Cyberpunk Chique RAM Purse

This project is an original design by me, you are free to make such a purse for personal use, but not to sell.
I will have them available in my etsy shop later this year.

Ever held a piece of trash thinking, it feels like such a waste to have this destroyed. I have this ALL THE TIME, but for (outdated) RAM I now bring you a great solution.

On this site there are cool bags made of old fashion information storing devices and I thought to myself, "I am sure I can think of something within this trend that suits my style".
I love working with PCB's (printed circuit boards) because they are sturdy and have beautiful colors. However I also work with them, because they are not exactly easy to re-cycle, sure they can be broken down for the precious metal, but this often happens in dangerous working conditions and does not change the fact that most of it is going to end up in a landfill.

This project uses old (DDR2) RAM to create a very stylish yet nerdy handbag
There are some sewing skills required but other than that it is totally doable. Happy making!

Other bags from outdated storage.
The floppy disk bag. By Imanalchemist

How to make tape cassette purses. by boxyqueens

VHS casette clutch. by mattopensourse

How to make a purse from a book. by grow_power

Tools:

• Drill
• soldering iron/hot air gun
• sewing machine
• scissors
• needle
• ruler
• pattern paper
• pencil
• optional: hammer

Materials:

• 19 RAM slats
• Sturdy fabric
• I used different types of fabric for the outside and the lining, but if you find some nice sturdy fabric, by all means keep it simple.
• sturdy tread, possibly the metal enforced kind.
• D-rings
• Tie-wraps
• a strap from a handbag you own (I never use more that one bag at a time, so I did not think it was usefull to make a separate strap.)
• optional: small rivets

50% of people who will comment on your bag ask how much storage space it has, without the stickers I do not have enough data about the data. If you care, maybe write it down before the stickers are gone.

Remove any stickers you do not like and use rubbing alcohol to remove any sticker residue.
I decided to leave the holographic brand stickers on and remove all others.

Remove chips from the corners of the memory by using a hot air gun, to make it easier to drill neat holes.

I used a drill press to drill the holes. The edges are a bit rough so you need to clean them up with file and sandpaper.
Do this very well!!! because sharp edges will make your tread break while you are using your purse.

I decided which slats I wanted on which spots, this allowed me to drill some additional holes into ones that would not be very visible, to add strength.

I checked if the length was enough for my phone. It was not.
So here I had to make a choice, would I just add some extra fabric, or use the small RAM I had at my disposal to make a different style bag. (see pictures)

I really like the uniformity and art-deco appeal of one type of RAM, so I laid the RAM out in the right way and made my pattern a bit bigger than the RAM is long, in the width to have room for my phone and in the length to have room to let the fabric hinge.

Please follow the description of this step and not the pictures, because I had to undo a lot of things that did not work out.

I originally drew the sides attached to the main part of the purse, but in order to get more of a box shape I decided to make them separate.
Since PVC does not fray, I made the PVC-fabric bigger and finished the edges by folding it around the inside fabric.

Lining.
Hem your pocket, attach it to the main part by sewing the bottom seam. Flip it over and sew the sides of the pocket into place while sewing the side pieces into place.

Bag
Put your sturdy fabric and PVC together and sew the sides into place. (fully, not like the pictures)
Check if you measured/sewed right by putting your RAM in place. Now is the moment to fix mistakes.
Put your lining inside and finish the top seam. You can still reach behind the lining by the hole at the flap.

Loops
Use some sturdy fabric, the width of your D-rings and sew the PVC around it.

Adding the RAM is as simple as sewing it on.
Just make sure the holes are as smooth as possible and you use very sturdy tread, if possible the type enforced with metal. After a full weekend of use the normal sewing tread has worn out on two spots.

Optional: Rivets are generally long enough to secure the RAM to the fabric, it gives a different look, but is also way less work.

I would start with the bottom, if you feel the need to add any there that is. It is just easier to do when you can still move the fabric.
Then I started with the sides. After sewing the RAM on, use the strap you made in the previous step to decide on where you want the holes.
I originally only made 2 holes, thinking I would be able to put it in place using rivets however, fabric + the RAM + the 3 layers of fabric from the strap turned out way too thick for the rivets. So in stead of spending ages sewing and having it come apart again, I drilled 2 additional holes and used tie-wraps.
It may not be the prettiest solution, but it works just fine.

Getting the RAM straight is pretty hard.
In order to not sew trough the lining you need to start with the bag part, and leave the flap for last. Which is also good for morale, because the flap is the easiest part.
I tried starting at the bottom, but since there is no seam there making sure it is straight is a huge pain.
So I suggest starting from the top, and work down while measuring the distance from the top on the side seam.

On the back I actually folded the fabric straight were the sides end to have a good edge to start from.

Before adding memory to the flap, finish the seams.
Check if the bottom of the flap is straight , because it will be very visible if it is not once you add the memory.

Now using a ruler you can easily center your RAM and sew it in place.

(as I said I had to fix some mistakes along the way, as you can see in the pictures.)

You are all done.

Now go out, and get into a lot of wonderful conversations with
attractive strangers who want to know where you got your amazing accessory :)

If you decide to make your own version I'd love to see your results, please tag me in your pictures I am @elsvanderstok on Intagram