Buckskin coin purse

My father in law asked me to make him a little buckskin coin purse to carry his change. As far as working with the buckskin goes there was nothing special about it but it's always been a challenge to find a good closing mechanism, as they can often be too difficult to close/open, don't close tightly enough, or tend to be too bulky. This time I got inspired by one of my wife's purses and I'll show you what I did as it's probably the tightest-yet-easiest-to-open-and-close system I've made.

The finished project is 3 inches long by 2 inches wide, though the very top is 2.5 inches wide, which makes it easier to see inside. I cut the whole thing as one piece, with the bottom connecting the two sides so I only needed to sew up the side seams.

To make the drawstrings closing system I punched a row of seven holes about half an inch from the top and then another row of holes just above and in-between the other ones. I made these holes extra large with my bone awl so that the strings could pass through easily.

The trick is that there are two strings that loop completely around the bag so one string starts from the left on the bottom row of holes, loops all the way around and back to the left; and one string starts from the right on the top row of holes, loops all the way around and back to the right. I put knots at the end of the strings after they were cut to length to make it easier to pull them.

To close the bag, simply pull both sets of strings at the same time. To open the bag, simply pinch the bag just below the strings and pull. So easy yet so effective!

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