Harry Potter Hogwarts Letter Purse

Like most, I love the Harry Potter series. I read the books when I was a kid and then, of course, loved the movies. I like to try and think of projects that are inspired by the Wizarding World that aren't too overdone. One night I came up with an idea to make this purse and I was so excited, I didn't sleep until I had the idea fully fleshed out and the purse almost completely finished.

• 1/4 yard white fabric
• 1/4 yard lining fabric
• Purse strap
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Scissors
• Paper
• Pen
• Embroidery hoop
• Embroidery needle
• Embroidery floss
• Keyrings
• Hot glue sticks
• Red crayons
• Decorative button (large, at least 1")

Cut a rectangle of white fabric that measures 9 inches by 18 inches. I didn't have a piece that long, so I sewed two pieces together and pressed the seams open.

Fold the corners at one end of the fabric into a point and cut off the folded parts.

Pin this fabric on top of your lining fabric and cut that out too.

Google Harry Potter's Hogwarts acceptance letter and print it out the same size of your purse. Trace it onto the white fabric using a pen. I like to place the fabric on top of the paper on a clear plastic bin with a light inside so it's easy to see the text.

Put the fabric in an embroidery hoop and thread an embroidery needle with three strands of black embroidery floss. Do a small, simple backstitch over the letters.

When you've finished, take the fabric out of the hoop and iron it.

Fold right sides together and sew down the sides, making sure to backstitch. Turn it right side out.

Pin and sew the lining fabric the same way.

Cut a piece of white fabric that's 2.5" by 8". Fold the sides into the middle and then fold in half. Pin and sew down both sides. Cut it in half so you have two 4" long strips.

Place the lining fabric inside the outer fabric, putting right sides together. Place the folded 4" strips (so now they're loops) in the sides, sandwiched between the lining and outer fabric. Sew around the top perimeter (see last photo to see where exactly to sew), leaving a gap so you can turn it right side out. Cut the corners and trim the excess fabric with pinking shears.

Turn the purse right side out through the gap you left. Hand sew the gap closed with a needle and thread. Iron the purse to get rid of any wrinkles.

I made a wax stamp button using the method I lined out more in this Instructable for wax stamps.

Cut up some hot glue sticks and dark red and red crayons. Put a 3:1 ratio of glue sticks to crayons -- so either three glue sticks and one crayon, or one glue stick and a third of a crayon -- inside of a tealight wax warmer. It doesn't have to be exact, but around that consistency. You want this mixture to be really thick, much thicker than you would for a normal wax stamp.

Spoon some of the hot glue mixture onto a nonstick surface (I used a glass coaster I have) and quickly press a detailed button into the hot glue mixture. Let cool/harden.

Superglue a smaller button with a flat face on the back.

Now you have a button that resembles the Hogwarts letter wax stamp!

I used a purse strap I already had from an old purse, but you could alternatively sew one if you wanted. Put on the keyrings and clip on the strap.

Find out where you want your button and mark it. Make a small snip with a pair of scissors big enough for the button you just made to go through and use a short zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine to sew a buttonhole. Hand-sew the button onto the purse.

And that's all it takes to make a Hogwarts letter purse. I really love the way it turned out. I was considering just using a normal button for the closure, but I'm glad I went all out and made a button to resemble the wax stamp. It was definitely worth the work.