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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Purses from Binder Clips







Materials needed for the little purses:
  • Binder clips – Teeny, medium and large ones for luggage!
  • Fabric, silks, leather etc. Your choice
  • Glue
  • Cuticle nail stick or a round small dowel – 1/8” diameter works well
  • Scissors
  • Ribbon, trims, bunka, etc. Flowers, feathers, beads for decorating
  • Chain or leather for handles
Take the fabric that you are using and make sure it is long enough to cover the clip all around also making sure that you have enough of the fabric on the ends of the clip to fold and push in each side, so make it a little longer to the sides and also to fold in the raw edges in front and back of the purse.

Cut out your fabric, fold in the raw edge and add a bit of glue to hold fold in place , now put a tiny bit of glue to
one side of the bag leaving the opening clips on so you can cover the metal parts on top if you like and also add your handles in later. Most of the time what I do is to attach the handles first by opening the clip and pushing glue into the areas and then pushing either a chain or leather handle into place then closing the clip and removing the “handles” of the clip. Then I sometimes paint the area of the clip that will show….they look like clasps or trim that way.

If you are leaving the metal top part of the clip exposed then just fold an edge on the fabric and push it up under the parts hanging town from the top, tacking it in place with a bit of glue and bring the fabric as close to the edge as possible , you might have to push it up a little to cover this part of the clip using a stick of some sort, ( a nail cuticle stick is what I use for mine) and glue in place.

Do this to the other side as well.

Once you have both sides down (front and back) go to the sides of the purse. The sides are the open parts of the clip.

I put glue onto the fabric and push the bottom part of the fabric in first, and then I fold the sides in pushing some of it inside the opening making sure you have nice folds on both sides. Do the same to the other side. The sides will look sort of like an upside down V as
the top part of the clip is smaller and the bottom is wider.

If you did not put your handle in at the beginning as I do, then once you have all the sides glued down you can add your handle of choice, then you can remove the clips. Removing the clips is simple. Fold them down toward the bottom of the clip and squeeze the “handles” together and just pull out.

Now it's time to trim and decorate your purses.

Take the ribbon or trim you are going to use and with a bit of glue put it in place close to the rim all around the purse.

Add your decoration, whether it is a feather a flower, bead etc. and that is all there is to it! Your purse is done!

Note/Tip:
If you want your purse to have a softer feel just add a tiny bit of thin batting to it using a bit of glue before you glue your fabric in place. You can put glue directly on the sides of the binder clips…and it stays put!

WARNING: These are addictive! Office supplies will not be safe!
Have fun creating!



Gina Gagnon http://www.lonewolf miniaturecreations.com