Leather Bag Handles


I made some leather bag handles this week.
Because I'm poorly equipped to do leatherwork, I constantly have to find ways to make the stuff I want with the tools I have. This is not really a tutorial as I don't really know what I'm doing, it's just a method that worked for me. 


You'll need some leather, some plastic tubing (found in a hardware store), a large quilting ruler you can hold, a rotary cutter, a cutting mat, a zipper foot and a tiny bit of scotch tape. If you are on a home machine, you should use a leather needle.
You can sew thick leather on your home machine, it might be a little longer as you may have to turn the handwheel yourself so you don't burn the motor but it works, so don't let that stop you. 
Set your machine to the longest stitch length, adjust the tension on a scrap. 


Cut the desired length of plastic tubing, 35cm in my case. Cut a generous strip of leather, enough to go around the plastic tube plus a generous sewing allowance on the side and on each end so you can sew them in. Put the tiny bit of scotch under the zipper foot so it glides on the leather and sew as close to the tube as you can manage.


Put your ruler perpendicular to the table and cut away your seam allowance very close to the stitching line. VoilĂ ! You have your own bag handles ready to sew into your bag whichever way you want.
Here is a sneak peek.






9 commentaires:

  1. This is brilliant! I have some scraps of leather that I've been thinking about turning into handles and this may just do the trick. Thanks so much for sharing your method.

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  2. Hoosiermama07 avril, 2013

    Stitch Parade is right-this is brilliant. I have long been deterred from making bags by the home-made look of fabric handles on fabric bags or (worse) knitted handles on knitted/felted bags. Now I know what to do about it!

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  3. This is a great tutorial, and a fantastic way to make homemade handles that look really professional. Did you make a post about the finished bag that you show in the last photo?

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    1. Actually no! I sent it to my Mom-inLaw for X'mas and never thought of taking the picture!

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  4. Hi Everyone,

    I just wanted to turn everyone on to a great leather supplier out of NYC. They are called District Leathers. Their website is http://www.districtleathers...and they are super friendly and helpful. They carry all types of leather that you can take out right from their showroom on 263 West 38th St. (15th floor) in NYC. No appointment necessary.

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  5. Thank you so much for your idea about Scotch tape, if anyone has every tried to use a sewing machine and the foot always seems to leave a slight scratch on softer leather.

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  6. Thank you so much, I am just about to get into sewing leather and this is absolutely brilliant. I applaud you.

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