Gathered Bag Tutorial
As promised (although a little later than intended…) here is the Gathered Bag Tutorial! This is a bag I designed recently and decided to share with everyone. This is an easy to make bag, yet is a stylish purse to tote around! Make one today and carry it tomorrow!
Since the tutorial became somewhat long, I decided to make the tutorial a download.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at carissa@bumblebeebliss.com if you have any questions!
Click here to download the Gathered Bag Tutorial!
***Update: I thought I would add some more pictures of purses made from this pattern. (These purses have a few changes from the original pattern.)***
Changes: Add 2″ to the length of the purse. The bottom ruffled portion is now 21 1/2″ x 12″ and the lining is now 19″ x 12″. Omit the grommets. Add a 3″ wide bow tied in the front.
Changes: Add 2″ to the length of the purse. The bottom ruffled portion is now 21 1/2″ x 12″ and the lining is now 19″ x 12″. Omit the grommets. Add a 3″ wide bow tied in the front.
Changes: Omit grommets. Add flowers in place of ruffles.
Enjoy!
*Multi Chevron* iPad Case 
Beautiful Bows *Black and White Vinyl* 
Classic Bow *Chevron*
Wow. This is really cute. I think I need one.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU – that is SOOOOO adorable! I can’t wait to make it!
I tried to download the tutorial so I could see if my sister could help me make this (I’m not very good at sewing) since it is so cute but there was a problem. It said “There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired.” Is there another way to get the tutorial? Thanks.
It is a .pdf file maybe you need to download a .pdf reader first.
How much would you charge to make this? I have ZERO sewing skills
Tried to download and it says file is damaged. Really wanted this one. Thanks anyway!
Such a cute bag! Thank you for the tutorial!
What a talent you have. I can’t wait to try this out. I hope mine turns out half as nice as yours since I am a beginner sewer.
I also tried to download this and came back the file was damaged. Could you please try to send this again as I am very interested in making the purse. Thank you.
I also tried to download the tutorial and ther was an error in downloading the documents because the file was damaged. Could you try to send it again. This is very cute purse would love to make it. Thank you.
Thank you. You are just wonderful. Do you own a Bernina sewing machine? I have made only a few bags. I have to learn how to do zippers, those rings, like in this pattern, and some other hardware. So I do easy stuff. I’ll give this a try. Thank you very much. You are very kind.
I love this bag and just downloaded the tutorial. I am interested in purchasing your pattern for this this bag and I couldn’t find it on your website. Do you know where I can purchase the pattern and how?
Laura
Ooops! I just figured out the pattern pieces are included in the download. I am ready to make this adorable bag!
Thank You!!!
Sorry for the trouble downloading the tutorial! I re-posted the tutorial, so hopefully it should work!
It is a PDF file, so you will need some kind of PDF reader.
Thanks! Let me know if you have more questions!
Hi! Thanks so much for the tutorial on the cute bag! I have started it and have the outside done so far & my next step was to cut the lining. I cut it according to your directions and when you say measure in 5 1/2 ” and cut on the 19′ piece, I need 13 1/2 ” to attach top band of lining and there’s only 8 ‘. I cut it with the above measurement and it works nicely… Just thought I’d let u know!!!
)
Thanks for letting me know! I have fixed the error.
Sorry for the mistake!
Carissa
hi, nice post, i would like to share it but this link does not work : https://bumblebeebliss.com/2011/09/23/gathered-bag-tutorial am i doing it wrong ? thanks
Hi! Sorry you could not get the link to work. The problem seems to be the address is “http://” instead of “https://” I believe it will work with this link: http://bumblebeebliss.com/2011/09/23/gathered-bag-tutorial/
Thanks!
Carissa
Glad to read this blog! Keep it going!
What a great bag, thanks for the tutorial! Just downloaded it without any problem. No error message.
Thanks again!
I recently purchased some grommets with the intention of making a bag but didn’t knwo what kind I wanted. Now I do! Thanks for sharing!
Oops! Sorry about the typo. *know This font is too small for these old eyes.
this is awesome!!!! thanks for sharing!!!!
Thanks so much for sharing the tutorial of this really cute bag with us!!
I just have to thank you for this tute!!! I’m SO excited to make this bag!!! I love the gathers, ruffles and grommets!! Thank you!!!!
I made it – changed it up a bit. I LOVE IT. I would like to use it for a guest blog I am doing at Sew We Quilt, of course giving you all the credit. Could you please contact me. Hugs Sharon
Hi Carissa! We really like your Gathered Bag tutorial and are going to share it with our http://www.WeAllSew.com readers! We’ll post a link on our blog back to your project here at BumbleBee Bliss on next Friday, March 3rd. Let me know if you have any questions about being featured at WeAllSew.com, and thanks! – Erika
Absolutely love this bag.
Adorable. Thank you so much for the instructions. I’m here from “WeAllSew”. Subscribing to your blog, too.
Can you tell me how to make the bow on the gray bag? How much fabric do i buy for the bow? So adorable I love these bags.
Hi! The bow is a strip 3″ X aprox. 60″. Wrap the strip around the purse and tie a pretty bow. Tack the fabric in place, by hand or machine, on the sides of the purse and directly on either side of the bow. The edges are serged to prevent fraying.
Hope this helps!
Carissa
THANK YOU THANK YOU
Just love it, cant wait to start sewing =) thanks for sharing.
Any chance you can add the other purse photos (with the ribbons instead of grommets) to the download, too? That way, the other styles are in the same place. Very cute! Thanks for sharing!!
LOVE the grey one!
Just love this bag, and how sweet of you to have the pattern online for free! The tutorial is easy to understand, and the photos are very explanatory. Just have one question, and that is what did you use on the bottom of the purse? (The metal “buttons”). Can’t wait to make mine! Thanks again!
How big is this bag??
Your bags are great. That’s so nice of you to share your design with others. My mom sewed a few. You can see some of them here: http://www.worthpinning.com/2012/05/pickets-full-of-purses.html
I made this purse and absolutely love it! It was easy to make and the pictures and directions were very understandable. Thanks so much! I plan to make it as a gift for a couple of friends.
Thank you for sharing your talent. Can’t wait to give one a try.
Is there a way to finish the fabric and make the ruffles without a serger? Can’t wait to make the bag! Thanks for posting.
Love these. Thanks!
These are amazingly cute! Not crafty at all, do you custom make and sell these bags?
Yes, I do custom order bags! Email me at Carissa@bumblebeebliss.com and we can discuss your custom made purse!
I love your bags do you have a site i can order from?
I love this! I went to bed last night picturing a purse in my head I wanted to make, and then Googled it to see if someone else might make my job easier and have a pattern for me. Thanks for making it free! Just a quick question though – you mention to leave a 3″ hole in the lining to pull the purse through when you sew them together. What do you do with the 3″ hole after that? Hand sew? Stitch it with the machine?
You can do either. If you machine stitch the hole closed, the stitching will be slightly visible. If you don’t want any stitching to show, then hand sew the hole closed.
Just finished making the ” the gathered bag” pattern but I made the bag big bigger, added some side pockets to make myself an awesome diaper bag. Thanks so much for sharing your pattern! Can’t wait to make another one. A little tip for people who don’t have access to a great craft store, which I don’t. For the bottom of the bag to make it stiff, I used one of those very thin plastic cutting boards. It worked like a charm. I just cut it to size that I needed and placed it in the bottom of bag between the outter fabric and the lining. Love my new bag, thanks again!!
I love this!!! May I feature the tutorial on http://www.sewcanshe.com? I promise I’ll just take a couple photos and link to this page for the tute. Please let me know!
Caroline
Yes, that is fine! Thanks for asking!
Carissa
This is cute. Thanks for the tut.
Where do you find your grommets? I’m trying yo find some in something other then black, silver, brass, or gold.
What are the little silver things on the bottom of the purse and how do you attach them? All your variations are so cute!!! I love it.