How to Trick Out Your Bags With DIY Fringe

Here at Brit + Co., we adore all things elegant, but we also gush over bold colors and patterns. So we made one purse with loafer-inspired fringe and classic tassels, and another with wild black fringe fit for the closet of an edgy boho babe. That’s the best part about making your own fringe: you can keep it real and keep on trend! Not to mention that it’s surprisingly easy to do. Ready to try it?

Materials:
– purses

– faux leather

– Wonder-Under (if necessary, see Instructions for fringe)

Tools:
– fabric scissors

– Sharpie

– ruler

– hot glue gun + glue

– iron

Instructions for fringe:
1. For loose hanging fringe, use Wonder-Under to fuse faux leather sides together. If you won’t see the back of the leather, skip to step four.

2. Place sticky side of Wonder-Under down on the underside of the fabric, then fold fabric over to cover. Peel off wax paper and reserve.

3. Set iron to wool/steam setting. Using the wax paper as a guard, iron the leather together for about 15 minutes using heavy pressure until the leather is fully fused. Let it set for about 30 minutes, then iron again if necessary.

4. Measure and mark the underside of the faux leather to fit the width of your purse and cut your piece to size with fabric scissors.

5. Measure and mark the underside of the cut piece with the desired length and thickness of your fringe. Draw a line across the top of your fabric to denote where you should stop cutting your fringe.

6. Using fabric scissors, cut your fringe until you reach the stopping line.

7. Squeeze hot glue to the top of the underside of your fabric, then quickly fasten to the purse. Hold to make sure it sets fully.

8. Trim the edges to desired length and shape.

Instructions for tassels:
1. With the remaining fabric, cut two strips of leather 1/2 inch wide and 2 inches long and reserve—this will be the loop that connects your tassel to your zipper.

2. With the remaining fabric, mark, measure, and cut a 2 3/4 inch by 5 1/2 inch strip of fabric—this will make two small tassels.

3. Mark every 3/4 inch then cut your fringe. Remember to leave about a 3/4 inch of fabric at the top to keep your fringe together. Cut this final piece in half to make two tassels.

4. Feed the fabric loop through your zipper and hot glue ends together. Roll tassel around the fabric loop, hot gluing it together after each roll. Hold to secure.

We’ll pair the electric green clutch with black faux leather and make long, hanging fringe. But first, we’ll use the gold faux leather on the pink purse to make short, loafer-inspired fringe that will cover just the front pouch.

Once you measured the length of the front pouch, start dividing up that fringe! We used a folding technique to make even lines on the fabric’s underside, but you can always use a ruler.

Don’t forget to draw a warning line at the very top of your fringe – you’ll stop cutting at that mark. Once the fringe is hanging loose, put hot glue across the top. Then transfer to the purse with quick hands!

We lined our fringe up with the outside seam to make sure we were fastening it in a straight line. We wanted to be really playful with our loafer inspiration, so we cut the ends of our thick fringe into V shapes. Prep-tastic!

All that’s left is to make our two tassels! You’ll need to cut a fabric strip to feed through each zipper, about 1/2 inch thick and 2 inches long each. Then on a piece of fabric that’s about 5 1/2 inches wide and 2 inches long, outline your fringe! Remember to do this on the underside of the fabric so your marks don’t show on the finals.

Now flip and snip! In half, of course, since we need two small tassels. Then we’re all set to hang ’em up!

It’s time to make that tootsie roll! Getting your roll on is easy once one end of the tassel is glued to the loop. Just remember to dab some glue after each roll to ensure each tassel sticks together. Ready to see this purse in its Sunday best?

What an upgrade! This pale purse was so plain before we added the faux leather loafer fringe. We absolutely love our preppy take on this frilly embellishment—it’s pretty, proper, and totally chic! But now it’s time to take a walk on the wild side! :)

Unlike our loafer fringe, the black fringe will be hanging loose on its purse. And since the faux leather is “one sided,” we need to take an extra step to fuse both sides together with a product called Wonder-Under. What a killer name! Because of this, you’ll need to double the fabric to make this dangling fringe.

Once the Wonder-Under sheet is cut to size and placed sticky side down on the underside of the fabric, rip off its wax paper protector and fold the fabric over. Using the wax paper as a guard, iron that bad boy! Heavy pressure and steam from the iron fuse it together, turning it into a fabric with a faux leather finish on both sides. This definitely won’t be the last time you hear about Wonder-Under!

Once the faux leather fully fused and cooled, trace and cut the fringe to fit the length of the purse! This time, our fringe will run the entire length of this electric green clutch, which is about 11 inches long.

We want this fringe to be flowy and dramatic, so we’re cutting it into really, really long strips. It’s not called a statement piece for nothing! ;)

Once the long fringe is cut, hot glue it onto the backside of clutch so it cascades to the ground in all its glory. Are you ready for this rockin’ reveal?

Guys, can you handle this? I don’t think you can handle this! This insanely wild fringe would look amazing on festival grounds, a dance floor, or even on the streets of downtown San Francisco!

This DIY will definitely earn you points in the street style arena.

The tassels on the pink purse are both cute and functional. We love how the fringe glimmers in the sun.

The movement of this black fringe is just to die for. You definitely need a confident swagger to rock this clutch.

Which fringe fits your style? Would you rock the preppy or the wild fringe purse? Tell us in the comments below!