Book Purse Tutorial

Welcome to my first Tutorial! I am making a few Christmas gifts. I know, it's early, but Christmas always sneaks up on me and I spend more time behind the scenes in preparation. This year, I want to enjoy the season. I am making a book purse for a niece. I looked at a variety of tutorials, but I tweaked them to make my own.

First, gather your supplies:

A hard bound book - make sure you won't be tempted to keep the book!

1/4 yrd. Fabric of your choice

A hot glue gun

Card board paper

Using an exacto carefully cut out the pages of the book, leaving only the hard cover.

Now, decide how wide you want the purse to open. Trace this on a piece of paper to serve as a template. Trace the outer edges.

Place the paper own the wrong side of the fabric and cut 1/4-1/2 inch from the edge of the paper. Fold over the tops, from the right side to the wrong side and sew it down. (It kind of looks like a bikini top when placed side by side!)

Make the handles. Cut two strips of fabric 3 inches by 12 inches. Fold in half length wise and press with iron. Open up and fold edges into fold, both sides. Press, fold in half and press.
Lay the book open and measure from one side to the other, add 3/4" all around. Cut out. You can fold the fabric, but I would recommend to wait until the poster board is cut out. Measure just one side, cut 2 pieces of poster board 1/4" less on all sides.
Begin to assemble the purse. First, glue the sides in the ends of the book with the right side of the fabric facing out.
Next, spray one side of the poster board with spray adhesive. This will allow you to place the fabric tightly against the poster board. Place the poster board with the sticky part on the wrong side of the fabric, with some fabric folded on the other side. Next, place the handles where you want them to be. I placed mine 1-1/2" from the ends. Hot glue them in place.
Glue the inside of the purse. Begin from the base and work up. Have the right side of the fabric facing out.
Viola! You have a book purse. I wanted to make another, but my husband wanted the book!