Experiments in leather with the "Essential Wristlet"

Spurred on by the raging success of my first, I've made myself another "Essential Wristlet" by Dog Under My Desk - this time experimenting with some leather I had bought in a $5 scrap bag from The Fabric Store. The idea stems from this True Bias tutorial and some purses I've seen made up over on Instagram using the tutorial.

I know black leather on dark blue denim isn't "the best look" (tan leather would look better) but it's what I had on hand to play with, and I was hoping that if the purse worked out I can use it for my Sydney Frocktails clutch (which is coming up this Saturday).

The leather was very soft and didn't add much bulk to the purse, was easy to sew with and easy to turn through the lining. I curved the bottom corners (as that's what the purse in the tutorial is like) which made it easy to have nice bottom corners.

I also added in the second zipper option this time. LOVE it. I'll probably cart my phone, lip goop and train pass in here - three things I access a lot.

I found my Flamingo Purse a tad on the small side so at the advice of my sewing friend Cassiy I increased the size of the purse by printing it at 150%. I also then added a bit more depth to the bottom of the purse to account for the curved corners.

I like having a card slot in my purses so thought I'd made use of my leather and add in three! They are not particularly neat (partly due to the fact that I cut my leather out with scissors which is a bit messy {need to get myself a rotary cutter and metal ruler}), but they do the trick.

And just for a bit more *bling* I added in these cute zipper pulls to the zippers that I picked up from Spotlight in Castle Hill (which is the BEST store just FYI, unlike their Bondi Junction store which is THE WORST). If you have keen eyes you'll notice my zippers are going in two different directions here - whoops! Must pay better attention next time.

I love the way this purse turned out and am already in the process of making a second...leather included!