Crystal Mesh Bag Tutorial
Follow these steps to make the perfect glam crystal mesh bag. This is a simple mostly hand-sewing project that can be made in a few hours and looks SO cool. Perfect for dressing up for evenings out or wearing casually with a white tee and jeans. No one will believe you made this!
Materials
Crystal mesh
Black bonded crepe
Crystal chain (we used this one but you can choose anything you like)
Pliers
Hand sewing needle
Thread (we used normal thread but you could use topstitching thread for more strength)
Steps
1. Use your pliers to cut your crystal mesh to a rectangle piece measuring 49cm x 23cm. You can make this smaller or bigger depending on the size of bag you'd like. It should be easy to cut, just snipping through the connectors between the crystals.
2. Cut your bonded crepe to a rectangle measuring 2cm wider than your crystal mesh and 7cm shorter. Ours measures 42cm x 25cm.
3. Fold up the bottom of your bonded crepe, right sides together, by 15cm. Stitch in place along both sides with a 1cm seam allowance. This is easiest sewn on a machine but you can also hand sew it if you prefer.
4. Pinch the bottom corners of the pouch so the seam allowance is in the centre, right sides together, and stitch across in a straight line 2cm away from the point.
5. Position your piece of crystal mesh around your pouch, wrong sides touching. Fold the one end over the front edge of the pouch by 1cm and slip stitch this in place all the way along.
6. Now stitch the crystal piece in place along the two front edges of the pouch, stitching the edge of the crystal directly into the ditch of the seams. The seam allowances should be folded open so the crystals will be over the top and hide them.
7. Fold the crystal piece around the back of the pouch and continue to stitch the back sides in the same way, the edge of the crystals stitched directly into the ditch of the seam allowance. The two edges of the crystals should lie directly next to each other.
8. Fold the crystals around the raw edges of the sides of the top flap of the pouch by 1cm and stitch in place.
9. Fold the crystals over the top edge of the pouch flap, making sure everything lies flat, and stitch in place. You will need to play with folding the crystals under themselves slightly in the top corners to get everything looking neat. It should fold over by 6cm if you've done the measurements the same as ours.
10. The bottom corners of the crystals now get folded into points and stitched up in place against the sides of the pouch.
11. Decide on your strap and strap length (ours is 145cm for a hip-length crossbody bag) and position it down along the sides of the bag so it meets the points of your folded up crystals. Stitch in place along the seams.
