Yummy Cupcake Evening Bag
As seen in
Crafts 'n Things
magazine
You’ll Need
Materials, Fabric & Embellishments
Round craft box with lid, 4” diameter (papier-mâché).
Satin taffeta: peach, at least 60” wide, 1/3 yd.
Silver lamé: 1/3 yd.
Crushed velvet: chocolate brown, 1/3 yd.
Twisted satin cord: chocolate brown, ¼” diameter, 26” length.
Wrights cotton piping cord, 22/32” diameter, 60” length.
Polyester thread, peach (Gütermann Sew-All #373).
Satin ribbon: chocolate brown, ½” wide, 12” length.
Metallic glass bugle beads, multi-colored, 50.
Tools & Supplies
X-Acto craft knife.
Scissors.
Masking tape.
Scotch tape.
Staple gun and staples.
Household pliers.
Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac glue.
Sewing machine.
Tape measure.
Safety pin.
Crochet hook.
Sewing needle.
Sweeten up a night on the town with a cupcake purse covered in sparkling sprinkles.
What to Do
Step 1
Create two holes in the craft box lid 3/8” in from the sides. To do this, start by making a slit with the X-Acto knife, make a second slit to make a plus sign, then cut into a ¼” diameter circle. Make a second hole on the opposite side of the lid. Reinforce each hole with thin strips of masking tape.
Step 2
To prevent the twisted satin cord from fraying, wrap each end with Scotch tape. Feed the ends through the holes in the lid so the lid can slide freely up and down the cord. Staple the ends of the cord halfway down each side of the bottom of the box. It helps to lay the craft box onto a stack of newspapers and use the staple gun from the inside so the ends poke out of the box into the newspaper. Use the pliers to fold the ends over flat. Cover the staple ends with a 1” square of masking tape.
Step 3
Cut a 10”x10” piece of peach satin to cover the lid. Center the fabric on the inside of the lid and glue in place. This will create a smooth surface on the inside of the lid. Wrap the fabric up over the sides of the lid, gluing as you go. When the fabric reaches the handles, cut a slit in the fabric so you can wrap it around them. Continue covering the lid by gluing a series of folds toward the center. Don’t worry too much about how the top looks, since the folds will end up hidden by the swirling frosting.
Step 4
Cut an 11” diameter circle out of the silver lamé. Apply the Fabri-Tac glue to the bottom of the craft box in a spiral. Center the bottom of the craft box on the fabric and wrap the fabric up over the sides of the box. Crease the fabric into vertical pleats about 1½” apart to mimic the look of a cupcake wrapper and glue them flat against the sides of the box. Then fold the ends up and over the edge of the box and glue them to the inside of the box.
Step 5
Line the box with the brown velvet by cutting a 7” diameter circle of the fabric. Glue just the outside edge of the velvet circle to the interior sides of the box bottom (slightly overlapping the edge of the lamé). The velvet will hang like a pouch inside the craft box. Glue the brown satin ribbon over the edge where the silver and brown fabric meet.
Step 6
Cut a strip of peach satin fabric 3¼”x60”. Wrap the fabric around the cotton piping with the matte side facing out. Pin the fabric together in a seam along the side, tightly wrapping the piping. Remove the piping. Using the sewing machine and matching thread, sew the seam with a straight stitch, removing the pins as you sew. Turn the fabric tube right-side out by pinning a safety pin to one end and feeding a crochet hook into the other end of the tube, then grabbing the safety pin with the hook. Pull the safety-pinned end back through the fabric tube turning the fabric right-side out.
Step 7
Slide the cotton piping cord into the peach satin tube. The trick here is to feed the entire tube of fabric onto the crochet hook, crunching it up onto the hook. Stuff the crochet hook into the end of the piping and wrap tightly with Scotch tape so the piping will stay attached to the hook. Gently tug the piping into the fabric tube by pulling the crochet hook out the other end. Hand sew the ends closed with a hidden ladder stitch and matching thread.
Step 8
Close the purse by sliding the lid down the satin cord handle onto the bottom of the cupcake. To create the frosting, make a coil out of the satin piping with the seams facing down. To do this, sew the coil together by hand stitching the adjacent coils to each other, crisscrossing from one coil to the next and back. Stop when the coil fits the space between the satin cord handles. Glue the coil to the lid between the handles and let dry. Coil the piping around the outside of the handles on the top of the lid. Next, grab the other end of the frosting tube and spiral it into a coil to create a second layer of frosting. Stitch together as before, then glue into place. Create a little third layer on top by spiraling the end of the tube and then tucking it back down into the center of the coil. Glue into place.
Step 9
Cover the frosted lid with sprinkles by sewing the bugle beads onto the coil with the peach thread.
Perfect Circle
To make a winning circle, consider using your china. Many dinner plates measure 11” across and most salad plates are 7” in diameter. Once you find the right size plate, use it as a template to cut out your circle.
Hooray for Bollywood
We love the look of shimmery lamé, but when we saw the glamorous sari fabric at the store, we couldn’t resist the silver metallic brocade. Sari fabrics come in vivid colors with shiny threads and embellishments. Use them to give your projects pizzazz!
