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Pear-Shaped Gamaguchi Purse Sewing Pattern

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After weeks of fine-tuning and sewing to improvise the 3-D pear purse I designed more than 2 years ago, I finally pear-fected it…. here comes….. the “Mic-O-Pear”, the pear-shaped gamaguchi purse sewing pattern. Why name it Mic-O-Pear? because it mimics the pear, lol 🙂

how to make gamaguchi purse

This pear-shaped gamaguchi coin purse has been on my to-do list ever since I designed the pear fabric, just that I keep on procrastinating due to the overflown of ideas and projects in hand. I have been playing catching up lately… Sorry to keep you all waiting for the release of this pattern and tutorial. Finally, I am glad I got it done perfectly the way I like.

Gamaguchi Purse Sewing Pattern

scroll ⬇️ to get the free printable templates, pattern & tutorial

pear-shaped gamaguchi frame coin purse

What is Gamaguchi Purse?

Gamaguch is a coin purse with a metal kiss lock ball clasp. The origin of the name “gama-guchi” comes from the fact that it resembles a toad with a big mouth. “Gama” means toad, and “guchi” means mouth in Japanese.  Although it is often considered to be a traditional Japanese wallet, gamaguchi came to Japan from Europe in the Meiji era.

The wide opening makes the purse extremely practical and this purse design holds a surprising amount.

Besides, I also created another pear purse, the Mod-O-Pear coin purse in line with the design. Click the link for the free sewing pattern and tutorial.

ball clasp frame pear purse

What’s Next

how to make gamaguchi purse

PEAR-SHAPED GAMAGUCHI COIN PURSE SEWING PATTERN

Yield: 5″ (W) x 6″ (H) PEAR-SHAPED GAMAGUCHI COIN PURSE
Active Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours
Difficulty: Avid Beginner/Intermediate
Estimated Cost: $6 - $10

Here is the tutorial on sewing a ball clasp metal frame pear-shaped gamaguchi coin purse of Mic-O-Pea.

Enjoy sewing them!

Download and print the SEWING PATTERN TEMPLATE separately.

Materials

  • Fabric – 2 colors [20″ x 9″ each] or 3 colors [14″ x 9″ each]
  • Batting [with iron-on adhesive] – 14″ x 8″
  • Kiss Lock, 8.5cm, Round Arch
  • Cotton cord – 2″
  • Cardboard or letter size paper
  • Sewing thread
  • Strong sewing thread

Tools

  • Sewing machine with the normal presser foot
  • Sewing needle and pins
  • Pencil & marker
  • Erasable fabric marker
  • Iron
  • Add seam allowance tool
  • Blunt tip tweezers

Instructions

    pdf pear purse free patternDownload the Mic-O-Pear Purse sewing pattern in a pdf document and print it with your printer. Feed the letter-size paper into your printer and print the pattern without setting any scale on the printing. {the pdf download will either open in a new tab or open a small window asking you to save it as a file. If you can’t find the saved file on your computer, the default folder usually is in “/downloads”}
    {If you can’t download the pdf pattern, probably you don’t have an acrobat reader, download the latest version for free here.}

    sewing materialGet ready all the materials as mentioned above. For purse making, normally, I will make a pattern template using cardboard to make it easy to trace, add seam allowance, and be used repeatedly.

    Trace with allowanceTrace the pattern onto the wrong side of the fabric and add at least 7mm or 1/4″ seam allowance. Mark frame markings on the fabric too. For fabrics that have a directional print, the narrower side of the pattern is the top, and the wider side is the bottom. For fabrics with no directional print, reverse the template in tracing to reduce fabric wastage.

    trace pattern on battingTrace pattern on batting with a marker on the non-adhesive side. No seam allowance is needed. Trace them close to each other and in reverse order to reduce wastage.

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternCut the batting along the inside of the tracing lines to get the correct shape and size. Pin the batting onto the wrong side of the traced fabric with the adhesive side down. Only 6 pcs of the fabrics need batting, and lining fabrics don’t need batting.

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternTurn the pinned fabric to the right side and press with medium heat iron to adhere to the batting. Increase the heat level if the batting cannot bond well to the fabric. Do not iron directly on the batting, the heat will melt the material.

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternCut the pattern out from the fabric [with seam allowance] after attaching the batting. Note that, for this 3-color design, 2 of each color will have batting on them. The other 2 are without batting which acts as a lining. For a 2-color design, 3 of each color will have batting on them and vice-versa.

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternPin and sew to join 3 fabrics to make a half pear. Make 3 little snips at seam allowance on the narrow waist of the pear. Press the seam allowance to the centerpiece and topstitch near the seam to set it in place.

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternRepeat the sewing to make a pair with batting [top] and a pair without batting/lining [bottom].

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternPlace a batting piece on a lining piece with the right side facing each other.
    Align, pin and sew around. Leave a 1 1/2″ opening for turning the right side out.

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternTurn right side out, smooth and align seams. Sew to close the opening. Topstitch near the edge. Repeat to make another half pear.

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternCombine 2 half pears and slip stitch from frame marking to frame marking. Performing back-loop slip stitch, a.k.a backstitch in hidden stitch, will make the seam more durable.

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternMark the centerline on the top edge. Aligned the metal frame centerline to the purse centerline. Aligned the kisslock frame endpoints to the frame marking on the purse. Backstitch with strong thread to install the metal frame to the purse. (This tutorial might be helpful for frame installation.) The purse’s top edge is slightly bigger than the metal frame, evenly spread the extra across the frame while sewing to achieve a nice curve for the pear’s neck. [You can use the normal glue & clamp type of frame if you cannot find the sewn type.]

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternSew the pear stem onto the purse.

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternSew the leaf fabrics together with the right side facing each other.
    Make a small cut of about 1/2″ on the non-batting side. Turn the leaf right side out from the small opening by using a pair of tweezers.

    gamaguchi purse sewing patternSmooth out seam and mend to close the opening.

    sew leafTopstitch on the right side to decorate the leaf with veins.

    sew pear coin purseSew the leaf on the purse to complete the Mic-O-Pear pear-shaped coin purse.

    gamaguchi purse sewing pattern

    Notes

    Seam Allowance: 7mm or approx. 1/4″

    Get the full article at https://www.craftpassion.com/pear-shaped-gamaguchi-coin-purse/

    Recommended Products

    Purchase the exact same material and tool used in this pattern from Craft Passion Shop.

    Did you make this project?

    Please leave a comment below or share a photo on Instagram. Don't forget to tag @craftpassion so that we can see it.

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    Dane

    Sunday 2nd of October 2016

    j' adore ce porte monnaie est vraiment géniale il va me servir pour un défi je ne vais pas manquer de mettre la source de ce modèle et de vous metttre un petit message ou je vous propose de visiter mon blog et vous abonner a bientôt et félicitations

    Translation (by Google): I adore this wallet is really great it will serve me for a challenge I will not miss to the source of this model and metttre you a little message or I invite you to visit my blog and sign up soon and congratulations

    Linda @ Sewing Shop

    Wednesday 12th of August 2015

    What a lovely and original coin purse! I love the added details of the stem and leaf. Thanks for making this pattern and tutorial. Also, great job on designing that pear fabric, it's awesome! I featured your tutorial on my blog today: http://www.sewingshop.net/blog/fun-pear-coin-purse/

    angel

    Monday 22nd of July 2013

    Hi I really love this little purse, and have plans to make several as my daughter in law would adore it. Trouble is I can't download the tutorial, I have tried everything including good old fashioned copy and paste but nothing works....please help. Its a wonderful design and I think its amazing that you offer it for free, thank you for you generosity. angel x

    Lisa Cawood

    Saturday 23rd of March 2013

    Hi! I'm wondering where I can find the seam allowance tool that you use in the 3rd picture. It looks very handy and is a tool I would like to have. I have searched online and found some other tools but not one that is like this. Help?

    Craft Passion

    Monday 25th of March 2013

    The seam allowance tool is from Clover, it comes in a pack of 3 (or 4) for different measurement of seam allowance.

    Andreea

    Wednesday 3rd of October 2012

    Hey. i wanted to ask about the patterns.. are they your own? you're just genial m'am.

    Craft Passion

    Wednesday 3rd of October 2012

    yes, I designed the pattern myself.

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