I AM IN LOVE...with a purse!

I have long been in pursuit of the perfect bag.  When I endeavored to take on the creation of a fabulous purse, big shock Deb wanted to shoot me down.  I have these bags which I really love, Deb calls them my "hobo bags".  She hates them and the last thing she wanted was another "hobo bag" to kick around our house.  So she came up with a bargain.  I could buy new fabric for my fabulous purse of love, if I got rid of the "hobo bags".  DONE.

I've never quite been a purse girl, in fact for a while I was just a wallet on a chain girl, yeah that's right I went there.  I've tried to shop for one, but they're never quite right and the ones I've made seem to look, well hand made.  No crafter wants to be asked if they made their project, they want to be asked where they got it.  I finally found my elusive white stag of a purse and started on a project:

I love Amy Butler and when I saw this bag, well I needed it. After acquiring this book I set to work on the very important task of finding the perfect fabric.  It came to me in a flash when I went down to the basement section of U-Fab (Website and Pinterest)in Charlottesville.  These Koi fish just jumped out at me.

The linen behind it I found in a remnant section for $2.99 a yard.  Can you say deal?  Cause I can and my debit card speaks that language too!

Like so many projects it all starts with cutting out the pattern

Marking the pattern pieces.   One of my pet peeves is when the edge of my chalk  gets dull and doesn't mark accurately.  I have found a chalk I love and I want to share with you all.  I love the Clover tailer's chalk.  It keeps its edge better than any chalk I've every used.

I also have super love for rotary cutters.  My fave is my Gingher Rotary Cutter which is totally fabulous. To my left handed friends out there, these rotary cutters come in lefty as well, yay!

The pattern calls for almost every piece to be fused with woven fusible interfacing.  Since I used home dec weight fabric for my exterior using all that interfacing seemed extreme.  Instead I used fusible fleece on the largest lining piece.

To make sure that the bottom of the bag was really sturdy I used the heaviest weight Peltex interfacing.  If I could have gotten my hands on it I would have used fusible, but alas, I have to sew it on.

Obviously it continues with cutting out all of the fabric and accumulating all of the pieces.  Check!

Double Check

I really loved the way they did the edging on the side pockets of the bag.  The exterior fabric was cut 1" shorter than the lining fabric.  They are stitched together at the top.

The seam allowance was all pressed toward the ling fabric, it our case toward the left.

Then the lining is pressed around the back of the exterior fabric and over the top edge to make it look as though it is simply banded but it actually creates the interior lining for the pocket as well.  AMAZING!

The next step is to pin the pockets to the exterior side panel and to baste it together so that it won't shift when you sew the front panels to the side panels.

I think that some people downplay it but one of the most important parts of sewing is ironing.  Keeping your seams pressed makes your work the best!

I got the bag's exterior all put together and then the next step was to drop in the lining.  With right sides together I stitched the handle of the lining to the handle of the exterior and then turned it right side out.  then all that was left was to turn int the seam allowance of the interior of the handle and to top stitch it.

As you can see it came out F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!  I am so in love!

In my excitement for the beautiful weather and my beautiful new bag, I needed to take a walk.  I adventured to a new cupcake bakery called Sweet Haus where I met Tara who is one of the owners.  She complimented and loved my bag! It made me feel great! Hoping that maybe Sweet Haus may be a place to display my wares in Charlottesville?  Fingers crossed.

~ Caroline ~

Some of my wallets are available at Pretty Pretty on West Beverly St. in Staunton.  You can also contact me if there's something you like.

Projected Forecast

1) Wallets

2) Grammy's Skirt

3) Blouse for ME!