Soft handles for the Paris Purse

One of my lovely pattern testers, Pia Jestin whos beautiful works can be found here on Instagram decided that she wanted softer handles for her Paris Purse, so here's her tutorial for making Pia's Soft Paris Purse Handles. As you can see in the photo, this will give you a small section of padding outside the frames to make the handles a little softer to hold. Here is her pretty Paris Purse:

Cutting Instructions:
4 ✂ 1/2" x 4 3/4" of your heavy fusible interfacing.
2 ✂ 1" x 5 1/2" of your exterior fabric.

Instructions:

1. For the female part of the frame (with the opening), take two of your heavy interfacing pieces, in the middle of each, cut away a 5/8" x 1/4" big rectangle like in the photo . Fuse them centered to one of your fabric pieces like in the photo with a small, scant 1/8" opening between the two in the middle to allow for folding.

2. Make 1/4" long cuts in the fabric next to your heavy interfacing in the middle to allow you to fold up the fabric around the interfacing like in the photo, glue in place.

3. Fold up the short ends of your fabric over your interfacing and glue in place.

4. Fold in half lengthwise and insert into your frame. The little fold we made will allow the lock to be inserted without seeing any raw interfacing. 

5. Insert into the frame and screw in place. The padding will extend slightly below the frame to allow for a softer grip.

6. For the your male part of the frame, just place your interfacing without cutting out the middle like in step 1. Skip step 2 and just fold in the short fabric ends over the interfacing and glue in place like in step 3.

7. Fold the whole piece in half lengthwise to get the result in the photo. Cut out a little section in the middle to make room for the lock (no need to make the fancier covered openings here as it'll never be seen anyway). Insert and screw in place.

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 ♥ Thanks a lot Pia for sharing this with us, it's much appreciated!! ♥ 

Where to buy the Paris Purse & Bergen Bag frames

To make the Paris Purse or the Bergen Bag you need a special frame that's 7 1/2" (19cm) long. These are becoming more and more common but can still be a little tricky to locate. Here's a small list of where to find them.

United States: 
Sew Deja Vu - Silver, Brass, Gunmetal, Gold, Embossed
MeiMeiSupplies on Etsy - Gunmetal - Has more colors in store
YeahShop via Amazon - Brass

Sew Many Creations - Many colors, embossed and plain

Canada: 
Emmalinebags - Silver, Brass, Gunmetal, Gold, Rose Gold
Luxcrafter on Etsy - Silver - Has more colors in store
Bringberry - Silver, Brass, Gunmetal, Light gold

United Kingdom:

Sewhot - Gold and rose gold embossed
Amazon.co.uk

Belgium

Serialbagmakers - All colors, unique design

Australia: 
Voodoo Rabbit - Gunmetal - Also has Silver, Brass, Gold in store

Sweden: 
Borlänge Sycentrum - Silver - Also has Gold & Gunmetal
Textilia - Silver, Brass, Gunmetal
Made By Lullan - All colors

Asia: 
Handmadesgarden on Etsy - Brass - Has more colors in store
Lacecrafted on Etsy - Silver, Brass, Gunmetal
STK e-Shop via Amazon - Silver

A beginners guide to double cap rivets & wristlet straps

Many budding bagineers (love that word!) are terrified of rivets before they've even tried them (so was I!) and some after having made a few failed attempts where the rivets come in wonky or bent - swear to never use them again. Which is why I saw the need for:

A beginners guide to double cap rivets

First and foremost you need the right tools for the job, something to make a hole for your rivets with like a hole punch or hole making pliers, a suitably sized rivet setter, a slightly curved anvil and a hammer. You actually don't need anymore expensive tools than this to set rivets prettily.

After having gathered your tools, you need to choose the right rivet for the job, and here this comes down to the length of the post of the rivet mainly.  Many people whom have tried using rivets and failed, have done so due to using a rivet with too long a post for the job. Resulting in bent posts and wonky looking rivets.

These three sizes where the ones I considered for my strap. As you can see, they only really differ in length with 1/16th of an inch generally, however, it makes all the difference!

Line up your possible rivet choices and take the part of the bag you're going to rivet, in my case that is a wristlet strap for a glitter vinyl Bring the Basics Bag. I made this strap exactly like in the pattern but made it about 16" long due to the raw edges when using vinyl and this method.

I fold up the fabric like it will be when I set the rivet and use this to measure out how long my rivet post needs to be, press your fabric together firmly when measuring as that's how it will be once we set the rivet. Like in the photo, the tip of the rivet should only precisely be sticking out. So for this job, the 3/8" long post was the right one to use, however I only rarely get to use such long rivets, the smallest post (4mm) is the one I use most often.

Next we make holes for our rivets, use your favorite tool, I'm making a strap so I threaded on my swivel snap hook and placed a hole 1/4" from the edge the strap, I knew I wanted my swivel snap hook 1" in from the edge so the next hole was made 1 3/4" from the end of the strap to get them at the same distance. Thread on your swivel snap hook.

Next I made the hole on the other end of the strap, this one will be placed between these two in the fold like in the second photo so this last hole was placed about 3/8" from the other end.

Next put your single hole end in between the two holes one each side of your snap hook and push through the rivet. This shouldn't be super easy, then the post is too long! Push it up and through like in the photo and then press on the little cap part of the rivet. Press until you hear/feel a click and the rivet cap stays in place without you holding it.

On the floor or table place your cutting mat (will absorb impact and protect the surface) and on top of it your little anvil. Place your rivet in the anvil and on top of it place your rivet setter. If you're working with rivets with a sensitive finish such as gold, gunmetal rivets or similar I recommend that you place a piece of scrap vinyl, foam or similar over and under it to ensure you don't accidentally scratch the rivet when you set it.  

Firmly and decisively (but not too forcefully!) tap the rivet setter with the hammer to permanently set the rivet. It's actually this easy! Just pick the right size rivet with a correct size post and you don't risk those bent and wonky rivets! If you feel uncertain about the amount of force to use, try it a few times on a folded up scrap. 

Voila! One very pretty wrist strap!