I've been eyeing this bag for, no joke, like two years. It's so gorgeous and perfect -- except for the price. I struggle to spend more than $30 on any purse, so $168 was pretty much out of the question. The Madewell bag still called to me though (I'm pretty sure I pinned it like six seperate times) so I decided to sew my own version!
I drew up a little diagram of what I did so you can try it too if you want. Full instructions under my illustration...
You will need:
- 1 yd black leather or faux leather for bag (I found the most amazing faux leather at Osgood's -- if you're a local, you have to check this place out! Or shop online)
- 1 yd brown leather or faux leather for straps (I used cheap vinyl from JoAnn's)
- Black and brown all-purpose thread
- A sewing machine with a leather needle
- Sewing clips
- A rotary cutter or fabric scissors
- A tape measure
- Cut two 15" x 17.5" rectangles from your black leather.
- Cut out the bottom corners of each piece -- removing a corner of 2" x 2".
- With the right sides (the black part) facing in, clip and sew together the sides and bottom of the pieces, being careful not to sew the corners!
- Box the corners, and turn right-side out. (Great tutorial here if you've never made corners like this before.)
- Cut four pieces of your brown leather (or crappy vinyl in my case ;) the desired width and length for your straps. I made mine 1" by 26". Sew them wrong sides together (with brown thread) to create two sturdy straps.
- Attach the straps to your bag using clips. Sew them in place with brown thread, going over the stitches three or four times to make sure they're secure.
The grand total of this project was just under $35 (the black faux leather was $24/yard but so worth it -- I think it looks just beautiful)...a much more comfortable number for me. And considering that when these pictures were taken, my tote bag had been my primary purse for one month (surviving two wintery trips to New York City already), I think it's holding up pretty well!