Bag hag

So finally, after some inspiration from my co-worker I decided to something with that sewing machine I got for Christmas. I made a skirt already, but I really wanted to make a purse!

I didn't go to a lot of trouble to include pockets and stuff because I expected it to be lousy, but I think it turned out pretty damned great! I used a pattern from the book Bag Boutique by Amy Barickman, but the general bag making instructions were better in Designer Style Handbags by Sherri Haab. It has step by step pictures which are very useful, though the part about attaching a lining makes no sense after 50 reads. It's not the writing, it's just a hard concept to grasp. I kept thinking about it in my spare time (I do that a lot, huh?) and finally figured it out.

When attaching the lining, it says to do all this turning inside out business from a hole in the bottom of the lining, but then you have an ugly area where you hand stitched the hole together. I thought of doing it by leaving the hole at the top of the bag and sealing it with top stitch. I practiced it with a pair of socks and it worked! It looks so much better! That probably makes no sense unless you are familiar with the horror of attaching a lining.

I added the button and the piece to button the bag closed as it wasn't in the pattern. I amazed myself at the liberties I took while not knowing what I was doing!

I wanted to make a bag for my friend as a belated birthday present, but I thought bag number one would be too lousy. Turns out it wasn't, so now I have a bag for myself. Yay!

This bag was made with a fabric pattern called 'Shopping Spree' by Alexander Henry Fabrics.