Turn A Coat Into A bag: Tutorial

I received so many great comments on my leather coat, turned leather bag so I snagged a nice suede one and wrote up a tutorial.  Enjoy!

What you will need:
An old leather, suede, or tweed coat. The blazer type works best, but any kind will do. If you choose one with the big elastic at the bottom simply cut it off before you get started. Also if your coat has a zipper or snaps, cut those off too. One with fab pockets will be great!

A leather needle. If you coat feels thin, or you are using tweed, a denim needle should do.

Fabric for the lining.

Four extra large grommets, with grommet tool. You can get these at any craft store.

A buckle, or button- optional.

Scissors

Matching thread.

Firs,t lay out your coat so the two front opening panels are together wrong sides facing. If your coat has pockets, these make great outside pockets for your bag.
Cut straight across the jacket, a few inches under the sleeves. You will see where the extra fabric under the arm starts to get a little bunchy if you try to straighten it out. Cut just under that part for a straighter cut.

You should have something that looks like this. This is the outside of your bag.

My coat was curved at the two front corners. If this is the case, simply use the curved edge as a pattern and cut the other two sides to match the curved edge.

Then cut out all of the lining that you can to make it easier on your machine.

Take your lining fabric and using the outside of your bag as a pattern, cut out two pieces for your liner.

Next we are going to cut out the strap. If you have extra fabric under the arm you can cut there, or use a sleeve. Make sure you use the whole length of the coat. If you cut thorough the sleeve cut through both so you end up with one long strip, starting at the end of one sleeve going all the way to the end of the next one. This part may come out wonky. That is okay, just square it up by folding in half with wrong sides together.

Now, it is time to sew your bag together. With right sides together pin in place with raw top edges meeting. The suede I used was pretty tough and hard to cut. I didn't even try to sew through all the layers. You can see I went just outside all the layers, using about 1/2" seam.

Turn your bag right side out.

Repeat these steps with your lining fabric, but do not sew up the bottom! This will be your opening to pull your bag through after you sew the two pieces together.

This is the time to add a buckle, like I did here, a button loop or a flap. Simply cut out what you would like and sew wrong sides together.

Now, we will sew the pieces together. If you have added a buckle or flap, fold the outside of your purse in half and finger press. Do the same with your flap or buckle. Match the two lines in place and pin right sides facing.

Turn your liner inside out and the outside of your bag right side out. Put the right side of the bag inside your liner.

Sew all the way around the top raw edges of the bag, using 1/2 inch seam.

Then pull the right side of your bag through the hole in the lining. like so.

Sew up the rest of the lining.

At this time you can add a top stitch all the way around your bag if you would like.

Next you will need to follow the directions on the back of your grommets. You can place these however you want. It will depend on the placement of your outside pockets if you have them. I used two in the front, and two in the back.

Make sure you measure and make a mark where you want them so they will be even.

Take your strap and sew it wrong sides together.

Weave it through your grommets, then sew two raw edges together. Hide the seam by pulling that part of the strap inside the bag.

There you have it. I hope this does help some of you.

Remember ask questions in the comments and I will answer you there.

If you make one, I would love, love to see it!

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