Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Re-Joining Sewing World: Quick Little Purse

I am pretty sure it was 1683 when I last sewed. At least it seems that long ago.  We are through the craziness now (or we think we are!) and I think I can finally dust off my beautiful Pfaff for some quality time together.  Thank. Goodness.



For two months I have been driving around with a printed Clover Bag pattern in the back seat of my car.  There are also umbrellas, a patient leaflet on cardiac procedures, Love Patchwork and Quilting issue 19, a wool hat, a pair of knee high black boots, hexies and a travel sewing kit back there.  Anyway, I saw the pattern released on Michelle's IG feed and fell in love immediately.  I bought it, printed it and then progress came to a screeching halt.


This past weekend, though, I pulled it out of the car and brought it up to my sewing room.  Oh, the glory!  I love little hand held bags that fit just keys, a phone and my wallet for a night out.  I have about a million of them in black, one AWESOME one in green, but I wanted one in navy blue as that seems to be sneaking into my wardrobe a lot.


A lot of preparation goes into making this bag, but when you have that sorted it comes together quite quickly.  I used two Country Girls fat quarters and still have a reasonable amount left over.  I love how the fabric looks, dig the green zipper and tabs that coordinate with the lining and love the size of it.  The little pleat on the side is adorable.  The pattern is, for the most part, very clearly written with tips and tricks along the way.  The photos included in the pattern are very helpful.  The only downfall for me was inserting the top panel of the bag that holds the zip. I could understand the instructions getting the fabric one either side of the zip (that went surprisingly smoothly!) but getting that attached to the outer shell and then for the outer shell to attach to the lining was a total disaster for me.  Lots and lots of puckering and loosing sharp points (second photo, upper right corner) because you are sewing partial seams and can not see properly where corner seams lie with the fuzzy fleece.


Usually I can say that I would be better at a difficult step next time having done it this time.  I do not see how that is possible here.  It is good it's a super cute bag - I am sure there will be many in my future because of the cuteness and ease of the other steps.  Boy, though, that zip was a killer.

11 comments:

Lynz said...

I love teeny quirky night-out bags, too (at my work's Christmas party one colleague always asks to see my shoes - Irregular Choice ALWAYS! - and takes a photo of my usually handmade handbag for her daughter. Heh heh) and this is gorgeous! It wouldn't have occurred to me to use a cosmetic bag pattern for a handbag. Which is very shortsighted of me - coz it looks amazing. Those ducks are adorable!! Not too cutesy but just enough quirk to be brilliant. Welcome back! x

pennydog said...

Looking good, welcome back to the SewZone

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

Yeah, you're back! I love that bag!

Danette said...

So cute! I'll have to buy this pattern.

barbara woods said...

very cute bag

Coser Tejer Crear said...

Well done Cindy! I love it!

Tomomi McElwee said...

That's a pretty bag. Love those ducks:) Hope you have more time for sewing for summer if it comes.

Missy Shay said...

Your bag looks great!

mammafairy said...

Neat bag, You could make some more, and have one for every occasion!

Wendy said...

it looks great! I love navy blue at the minute too. I've never made a bag with a recessed zip/gusset zip (not sure what it's called) and I've never been able to figure out how to make it. The end result is great though

Ruth said...

Love the ducks - looks really good in bag form - seriously cute!

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