Here’s a quick tutorial for a handbag with rope handles. I’ve pretty much been making the same summer bag for the past couple of years (see here and here).
Long story, but I bought some heavy-duty cotton rope to use for chair seats, then decided to go with wooden seats for the chairs since we have kids standing and spilling on the chairs. So I will be doing a lot of rope projects! This rope is a bit sturdier than the rope trim that you can find in the sewing store, but I think that will do just fine for this project. You could also use bamboo handles as I’ve done in the past, following the same instructions. I secured the rope handles by sewing them and then holding them together with hidden masking tape, but I think it would be a nice detail if you used metal clamps from the hardware store — and perhaps a bit more professional!
The fabric is by Nani Iro from Matatabi.
Click on the image below to download the instructions.
In case people are still wondering what kind of rope clamp to use, this is what I have. It can be found at most hardware stores.
http://www.hardwarestore.com/rope-clamp-510911.aspx
this is an easy to make and does not take long if you read all instructions first . you can make it casual with the rope handles or as I did as well as the casual look, I used some very nice embrossed fabric that I had been hanging on to for ‘something special’ and as it was not a huge amount of fabric I could never decide what to use it for——hence I used it for this handbag only a little smaller to use at night and made beaded handles to go with it…….very snazzy.