In my Oct 15, 2018 post, I reviewed the So-Sew-Easy “Small Backpack sew along project” (see my review here or the Small Backpack project part 1 here). In this post, I’m reviewing the companion project: The Mini Backpack Coin Purse by So-Sew-Easy.
The online tutorial and links to download the PDF pattern are available here:
Note this pattern is for non-commercial use.
Here are my thoughts on this project.
The tutorial beings with some photographs and a few paragraphs describing the author’s motivation for creating the tutorial. Ideas for how to use the finished project and its dimensions when completed are also covered. Next are the recommended materials and instructions for printing the PDF pattern. Vinyl, leather and canvas are all good materials for this project. It is recommended that you select fabrics that are no thicker than 1.5 mm to make it easier to work with small pieces of fabric.
Step 0 Cut your fabric
The coin purse is unlined so only 5 pieces of fabric, a zipper and some hardware are required.
Step 1 Sew the gusset and zipper
I used my Narrow Zipper Foot for this step and it really made sewing the zipper easy. Top-stitching helps prevent the fabric from getting caught in the zipper when the coin purse is in use.
Step 2 Add the sides
If you are making your coin purse with a back handle and a side loop for the lobster claw, you may wish to sew the fabric strips for the handle and loop first. The side loop can be sewn on to the center of either one of the side pieces, but it must be done before the side pieces are sewn to the gusset.
Make sure you move the zipper pull to the center of the gusset before attaching the side pieces.
I top-stitched the side seams using a 1/8” seam allowance. As is the case with top-stitching the zipper, doing so prevents fabric from getting caught in the zipper later and enhances the finished look of the project.
Step 3 Add the front/back piece
Owning to the simplicity of this design, the front, bottom and back of the coin purse are a single oblong piece of fabric. Transferring the center marks to the back of the pattern pieces makes it much easier to pin the layers evenly. Aim to distribute the gusset fabric smoothly along the front/back piece.
Sew all the way around the perimeter using a 3/8” seam allowance. Go slowly to avoid catching the front/back piece in the seam allowance. The nylon canvas that I used for this project is so thin that I didn’t notice that I had caught the back in the seam. I had to rip and re-stitch sections of my final seam.
That’s it! There are only three steps. I was pleasantly surprised by the large capacity of the finished coin purse. At 3.5″ x 3″ x 2” (8.9 cm x 7.6 cm x 5.1 cm or 344 ml), it can hold a considerable amount of stuff.
Here are some photos of my finished Mini Backpack Coin Purse:
I really enjoyed sewing this project. The well thought out instructions and photographs made it easy to put together. The time estimate of 60 minutes from start to finish seems reasonable. I took a little longer as I had some trouble sewing the gusset to the front/back piece.
Have you tried this project? Comment below and/or Pin me for later!
Tanya
