This was originally posted over on Emmaline Bags as a guest post while she was moving halfway across the world. We are now in the middle of moving, but only a few suburbs away. Right now I’m crazily unpacking boxes.

I’ve always loved the British postage stamps. They’re all the same, but so very different. I love the variations in colour! I still look at the bag and try and pick my favourite stamp.

A Very British Stamps Handbag

The amount of materials you need will depend on the size of bag you want to make, so I’ll just explain to you how to go about it.

To make a ‘Stamps Bag’ first you need to buy a bag of stamps. I went to a stamp and coin shop and got a big bag for a few dollars. They were all still attached to envelopes, so I soaked them off in cold water and laid them out on tea towels to dry. Don’t soak them in hot water because they’ll curl up.

The bag itself is made from black velvet, with the velvety side facing in to make the lining of the bag. I used less than a half metre (half yard). The stamps are glued onto the back of the velvet with mod podge. I just kept gluing until I was happy with the size.

Then I cut out the velvet panels leaving a seam allowance of about 1cm (3/8″) around the sides. The bag is a simple box shape with an open top. So I have 2 panels the same size for the front and back, then 2 the same size for the sides and then the bottom. I also cut out pieces of thin tablecloth plastic to go over the top of each piece.

I finished off the edges of the velvet on the sewing machine so they don’t fray. Then, I sewed the tablecloth plastic on top of each piece. Then the bag was put together by sewing all the pieces together, with the bottom going on last.

I wanted the stamps to be the whole feature of the bag, so the straps are also made of tablecloth plastic to keep them invisible. I cut 2 long strips and sewed them onto the front and back panels of the bag.

 

Do you feel like adding some postage stamps to your next project? Take a look at my pinterest board full of stamping inspiration.