A good friend asked that I make her a purse in time for Christmas, and quickly amended her order to two identical purses - one for her and one as a gift for her sister. She knew just the style of purse she wanted, so that part was easy. Her only other request was that the purses be washable.
The color story she chose - gray, black and cream, with a kiss of khaki - was nothing short of awesome! If shabby chic could be in those colors, this is how it would look. So beautiful!
The top fabric with the lovely, lacy, swirly print of roses, medallions and butterflies will be the body of the purse. The gray with black polka dot fabric on the bottom will be the top bands and the pockets, while the complementary black on black print will be the lining.
When cutting fabric, I use (really) sharp shears and a rotary cutter, so the process is fairly quick.
With the fabric cut, it's time to choose the stabilizer or interfacing. The correct stabilizer or interfacing is of the utmost importance for body and structure, and makes the difference between a homemade look or a crisp and professional look. In this case, Angelita wanted a softer bag, so the choice was a polyester fusible fleece.
Lining pieces laying on the interfacing ready to be pinned and carefully cut out.Then the next step is ironing on - bonding - the fusible interfacing to the wrong sides of the fabric.
Here are all the purse pieces all bonded. Now I can begin sewing! YEA!!!
I usually begin with making the pockets and attaching my label. Always press well after each step - the fleece will respond well to heat and steam, and you will be able to smooth and shape if necessary as you go along. Also, be sure to clip the corners of the pockets before turning them right side out to get that nice, pointy corner!
Once the pockets are all finished, they can be attached to the lining by stitching close to the edges. These purses will have divided pockets front and back. Four pockets give lots of room for organization, and this is how they look:
Next, I made the handles. A favorite way is to fold the handle pieces in half, then bring each side into the middle, pressing again and pinning. Pins are your friend here - don't be afraid to use lots - but don't sew over them! At the minimum you will bend the pin, but you could break your needle or worse.
The next step is to edge stitch each handle, a really easy step with my beloved Janome. Thickness is generally not an issue for my mighty machine - it goes through the layers like a warm knife through soft butter:
Next I made the pleats in the body fronts and backs, and it's now time to attached the handles, right sides together and stitch close to the top edge. This is stay stitching and it will take the place of pinning to make construction much easier:
Now the top bands will be pinned, right sides together and stitched - being careful over the handles - it gets a little thick:
Press and edge stitch 1/4" from the seam to finish the edge. I pin carefully, removing them as the needle approaches so there is absolutely no slippage!
Sew both sides of the front together to make the outside of the purse, trim the seams to reduce bulk so the seam will lay nicely and press well. Then, I sew the top bands to the lining pieces, and sew the front and back together, leaving an opening at the bottom to turn right side out ... that is a really fun part ...trim the seams and press well.
Almost done now and the magic begins! Turn the outside of the purse right side out and leave the lining inside out. Put the outside of the purse inside the lining, right sides together and pin carefully, matching up the side seams and being careful that the handles are pulled down out of the way. Stitch around the top of the band, attaching the inside to the outside.
Pull the outside of the purse out of the opening in the lining - slowly and carefully. This is what I see:
Now all I have to do is hand stitch the opening in the lining closed, push the lining down inside the body of the purse and edge stitch around the top of the band:
All that's left to do is a thorough pressing and shaping, and the purses are finished:
Angelita was very pleased and happy with her purse and sent the second one down to her sister for Christmas. I love how they came out as well, and was extremely happy that I was able to make her precisely the purse she had in mind.
A very big thank you to Angelita for allowing me to share the process of sewing her purses with you! I know I've said this before, but creating handmade items that are beautiful and functional is truly a joy, but sharing them with you is a blessing.
Happy New Year everyone!
