Make It: Carpet Bag Satchel

I've seen tons of carpet bag DIYs floating around on the internet, and a lot of them are pretty groovy. But, I always walk away thinking the bags look a little funny, I mean they look way to long to be a normal handbag and I wanted something that I would actually use in real life. After thinking for awhile about how I could perfect the carpet bag it occurred to me that I could just cut it to a more desirable length and use the excess as a strap and flap. Today learn how to make a carpet bag satchel of your own!

Step 1: Gather your supplies. You'll need a small piece of canvas about 2"x8," scissors, needle and tread, sewing machine, button, and 2'x3' rag carpet. I found my rug at a discount home store.

Step 2: Cut off the tassels on the edge of your rug (unless you like the decoration). Check for any oddities in the rug, like frayed edges, or holes. You maybe able to work around these when sewing up the bag.

Step 3: Fold your carpet bag into shape, and determine how wide you'd like it to be, and much of a flap you'd like there to be. I decided to cut off about 6" along the length of one side on the carpet so the bag would still be satchel length but not extra long or wide.

Step 4: Cut off the excess length you'd like to remove and set the strip aside for later use. Now using a straight stitch on your sewing machine, sew up the length of the cut side of carpet. This will keep the carpet from fraying as you sew up your bag. Fold your bag back into purse shape (allowing about 4"-6" excess for the flap). Sew the body of the bag together along either side.

Step 5: After your purse body is ready you can move on to the strap. Grab the excess strip you cut off your carpet and decide how wide you'd like your strap to be. I decided on about 2' wide.

Step 6: Sew down the length of the strap at the desired width and sew across each end for extra security.

Step 7: Now cut off the excess rag carpet you don't want for the strap. Set strap aside again.

Step 8: Grab the body of your bag again and fold over the top section of the flap about 1" and sew across for a more polished edge.

Step 9: Now you're ready to start on the canvas details for the bag. You will be making three loops, two for connecting the strap, and one for the button.

10. Cut 3 1"x4" pieces of canvas out and fold the edges inward. Iron them down for easy sewing.

11. Sew down the center of the canvas strip to seal them closed. I used a kind of crazy stitch that went with the rag carpet's design.

12. Sew the canvas strips onto the bag. The two for the handle should be connected where the bag and flag meet. The strip for the button should be looped and sewn onto the back of the flap in the center.

Step 13: Grab the bag's strap and loop about 1" of the strap's base around the first canvas loop near the flap. Sew closed. Repeat on the other side.

Step 14: Sew your button to the body of the bag using a needle and thread. Make sure it lines up withe your button closure before attaching it.

Step 15: Check for any loose strings, close up the button and try the bag on for size.

Step 16: Fill your new satchel with lots of goodies and you're ready to go!

My new carpet bag satchel is the perfect size to carry art supplies with me wherever I go. I hope you'll try this DIY out and show me your results! big kiss, bekuh