DIY: Studded Purse

One snowy afternoon when PB was engrossed in playing a video game and I'd read all my new books, and the lack of snow clearing equipment in the DC area had made actual outside travel all but impossible, I came across studsandspikes.com. For some reason, I was really attracted to the 1-inch pyramid spikes, and something told me they would look awesome on this old purple purse I bought thrifting awhile back. So I did a little googling to see how this whole studding process worked and discovered it's ridiculously easy.

You need a bag, or really any piece of clothing that can support the studs, scissors, studs, pliers (not pictured) and a needle and thread.

First, cut the lining on the side of the bag where it attaches to the zipper. If you have an exacto-knife you can probably do a much neater job than I did. After you come up with the way you want to arrange your spikes, you simple poke the sharp tabs into the leather and fold them under with pliers. I found that the studs stayed in place better when you poked the tabs through the felt lining and not just the leather.


I went ahead and put the four corner studs in first and then spaced out the remaining studs.


Once you've finished putting the studs in place you have to sew the lining back up. I have really poor sewing skills, but even a rough job will do the trick.

Then you just stud the other side and sew it up and you're done!

I'm going to admit that I probably could have done a better job spacing out the studs. Given, however, that the bag is ruched along the bottom it was incredibly difficult to do. I think if I were going to do it again, I would use a ruler and a sharpie to mark where the tabs on the studs would go. Given how time consuming the spacing can be, you might consider using a more random pattern.