How to Make a Book Purse With a Zipper

A homemade book purse made from recycled books is an effective way to go green while being fashionable. Those who love books, fashion or vintage wear these functional and attractive purses. No matter the reason for making a book purse, carrying one of these will cause people to take notice of this unique accessory. However, book lovers may find it hard to destroy a book.

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Vintage hard cover book
• Craft knife
• 2 yards decorative fabric
• Iron
• Old purse handles or fabric scraps
• Fabric glue
• Large sheet of paper
• Needle and thread
• Zipper

1. • 1
     Choose a vintage styled book with an attractive cover.
   • 2
     Cut the pages from the spine of the book with a craft knife.
   • 3
     Lay a piece of lining fabric on a flat work surface. Open the book cover and place it on top of the fabric. Mark the edges of the book on the fabric. Cut the fabric so that it is 1/4 inch larger than the book on each side. Fold each edge of the fabric inward approximately 5/8 inch so that the wrong sides face. Iron the edges flat.
   • 4
     Cut the handles from an old purse. Attach the handles to the inside of the book cover using craft glue. If the handles can’t be glued, attach a piece of fabric to the handles and glue the other end of the fabric to the inside of the book cover. Alternatively, construct handles by folding a narrow strip of fabric into the shape of a handle. Attach the handles with fabric glue.
   • 5
     Glue the wrong side of the purse lining to the book cover so that the area where the handles are attached is covered.
   • 6
     Trace the outline of the book cover on a sheet of paper. Mark the width and location of both ends of the spine on the paper. Turn the paper so that the location of the spine is oriented horizontally.
   • 7
     Draw a line on the paper starting from the left bottom edge of the spine that travels downward and toward the left away from the spine at a 75-degree angle from the vertical edge of the book. Draw another line starting from the top of the left side of the spine that travels up and to the left at a 75-degree angle from the vertical edge of the book. The spine of the book now appears to have a “V” shape projecting from the left side.
   • 8
     Draw a “V” shape with the same 75-degree angle on the right side of the spine.
   • 9
     Cut out the pattern from the paper. Place another piece of fabric on the work surface. Place the pattern on top of the fabric and pin the pieces together. Cut out 2 identical pieces of fabric in the shape of the pattern.
   • 10
     Sew one side of the “V” shaped fabric to the horizontal edge using a whipstitch of the fabric so that the right sides face each other. Repeat this process to sew the other 4 sides of the fabric to the adjacent area on the “V”. This will form a pouch shape from the piece of fabric.
     Repeat this process to construct the other piece of fabric into a pouch.
   • 11
     Turn one of the pouches inside out. Put the inside out pouch inside of the other pouch. Sew a running stitch along the perimeter of the top of the pouch. This will make a double-layered pouch that has the right side visible on both the inside and outside.
   • 12
     Place the fabric pouch on a flat work surface so that the top of the purse of facing away from the body. Fold the upper 1/4-inch edge fabric so that the right sides face each other.
   • 13
     Place the zipper on the top edge of one side of the pouch so that the zipper teeth stick out past the top edge. Put the zipper on the fabric with the wrong side facing up so that the end with the pull tag on it matches the upper, right edge of the fabric.
   • 14
     Match the upper edge of the fabric to the zipper. Insert straight pins through the fabric and the zipper. Sew a straight stitch along the upper edge of the fabric to secure the zipper fabric to the top edge of the purse.
   • 15
     Fold the other side of the pouch inward to make a 1/4-inch edge. Place the fabric with no zipper on top of the zipper fabric that isn’t attached to the pouch. Position the fabric so that the ends of the zipper line up with the edge of the fabric and the teeth of the zipper are above of the two layers. Push straight pins through the fabric and zipper to hold them together. Use a needle and thread to sew a running stitch along the pinned areas of the zipper and fabric.
   • 16
     Place glue on the both sides of the inside of the book cover. Attach the zippered pouch to the book cover. Do not disturb the purse until the glue has completely dried.