Fox Satchel

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope everyone had a good break and rest over the holidays. I thought I would now share one of the items I handmade as a gift this Christmas for my sister...now that she has unwrapped it its ok to post!

She actually picked out this fantastic fox print fabric a few months ago and after hunting high and low I managed to find some through a seller on Etsy called FreshFabrics. Considering it came from Australia it was very reasonably priced and arrived in only a few days!

I drafted the pattern myself, its basically just a set of rectangles. This one needed to be big enough to fit some lever arch binders in so went for a full size satchel.

I first started by cutting out all the pieces, outer fabric, lining fabric and interfacing for strength.



Then it was just a case of assembling the whole thing. I attached the flap piece to the back piece and from there sewed up the rest of the outer pieces to form the 'boxy' shape of the satchel and just repeated the whole process with lining, effectively having 2 identical items. For the lining I added a phone pocket and zip compartment as well for detail.



Lining of the satchel

Once both inner and outer were complete, I turned one inside out in order to attach it to the other. Sew all around the edges leaving a portion open for turning out et voila.



I then hand stitched the gap that remained from turning inside out and went on to put the details. I found some fantastic leather buckles from Bag Clasps UK who sell all kinds of great bag making tools and equipment. I attached these to the front of the bag for the closures and also added D rings to each side of the bag to make a place for the leather strap to attach.  .







D rings

Leather buckles added

For the finishing touch I found a great seller on Ebay who makes made to measure leather bag straps. I don't have a photo with the strap attached but it was fantastic quality in matt black leather.

I hope my sis likes it and gets some use from it! :-)