Easy DIY Circle Tote

As an avid lover of circles (Yes—that’s a thing!), I’ve been really diggin’ the circle purse trend. After searching for the perfect woven circle tote for spring, it finally occurred to me—this is the perfect DIY opportunity! Basically all it took was a couple of placemats and a leather strap! Check out how simple it is to make your own circle purse.

Supplies:
-two woven placemats (I used these)
-2 yards of 2″ or 3″ wide leather strip (I ordered mine from here)
-needle and thread
-scissors
-optional and not shown above: toggle button and leather cord (You can make a cord by trimming a sliver of the leather piece you cut in step one.)

Step One: Cut about 6″ off the end of your leather strap. At this point, you may choose to cut a sliver off the edge of this segment to use for your cord in step six.

Step Two: Sew the leather to a portion of the perimeter of one placemat. Keep the bad side of the leather facing inward, as shown above. Be sure to leave even sections of leather hanging off at either end. I stitched my leather around more than half of the circle.

Step Three: After one placemat is attached to the leather as shown above left (with almost even ends hanging free), sew the second mat to the leather as shown above right. I did not find any pinning to be necessary during this step. (Thank God—because who loves pinning? Not me!)

Step Four: Determine how long you want your tote straps to be. I cut about 3″ off the ends of each end of the leather strap. Then stitch it together. This stitch will be hidden, so it doesn’t need to be neat… unless you’re just that fastidious!

Step Five: Use your the scrap of leather you cut in step one to wrap up the middle of your leather strap. I folded the strap before wrapping it, then stitched it into place so it wouldn’t slide around.

Step Six: I hadn’t planned on adding this detail, but I thought the purse could use a little something extra, so I decided a toggle button would be the cherry on top of this cute tote. I stitched a section of leather cord just long enough to go around where I had attached the toggle button. Easy enough, and quite cute!This tote is just big enough to stash books and magazines, but not so mammoth that you’ll lose your sunglasses inside. I had so much fun whipping up this tote, I think I’m going to make one in pink too! –Mandi

Credits//Author and Photography: Mandi Johnson and Matthew Graber. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.