at home and would love some advice. What’s the best way to stitch a durable and stylish handbag? Are there specific techniques, tools, or materials you recommend for beginners? Also, if you’ve made one before, do you have any tips or patterns that worked well for you? Thanks in advance for sharing your expertise!
 
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#2
For leather bags, it's a whole art and specialist tools. Price wise it would be easier to buy a great bag pre-loved.

My mother used to make tote bags from leftover fabric from her dressmaking and other projects.. Narrow ones to carry water bottles separately or rectangular for shopping. This was at a time when no-one did them commercially.

Two points I remember:

1. The stress-points are the handles. Consider reinforcing them and the body by going around the entire bag (like an Hermes GP).

2. It's easier to make the body inside out. You can overlock the seams and protect the stitching that does all the work.
 
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#4
papertiger said:
For leather bags, it's a whole art and specialist tools. Price wise it would be easier to buy a great bag pre-loved.

My mother used to make tote bags from leftover fabric from her dressmaking and other projects.. Narrow ones to carry water bottles separately or rectangular for shopping. This was at a time when no-one did them commercially.

Two points I remember:

1. The stress-points are the handles. Consider reinforcing them and the body by going around the entire bag (like an Hermes GP).

2. It's easier to make the body inside out. You can overlock the seams and protect the stitching that does all the work.
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Hey,

Thanks for answering and same pinch!

My mother also use to do the same thing with leftover fabrics. I have a knowledge in stitching clothes but no idea, how to stitch bags. My idea is to give tutorials on blog but I have to learn this first. and boutique where I sew clothes.
 
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#6
880 said:
@cowgirlsboots might be able to help with where to get a pattern for a cloth bag :)
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Sorry! Unfortunately I do not know where to source reliable patterns for handbags. I usually just wing it as in scribbling the shapes I think I need on paper, cut them out, tape them together and gauge whether they are what I want.
My homemade flap bag pattern is my personal modification of a schematic pattern shown in some random YouTube video. It's being modified each time I use it depending on the material.
In general YouTube always is a good place to start. There'll be lots of tutorials... in my opinion not to be followed to a t, but to be used for research.
 
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