Reply by Valley Kool Cakes (well half of it~Tara)

There are many ways to do it out there. Just google it and look through them all, I took pieces of lots of them and made my own way of doing it. I personally prefer to cover the purse in one piece of fondant, I had an issue using panels once they slid down the side of the cake it was a mess! Thank god it was just for my sisters just for fun.
Here are a few different shapes to try and give you an idea. Hope it helps. Welcome to the site!
http://www.thecakerator.com/2010/01/mini-purse-cake-tutorial.html
http://sweetthings-toronto.blogspot.com/2010/04/purse-cake-tutorial.html
http://www.mysweetandsaucy.com/2008/12/purse-cake-tutorial/
http://justouttatheoven.blogspot.com/2011/06/purse-cake-tutorial.html

-- Tara, Nova Scotia, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Valleys-kool-cakes/131353476890032