I saw this PRADA Bowler Bag the other day, and I thought, “Hey, I can make that!” It’s a classic style, and I’ve been wanting a new bag. Plus, I love a good DIY project. So, I decided to give it a try.
First, I started gathering all the materials. I already had some black leather scraps from a previous project, so that was a good start. I needed to buy a few things, though. Here’s what I ended up using:
- Black leather (about 2 square feet)
- Black thread
- Zipper (about 12 inches)
- Lining fabric (about 1/2 yard)
- Interfacing (about 1/2 yard)
- Leather needle for my sewing machine
- Rotary cutter and cutting mat
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Pins
Once I had everything, I sketched out a basic pattern. I basically just measured the dimensions of a similar bag I had and then drew the shapes onto some paper. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a few rectangles and a couple of curved pieces for the sides.
Next, I used the pattern to cut out all the pieces from the leather, lining fabric, and interfacing. Then I ironed the interfacing onto the back of the lining fabric to give it some extra stiffness.
The first real sewing step was to put the zipper in. I sewed it onto the top edges of two of the main leather pieces. That was probably the trickiest part, but I just went slow and made sure everything was lined up properly.
After the zipper, I sewed the side pieces to the main body pieces, forming the basic shape of the bag. Then I did the same with the lining pieces. The thing started to look like a bag!
Next, I sewed the bottom piece onto the main body, both for the leather outer and the lining. Then I turned the leather outer right side out and slipped the lining inside, wrong sides together.
Finally, I folded the top edges of the leather and lining inwards and sewed them together, creating a clean finish around the opening of the bag. I also added some handles, which I just made from long strips of leather, folded and sewn.
Finished!
And that was it! It took me a couple of evenings, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out. It’s not perfect, but it definitely looks like a bowler bag, and it’s a decent size for carrying my everyday stuff. Plus, it was way cheaper than buying a real PRADA bag. I’m already thinking about making another one in a different color!
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