Hobo Purse

I made this cute hobo bag for myself. It matches my wallet. I made the pattern myself out of newspaper. I drew half the bag and cut it on the fold. You can't see in the picture, but I used a gusset on the bottom and sides of the bag to make it a bit wider. I pleated the sides of the bag against the strips I sewed the zipper to, both on the outside and the lining.
Here you can see my zippered pocket, just sewn on the top edge. The color is weird in this picture, it's actually more lime green.
Here is the pocket I made to protect my cell phone (and also so I can find it). That's the nice thing about making your own purse - I can put whatever pockets I need. You might be able to see the cute swirls on the lining fabric.

I spent less than $13 at JoAnn on supplies for this bag, which I think is a bit too much. This was my first time: making a purse; using interfacing; putting in a zipper; using a zipper foot. The absolute hardest part was attaching the straps. I had so many layers I was trying to sew through, and the green fabric kept fraying. I think it will hold at least! I am overall happy with and proud of my bag. The pattern turned out great, it is just the size I wanted, and I love my pockets. It could use a pocket on the outside, maybe next time.

To give credit where credit is due, and to help anyone wanting to make a similar bag, here are all the tutorials I used:

Ric-Rac 1 hour bag tutorial - This is what got me started, although I didn't end up using much of it since I did a zipper and a gusset.

Slouchy Hobo Bag - Most of the putting-together of my bag came from this tutorial, especially the zippered top and the pleated sides.

Purse Pattern - I used this to get an idea of what I needed to cut out - mainly for the gusset on the bottom of my bag.

Zippered Pocket Instructions - I followed these instructions, but I don't recommend anyone else do so. This made a cute little zippered bag and was very easy, but it didn't attach to my purse right because the zipper is on the top. Maybe if my fabric was flimsier it would have attached better. I ended up just sewing the top of the pocket (actually the back) to the bag.

I also watched a video on the Bernina website about using the zipper foot, but it didn't help me much.