Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and we want to share the love with you! And what better way to do that than with a huge heart-shaped bag? 💖
This project is suitable for beginners and for anyone who wants to try sewing with imitation leather on their home sewing machine. You can also make the bag from canvas, or from any slightly thicker fabric so that it holds the shape well!
This bag would make a great gift for a loved one or even as a Valentine’s gift to yourself. It’s practical and the heart shape will look cute all year round. Let’s get started!
What you’ll need:
- Two hours of your time
- 60cm of red imitation leather
- Red thread
- A sewing machine
- A denim sewing needle
- Our pattern!
Our tips for working with imitation leather:
- Use a Teflon or a walking foot. If you don’t have one, put a piece of sticky tape or washi tape onto your foot so that it runs better.
- Use a denim sewing needle because the imitation leather is thick and quickly becomes solid and difficult to sew. You run the risk of not completing your stitches and having spaces with loose thread. Run your machine by hand if you’re afraid of the material being too thick.
- Extend your straight stitch. The imitation leather is thicker and “eats” the length of your stitches. Stitches that are too close together create too many holes and weaken your work.
- Avoid pins and use clips instead! Once a pin has made a hole in the fabric, you can’t recover it. If you don’t have a sewing clip, paper clips will do the trick. One of our colleagues here at Makerist uses paper clips, but they do tend to slide around a bit more!
1. Cutting the Fabric
Cut your pieces of fabric according to our pattern. You should have two full hearts, two half hearts, a bottom piece and a handle. Mark the pattern on the back of your fabric – this will help you with the placement of the different pieces.
2. The Handles
Take your two handles and fold the fabric around like in the picture below. Clip them here to secure them.
Make a straight seam the whole way down the middle of the handle. Watch out here – you’ll have three layers of fabric to go through so it will be tough!
3. Attaching the lining and handles
Position the heart and half-heart pieces with the outsides facing each other. Place the handles at the markings you’ve made, between the two pieces of fabric. The end of the handle should extend out a few centimetres here.
Sew along the upper part of the heart but be careful when sewing over the handles – it will be very thick! Rotate the machine by hand on this part.
Repeat the same steps for the other side of the bag.
Cut small triangles at the top of the hearts you’ve just sewn. This will avoid it warping when you turn it around. But be careful not to cut the seam you’ve just sewn!
4. The Bottom of the Bag
You can two different options here: you can decide to make the bag with or without the bottom.
For a flat bag, place your hearts together facing in and sew at the bottom where you’ve marked previously. Cut small triangles like before and then flip it the right way around!
For a bag with a bottom, take the bottom piece of fabric and make a hem of 1cm on each of the shorter sides.
Place the bottom side by side with one of the hearts and sew along the edge.
Repeat this with the other heart. It’s a bit more difficult with one heart already attached, but you’ll get there!
5. Finishing Touches
You can now topstitch all around the hearts, being careful not to accidentally close the bottom accidentally.
And voilà! You’ve made your heart-shaped bag. Now you’re ready for Valentine’s Day!
Check out our selection of Valentine’s Day patterns for more inspiration on what to get that special someone in your life.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with our newest patterns and DIY tips and tutorials. Head over to our Pinterest for ideas on what to make next! If you make our sweet heart-shaped bag, make sure to let us know by tagging us and using the hashtag #makeristcom on your post!
Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy Valentine’s Day from everyone at Makerist! 🥰
