Purse frames de-mystified (aka.

Laundry Day clutch purse)

Front view

Interior view

Flat bottom & side view
Here's how I put it together
You will need:
1x Modern Silver Frame Med.
1/2 yard of Laundry Day Fabric
1/2 yard of lining fabric
1/2 yard Vilene Heavy Weight Sew-in Interlining (stabiliser) (this stuff is important,
without it your purse will feel thin and will make using the frame REALLY
awkward).
1/2 yard Vilene Firm Fusible Interfacing (stabilser)
V. strong fabric glue

1. Make up your purse frame pattern part.1 The next two steps can apply to whatever
non sew-on purse frame you happen to be using. The main reason that patterns are not made
for purse frames is because there are so many purse frame shapes! This means we have to
make our own patterns (ahhhhh!!) Don't worry; it's quite easy...
Take your frame and draw around the outside (just the outside, not the inside) of it, also
include the points where the hinges stop. I can now design my pattern around the outline of
the frame. If you look at the photo of my pattern I have used dotted lines for my pattern.
You will see that the angles of my pattern are quite a bit wider then the right angles of the
frame, this is because you want to create puffiness and body on the front of the purse (if you
like, you can make the angles even wider. The wider the angle the more puffy your purse
will be - trust me, it will work out!) I have also added a 1cm seam allowance onto my
desired shape - be sure sure add on your desired seam allowance to your design.
As you can see I wanted a triangular purse shape but you can design whatever shape you
want as long as you remember to make the angles of the sides of the pattern wider than that
of your purse frame.


The solid line is the outline of the frame, and the dotted outline is my designed purse pattern.
2. Make up your purse pattern part 2 - locating the hinge part of the pattern. An
important bit to get right on our pattern is where the flaps open on the purse (or in other
words where the purse hinges will sit on the fabric...bear with me, it will be worth it!). Place
a top corner of your purse frame onto the top corner of your pattern so that you have lined it
up with the (wide angled) sides of your pattern and measure your desired seam allowance
(mine is 1cm) plus a few mm more from where the purse hinge ends.

Do what the blue writing says...
3. Cut your fabric pieces. From your pattern cut 2 pieces each of the Laundry day fabric,
lining fabric, heavy sew-in, and the firm fusible interfacing. Iron the fusible interfacing onto
the wrong side of your exterior fabric (Laundry fabric).
4. Sew exterior bag. Create a sandwich with the Laundry pieces (right sides touching each
other) in the middle and the sew-in interlining on the outsides. Pin everything together.
Starting from one of your hinge markings sew the sides and bottom of the exterior finishing
at the other hinge markings as shown by wonky arrow in the photo.

5. Create a flat bottom for your purse (you can skip this if you want to. If you do skip this
bit, try squaring the 2 tips off triangle a bit and go straight to step 6. Take one of the corners
of your exterior bag and match the side seam with the bottom seam line. Flatten to form a
triangle. Measure 4cm down from the tip of the triangle mark the line with chalk and pin.
Stitch along the marked line and trim the excess fabric 1cm for the seam. Repeat for the
other bottom corner of the exterior. Turn exterior bag right side out.

Flatten triangle and make your line 4cm down from the tip of triangle.

Trim off excess fabric, and there you go; one flat bottom!
6. Sew lining. With right sides to gether mark the flap opening/hinge bit on the lining to
match the mark you made on the exterior bag in step 2. Sew the lining bag in the same way
as step 4 EXCEPT YOU HAVE TO LEAVE AN 12CM OPENING IN THE BOTTOM OF
THE LINING.
7. With right side out slip the exterior bag into the lining bag. The right sides of the
lining bag and the exterior bag should now be touching each other.

Slip exterior bag in the lining bag.
8. Sew the two flaps of the purse. On one of the flaps pin the lining to the exterior bag at
the top and sides. Begin sewing where the stitching starts on the lining, sew all around the
sides and top edge stopping at the stitching on the lining. Repeat with other purse flap.

Start (and stop) sewing the top and sides of the purse as shown by arrow.
9. Pull the exterior bag through the hole in the lining. Yep, my favourite bit. Pop the
lining into the exterior bag and smooth everything down, press if necessary.


This should be the result (after a bit of ironing).
10. Sew gap in the lining closed. Stitch the gap in the lining shut by pushing the raw edges
into the hole and top stitching close to the edge for a neat finish.

Sew gap in lining shut.
11. Now for the glue. Apply glue to the channel of one of the sides of the frame. Start at
the hinge and work your way to the other hinge. Do be genorous with the glue or it will all
end in tears! Apply glue to the side and top edge of your purse, again be genorous - if you
are a bit clumsy or you've had a few glasses of wine, you might want to mask the bit of the
purse that will not be inserted into the frame with some tape. It doesn't matter if glue oozes
onto the frame but it is a pain if it gets all over the fabric. Allow the glue to dry for 5
minutes.


Be generous with the glue. This glue btw is the business, it's got more grip than a pot of
lobsters!
12. Insert your purse into the frame. Start by inserting the sides of your purse into the
frame (hinge end first) then work your way up to the top corners. Use a sharpish object to
poke and stuff the fabric evenly into the frame - small sewing scissors are perfect for this
job. After you have inserted the sides of the purse into the frame, start inserting the top edge
of the purse into the frame working reasonably quickly before the glue dries. Turn the purse
over to check that the lining side is also inserted evenly into the frame. Leave to dry for
15min before tackling the other side of the frame and purse in the same way. Let everything
dry for about 30 mins and then pick off any stray glue from the frame. Then admire your
work and BE DEAD PROUD OF YOURSELF!!

Sides go into the frame first.

Poke the fabric right into the frame with tips of scissors - work your way around the frame
evenly.

Flip your purse over and check that the lining side is even as well.