The other day I finally had enough of my purse. It's been nothing but trouble... First one of the swivel clasp on the shoulder strap broke (actually fell to pieces) after only a few days. Then there was the outside zipper pocket, where the zipper never has worked, not even after going to the store to get it fixed. I haven't had for six months even, the shortest period of time for me ever. And it's just hard to find a good purse...
So, why not MAKE the perfect purse?! That's what I thought to myself anyway... Said and done!
I started by thinking what I was looking for in a purse - size, number of pockets, types of pockets etc. Iliked the size of my old, stupid purse so I went from there. I also remembered that there was a bag in the Burdastyle sewing handbook. I used that pattern and adapted it to fit my needs.
Here's a BUNCH of photos from the process...
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| All the fabric pieces and the sketch of my purse. |
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| One of the side pieces. I made pleats instead of gathers at the bottom because of the heavy fabric. |
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| Front/back lining piece with double pocket. |
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| Other front/back lining piece with zippered pocket. |
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| Lining completed. |
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| Outside front/back pockets. One zippered and the other one only pressed. |
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| Outside front/back pocket attached to front/back piece. |
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| Shell finished. Or so I thought.... |
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| Here the lining and the shell are sewn together. I remembered to fasten the little side straps before sewing everuthing together. |
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| Side strap from the outside. |
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| Side strap from the inside. |
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| The elastic's in the casings and fastened and the sides are stitched too. Yay! I thought, and then I realised that I had forgotten the handles.... :( |
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| Sewing on the handles. |
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| Handles! Yay! They turned out quite OK actually. |
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| The shoulder strap, complete with D-rings and swivel clasps. (Had to go to three stores to find some.) |
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| Shoulder strap |
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| Finished!! |
What do I have in my purse then? Well, it's not a secret...
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| Side pocket - extra head scarf. |
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| Front/back pocket - work keys and home keys |
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| Other front/back pocket - my car key and the husband's car key |
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| Inside double pocket - chewing gum and hankies. Everything else jumbled around in the actual bag. I think I will have my mobile in the remaining side pocket. |
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| Looking good on the arm... |
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| Looking good on the shoulder... |
Hope you enjoyed all those photos. :)
I used some heavy-weight fabric (furniture fabric) from IKEA. I think they still have the print but in some less offensive colours. This is HOOOOOT pink with yellow print. I used yellow zippers and some yellow bias tape for the pockets. The thread is a slightly darker pink. The lining is some light/medium weight cotton I had in my stash. The IKEA fabric has been in my stash for quite a while. What I ended up buying to finish the purse was two 30 cm zippers, swivel clasps, D-rings and keyrings (to connect the swivel clasps and the D-rings) - much, MUCH cheaper than a new purse!
It was really fun to sew the purse, it took two days for me, but then I didn't sew all day. It was actually kind of fun NOT to use the overlocker, I used my sewing machine for everything. I recommend the pattern for anyone who would like to make their own purse.
Anyone else who has made the Burdastyle bag?
Bye for now,
Johanna
