Nowadays, hand-made bags made of jeans and other materials are becoming more and more popular. Agree, it’s nice to receive an accessory made especially for you as a gift. And you yourself can attend to such a gift for a loved one. How to make a bag with your own hands? Below you will find some tips and tricks.
How to make a paper bag with your own hands?
If you want to make a paper bag for a gift that differs from the ones purchased by its originality, follow our tips. You can make it from old magazines or special kraft paper. Do you want to make a decorative gift, a work of art or just pass the evening - it does not matter, the main thing is that the result will be amazing.
Preparation for work
To get started, prepare the necessary materials depending on which paper bag you want to make.
You will need:
- scissors,
- glue,
- pencil,
- ruler
- paper,
- rope or tape.
Colored or patterned kraft paper is best suited for this project. It is strong enough, and in shops for creativity there is usually a large selection of colors. You can also take a simple brown paper or newspaper, but the bag will turn out thinner and not so strong. Collect the materials for the design that you have: feathers, sparkles, paints, pencils, various stencils.
Getting started!
Cut a piece of paper twenty-four by thirty-eight centimeters. In general, you can make any size. In some cases, it is best to decorate before you pack. If you want to use a picture or repaint it, it is easier to do this on a flat sheet of paper. Place the cut rectangle in front of you on a flat surface. If you have already decorated the paper, make sure it is dry and does not get wet. Fold the bottom edge of the rectangle 5 centimeters and iron it so that there is a clear fold, and then unfold. This is the future bottom of the paper bag.
Find the center point of the top and bottom of the rectangle. To do this, place the sheet in landscape orientation. Fold the left and right sides towards the center and stick them where they intersect. Wait for the glue to dry. Turn the bag over so that the glued side is at the bottom, and fold the side folds inward with an accordion. Try to do it symmetrically. When you're done on the left, do the same on the right.
Now make the bottom. Find the bottom of the fold line that you previously folded. Open one of the pieces to the outside and make another fold on each side. Glue them. Fold gently and allow the glue to dry. Then spread the bottom.
You can make pens from tape or rope. You can pierce the holes with a hole punch, but try not to get too close to the edge of the bag, because otherwise it will not support the weight of the load when filling. Reinforce the holes with tape or glue. Insert the end of the rope through the hole and make a knot inside the bag. Make sure the assembly is large enough to not go through the hole. Now you know how to make a paper bag with your own hands.
Fashionable leather bag
Hand-sewn leather bags are a special touch. This is the best gift for a girl or woman, especially if you made it yourself. The size of the bag that we propose to make is 15 * 24 cm, the length of the strap is 80 cm, but you can make it shorter or longer.
Tools and materials
How to make a leather bag with your own hands? First, let's figure out what we need for this. You need 3 mm thick leather, a knife for cutting it, a hammer, a figured carver, lacing needles, irons and rivets, a stamper, a trim for a cut and a ring. You will also need dye, emollient cream, waterproof balm, skin oil and paper towels.
Getting to work
Before starting work, it is necessary to print a full-size pattern. You can do it on any home printer. Now you need to transfer the pattern to the skin. Place it with the leather side up. Using a sharp round awl, punch holes where the marks are and draw a line. When placing the pattern, try to keep as little free space as possible, because the skin is an expensive material, and waste can be used. Do not press deep with an awl, but draw light lines to outline the boundaries. After that, cut the parts with a sharp knife or scissors for the skin. When everything cut is ready, you need to punch holes for lacing. To do this, use a hammer drill or engraver. Do not make a very large hole: if it is larger than the cord with which you will connect the parts, the bag will become unusable very quickly. Walk around the edges to make them smooth, with a special edge beveling machine.
Preparing a cord to hold parts of a bag together
Now you need to make a leather cord. We make it from the same material as the bag. Take a piece of medium-sized leather and make one hole in the center. Do not worry, if it is imperfect, it does not matter. Start cutting a couple of millimeters wide. Now clamp the edge with a special cutter for the cord. And start cutting slowly, making sure that the skin hits the blades and runs smoothly. Just pull the end of the lace holding the torch firmly. The skin will spin freely around him, allowing you to pull the cord. From a piece with a diameter of twenty centimeters, about nine meters of a leather cord are obtained. If you find that the cord is not enough or it is too twisted, just soak it with water and wrap it around the bottle. Once it is completely dry, you can make it the way you need it.
Leather bag decoration
Now we make a cover for the bag. This will be the most beautiful part. Attach several strips of wide tape to the smooth side of the skin to prevent stretching and distortion and make it easier to use the tool.
Now is the time to cut the pattern. Dip the piece of leather on which you are going to cut the pattern into water, hold it there for a few seconds and remove it. If it is very thin, about two millimeters, just hold it under water for just a couple of seconds. Then lay the skin on the surface and leave it for 40-60 minutes, depending on its thickness and temperature, so that the water evenly penetrates the material. When the workpiece becomes the original color and is cold to the touch, it will be ready for threading.
First we need to convey the design. Place the paper or film with the image on the material and attach it or press down with something heavy. Do not press too hard so as not to leave a mark on the skin, but gently draw a line with your stylus. Now we need a knife to cut through these lines. There is a huge assortment of similar knives of all sizes and types. Choose the one that sits comfortably in your hand. You can use ceramic surfaces here, they are quite thick. Do not forget that the blade must be very sharp.
Now you need to carefully cut the skin along the line. Keep the knife straight without tilting it. If you are afraid to cut immediately, practice on unnecessary pieces of skin. Avoid cross lines: this makes cutting dirty and unprofessional. Even if you did not know how to make a bag with your own hands, do not be afraid to try something new.
Making the picture voluminous
Now you need a hammer. Take one that is not too heavy, as you will have to work for a long time. You will need a basic set of stamps for the skin. Start with a beveller. This is a knife that pushes the skin on one side of the incision and lifts the other. This will give the picture an illusion of volume. To use a beveller, place it in the section of the line and lightly hammer it. Then move the tool along the line and strike again. Do it along all lines.
It is necessary to make movements smoothly so that the prints look uniform, not torn. Remember that you need to mow only on one side of the cut line, and leave the other straight. After that, you can use the fingerprint. Such a special stamp will make the drawing more textured. There are many different stamps for this. Stamp the empty spots too, but not too much, otherwise the background will become dirty in appearance.
Staining and tinting
In the process of cutting the skin loses its elasticity, which now we need to restore. To do this, there is a special oil for the skin. Spread a thin layer of oil and allow to dry completely.
To give contrast to the picture, you need to tint it. You can use a dark brown oil paint, which quickly hardens. After that, let the bag dry for several hours.
To give it an antique look, you need to use a special paste or gel. You will also need a pair of gloves, clean water in a cup, a piece of sheep's wool and a paper towel.
Pour some paint onto a piece of cotton wool, apply to the surface and rub gently into the skin in a circle. Pay special attention to the carvings and try to make sure that you have not missed a single cut, not a single millimeter. Wipe up excess gel when finished.
Having painted all parts of the bag, do not forget about the belt and cord. Leave them to dry for several hours or better at night. In the morning, grab a piece of linen to remove excess paint. To complete the work you will need carnauba cream. It will remove excess paint and create an impermeable layer. Apply it with a sponge. This cream is well absorbed into the skin and completely dry, after which you need to grind the surface.
The last stages of work
Now you can attach metal parts and rivets and make a lacing that collects all the parts in one bag. For lacing you will need a special needle. Try to carefully screw the cord into this needle and carefully insert it through two layers of skin. So you connect all the parts of the bag. When finished, just cut off the excess by first pulling the cord tightly. Now you need to attach the strap. Punch the rivet holes with a small punch and fasten the belt to the ring with a rivet. The bag is ready. Perhaps, immediately making a bag with your own hands, as in the photo, will not work. But you put your strength and soul into it, and now it will delight you or your loved one for many years.
How to make a cooler bag with your own hands?
Sometimes in the hot summer, we all want to take a cooler bag instead of an ordinary bag, to keep food and drinks cool. A simple cooler bag will not have an original design, but it takes up a little space in an empty form and is convenient to use.
Buy a heat-saving blanket or foil fabric from the sporting goods store. Lay it out on a flat surface, cut it. Sew together parts of the foil materials, quilting them. Three layers should be obtained: foil material on the inside and outside, in order to reflect heat and keep the cold inside the bag, and between them a layer of synthetic polyester lavsan material.
Align everything together and make a hole. Fasten the two sides and sew its walls and bottom. So we got a bag. Use a tape measure to measure sixteen centimeters down from the front upper edge of the hole. Lay a strip of Velcro and press to glue it well. Glue the second part of the Velcro to the other side. You've got a cooler bag in which you can put anything you want, and it closes very simply - with Velcro.
Bag of old jeans
Many people ask how to make a bag of fabric with their own hands. But to make a bag of old jeans or trousers is easy. You can take any jeans, not simple ones, but with an interesting pattern, embroidery or original pockets to make the bag special. What we need:
- old jeans or shorts;
- any fabric for use as a lining;
- scissors;
- sewing machine with needles for denim;
- Velcro or magnetic closure.
How to make a bag of jeans with your own hands? Cut off your trousers from jeans, but so far they should not be thrown away. Cut the lining to size and sew on one side. Turn the jeans inside out, fasten the lining on the belt with a pin and sew.
Cut the lining in length, sew from the bottom, leaving a little unbroken part in the middle. Turn out the lining and carefully sew in the remaining incision with invisible stitches. Cut off the bottom seams from the leg and sew them as a handle. It remains to attach a fastener or Velcro so that you can close and open the bag.
As you can see, making a bag with your own hands at home is not difficult.